Di Matteo sacked by Chelsea

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo
has been sacked following a run of
poor form.
The Italian won 24 of his 42 games in
charge of the club but, after their 3-0
defeat to Juventus left them in danger
of missing out on the knockout stages
of the Champions League, Chelsea
have decided to end his tenure.
Pep Guardiola has emerged as the
frontrunner to replace Di Matteo, with
Sky Bet offering 7/4 on the former
Barcelona manager taking over.
Rafa Benitez is 2/1 to take the
Stamford Bridge hotseat, while Harry
Redknapp (6/1) is also in the early
running.
"The team's recent performances and
results have not been good enough
and the owner and the Board felt that
a change was necessary now to keep
the club moving in the right direction
as we head into a vitally important part
of the season," read a statement on
the club website.
"The club faces a difficult task ahead in
qualifying for the knockout stages of
the UEFA Champions League as well as
maintaining a strong challenge for the
top of the Premier League while
competing in three other cup
competitions.
"Our aim is to remain as competitive as
possible and challenge strongly on all
fronts.
"The owner and the Board would like
to thank Roberto for all he has done
for the club since taking over in March.
"Roberto helped guide us to an historic
Champions League victory and a
seventh FA Cup. We will never forget
the huge contribution he has made to
this club's history and he will always be
welcome at Stamford Bridge.
"The club will be making an
announcement shortly regarding a
new first team manager."

Skysport

Ancelotti rejects Becks link

Paris Saint-Germain have denied
making an offer for David Beckham,
who has announced he is leaving LA
Galaxy next month.

Roberto Di Matteo takes blame for Chelsea defeat at Juventus

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo
took responsibility for the 3-0 defeat
at Juventus which leaves the Blues on
the brink of a Champions League
exit.
If Juve draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk
on 5 December, Chelsea will be the first
defending champions to be eliminated
in the group stages.
"If anyone has to take blame, it's me. I
selected a team I was convinced would
win or at least draw," said Di Matteo.
"We have hope. Mathematically it is still
possible for us."
Di Matteo signed a two-year contract
in June on the back of winning the
Champions League and the FA Cup as
caretaker, but is under pressure in the
midst of a patch of bad form that has
seen just two wins in their last eight
matches.
Chelsea's defence of their European
title is now out of their hands with
Juventus needing just a point from
their trip to Ukraine against already-
qualified Shakhtar to make the last 16.
In the Premier League the Stamford
Bridge side have slid from four points
clear in the wake of the 4-2 win over
Tottenham on 20 October to the same
number off the top after Saturday's
loss to West Brom.
Di Matteo, 42, accepts that the run of
bad form will inevitably lead to
questions over his future, but he insists
that he does not need any public
backing from the club's hierarchy.
"In a big club like this if you have a few
bad results of course you are under
pressure and everything will be
questioned," he said.
"We are in it together, we had a long
journey to where we are today."
When asked whether he needed a vote
of confidence from the club's owners
he added: "No, I don't need that, the
fact they put trust in me in the summer,
that's enough for me."
The Italian, who made 175 appearances
for the club as a player, has not been
able to coax Fernando Torres back to
top form with the Spanish striker failing
to replicate the form that convinced
owner Roman Abramovich to spend a
club record £50m on him in January
2011.
Di Matteo opted to demote Torres to
the bench against the Serie A leaders,
but, with Eden Hazard deployed
furthest forward, his side rarely
threatened.
"The player is disappointed when he
doesn't start of course," Di Matteo
added of Torres.
"We have to pick ourselves up again, we
have another massive game on Sunday
and if we win we could be back in title
race."

Champions League round-up: Bayern, Valencia, Barca through

Lionel Messi scored twice as
Barcelona booked their place in the
Champions League last 16 with a 3-0
win away to Spartak Moscow.
A 5-2 win over Nordsjaelland, featuring
a controversial Luiz Adriano strike,
ensured Shakhtar Donetsk joined
them.

Bayern Munich pegged back Valencia
as Thomas Mueller levelled in a 1-1
draw that takes both through from
Group F.
Rui Pedro scored a hat-trick as Cluj
ended Braga's interest and kept pace
with Galatasaray in Group H.

Group E
Shakhtar Donetsk's 5-2 win over
Nordsjaelland, combined with their
superior head-to-head record against
Chelsea, ensured that they cannot be
denied their place in the last 16.
Brazilian striker Adriano scored a hat-
trick in the victory but his first prompted
an angry reaction from the Danes.
Play was stopped with a Nordsjaelland
player down injured. Shakhtar
midfielder Willian then attempted to
return the ball to the opposition
goalkeeper from an uncontested drop-
ball, but Adriano collected the ball and
scored.
There was then confusion when
Nordsjaelland kicked off, with Shakhtar
initially standing off and allowing them
to dribble toward goal before making a
tackle and playing on.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said: "I
asked my players what happened.
Adriano said: 'It was instinct, I see the
ball and I dribbled and I scored a goal'.
"We wanted to let them score, there
was big confusion in the team. They
deserved to score, and after 2-1 we
started to play football. It's a pity that
this happened. I'm sorry."
Nordsjaelland coach Kasper Hjulmand
said: "I don't know if Shakhtar are
bandits, but some of their players,
bosses and coaches are without
morals.
"In my world it's unsportsmanlike
conduct and a red card for Luiz Adriano
would have been quite appropriate.
"[If my team did that] I would have
called the team to the side and told
them to give away a goal. I would have
done that, 100%."
Chelsea, who lost 3-0 to Juventus, will
become the first defending champions
to fall in the group stages if the Serie A
leaders manage a draw away in
Donetsk in their final game.

Group F
Bayern Munich and Valencia's meeting
produced the draw that meant both
sides progressed. The Spaniards' lead
lasted just five minutes before Mueller
cancellled out Sofiane Feghouli's
opener.
BATE Borisov's hopes of keeping some
qualification issues on the line in the
final round of matches were finished as
they surrendered 2-0 to Lille. They were
the French side's first points after four
successive defeats.

Group G
Messi scored his 79th and 80th goals of
2012 to move within five of Gerd
Muller's 1972 record haul of 85 in a
calendar year as Barcelona recovered
from their defeat to Celtic in the
previous round of matches.
Benfica visit the Nou Camp next and will
advance at Celtic's expense if they can
match whatever the Bhoys manage at
home to the already-eliminated Spartak
Moscow.
Ezequiel Garay scored the decisive goal
in Lisbon as Celtic lost 2-1 to Benfica,
falling short of the draw that would
have tied up their place in the next
stage.

Group H
Manchester United, already
unassailable as group winners, lost 1-0
to Galatasaray as a youthful team
succumbed to Burak Yilmaz's fifth goal
in the group stages.
The Turkish side go into the final round
of the matches level with Cluj on seven
points after a first-half hat-trick from
Cluj's Rui Pedro put qualification
beyond Braga.
Galatasaray travel to Braga on the final
day, with their passsage dependent on
matching whatever Cluj produce at Old
Trafford.

Galatasaray 1-0 Man Utd

second-half header from Burak
Yilmaz condemned Manchester United
to a 1-0 away defeat to Galatasaray in
the UEFA Champions League.
Yilmaz climbed highest to meet a 54th-
minute corner to inflict upon United
their first defeat in Group H.
With United having already qualified as
group winners, the win leaves
Galatasaray hanging on to second spot
before the final matchday in a
fortnight.
With top spot already secure, Sir Alex
Ferguson left many of his stars at
home, with Nick Powell handed his first
European start and a welcome return
for Phil Jones after a knee injury.
The hosts had the better of the early
exchanges, with Anders Lindegaard
keeping out Yilmaz's drive from
distance, before the Turkish forward
headed over when unmarked midway
through the first half.
United grew into the game and came
closest to opening the scoring when
Powell headed Tom Cleverley's corner
against the bar two minutes before
half-time.
Albert Riera tested Lindegaard again
four minutes after the interval with a
volley from distance which the United
keeper did well to hold.
Lindegaard made an even better save
shortly after to turn Felipe Melo's
header over the bar, but from the
resultant corner in the 54th minute,
Galatasaray took the lead.
Selcuk Inan's delivered an outswinger
from the right which Yilmaz attacked,
outmuscling Darren Fletcher on his
way to planting a header into the top
corner, over Rafael on the far post.
United continued to be a threat on the
counter attack, but Fernando Muslera
remained relatively untroubled in the
hosts' goal.
Ferguson threw on Ashley Young and
Federico Macheda for the last 15
minutes, but Galatasaray almost
doubled their lead moments later
when Hamit Altintop's 25-yard drive
was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by
the diving Lindegaard.
United spent much of the last ten
minutes on the front foot, with Josh
King replacing Danny Welbeck, but
Galatasaray held on and now travel to
Braga on the final matchday in
possession of the second qualifying
spot in Group H.

Messi double downs Spartak

Lionel Messi moved to within five goals
of Gerd Muller's scoring record as
Barcelona qualified for the knockout
stages of the UEFA Champions League
with a 3-0 victory over Spartak Moscow.
The Argentinian scored twice to go to
80 goals so far in 2012, just five behind
Muller's record number of goals
scored in a calendar year from 1972.
Dani Alves gave Barcelona the lead
before Messi's double strike with all
the goals coming before half-time.
It was tough on Spartak who showed
first but Kim Kallstrom fired over
before Pedro almost put the Catalan
side in front, but his instant shot was
superbly parried by goalkeeper Andrei
Dykan who showed his quick reactions
in the centre of the goal.
Barcelona went ahead in the 16th
minute through Alves when he struck a
half-volley cleanly past the goalkeeper
after the ball was laid off by Messi at
the edge of the area.
The visitors then wasted a great
chance to equalise when Emmanuel
Emenike's cross from the right found
Marek Suchy who had got ahead of his
marker but he did not even get a shot
on target from less than 12 yards,
instead ballooning the ball over.
They were left to rue that when shortly
after Barca took a two-goal lead.
Andres Iniesta's shot from a narrow
angle brought a parry from the
goalkeeper but Messi pounced on the
rebound and although he half
snatched at the shot the ball bounced
into the bottom right-hand corner.
Spartak were still creating chances,
Emenike firing over although he was at
full stretch.
Messi scored his second of the night
and Barca's third six minutes before
the break when he timed his run
perfectly and latched on to Pedro's
superbly weighted pass, got ahead of
the defence and rounded the keeper
before slotting the ball home.
Emenike shot over at the start of the
second half but Barca were weaving
the ball around. Yevgeni Makeev
completely miscontrolled the ball when
well-positioned and the game was
clearly beyond the hosts who had
failed to take any of their chances.
Dykan thwarted Messi and Pedro as the
game played itself out without further
score as Barca breezed through

Juventus 3-0 Chelsea

Chelsea are on the brink of an early
UEFA Champions League exit after
losing 3-0 at Juventus on Tuesday
evening.
Fabio Quagliarella diverted Andrea
Pirlo's weak shot past the wrong-
footed Petr Cech to give the home side
the lead just before the interval.
Arturo Vidal added to the lead just
after the hour mark when his side-
footed effort from Kwadwo Asamoah's
cut-back was deflected past Cech off
the heel of Ramires.
And substitute Sebastian Giovinco put
the gloss on the display as he slotted
the ball past the advancing Chelsea
goalkeeper in injury time.
Chelsea must now beat Nordsjaelland
in their final Group E game - and hope
Shakhtar Donetsk beat Juve in Ukraine -
to have any chance of retaining their
European crown.
And Roberto Di Matteo may regret
fielding a new-look line-up with
Fernando Torres axed in favour of
Eden Hazard up front and Cesar
Azpilicueta playing on the right of
midfield.
Juventus had dominated the game
before the break with wing-backs
Stephan Lichtsteiner and Asamoah
pushing forward at every opportunity.
Lichtsteiner should have opened the
scoring inside five minutes but Cech
managed to push his close-range
effort onto the post. At the other end,
Hazard nearly found the breakthrough
only for Gianluigi Buffon to deflect his
shot just wide.
But the home side were producing the
classier football and it was no surprise
when they took the lead through
Quagliarella. In fact, they nearly
doubled their advantage soon after.
Minutes after the opener, Ashley Cole
had to clear off the line to avoid the
Blues going two behind.
But Di Matteo's side remained an
intermittent goal threat and broke
within seconds only for Juan Mata to
see Buffon block his volleyed effort at
point-blank range.
The Chelsea boss did introduce Torres
with 20 minutes remaining but the
visitors were two down by that point
following Vidal's effort, and Giovinco's
late finish puts the Blues on the verge
of a Champions League exit.