FC Shakhtar Donetsk vs Chelsea FC preview- Mata: Di Matteo perfect for Chelsea
Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2012 by PA
Juan Mata hailed Roberto Di Matteo as the "perfect manager" for Chelsea after the Italian helped them shrug off the latest crisis at the club and stay on course for another glorious season.
Di Matteo's near eight months in charge of the Blues have been arguably the most turbulent in their history but he has somehow managed unprecendented success while at the helm.
Having ended Chelsea's agonising wait for Champions League glory, Di Matteo has led them to a four-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League and transformed them into one of the great entertainers of the game.
His success is all the more remarkable considering he took charge of a dispirited squad, which was on course to record the club's worst season of the Roman Abramovich era, and has since had to contend with the fallout from the John Terry racism scandal.
Chelsea managers have crumbled under far less pressure than that which has been piled on Di Matteo.
And Mata, who has been the club's star of the season and arguably the best player in England on current form, could not praise the former Stamford Bridge midfielder highly enough.
He said: "Robbie knows very well the team, Robbie knows very well the club as well. He is a legend here.
"And now, as a manager, he connects very well with the team, in every meeting, in every speech, he does deep inside every one of us, talking about every game.
"I think it's very important to be ready for every competition, for the Premier League and now for the Champions League.
"He knows how important it is for the club to play these kinds of games, to win again the Champions League like last season.
"So, I think for us, he's the perfect manager."
Terry serves a four-match domestic ban but he will be back for the Champions League clash.
The 31-year-old will captain the side after Chelsea controversially refused to strip him of the honour over the language he used towards Anton Ferdinand a year ago on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu has warned Chelsea would be made to pay for failing to appreciate Willian's "true value".
Lucescu accused the European champions of making a derisory bid for the Brazil playmaker, who they tried to buy in January and reportedly made another attempt to sign this summer.
Shakhtar were said to have snubbed a #16.7million offer at the start of 2012 and one in the region of £27million after the Blues were crowned kings of Europe.
Lucescu, who admitted he had given Willian assurances he could move to Stamford Bridge, said: "Willian was far away from Chelsea.
"They didn't even get anywhere near to our requirements, having done nothing to make my promises to Willian come true.
"Speaking specifically about the amounts, they officially offered the sum for which we had bought him young.
"I would really like them to highly appreciate his true value tomorrow and realise that they made a big mistake."
Lucescu also confirmed Chelsea had been interested in defender Darijo Srna while Carlo Ancelotti was in charge at Stamford Bridge.
He said: "Several years ago, I had a conversation with Ancelotti, and he was interested in Srna.
"My wish is that, after this match, Chelsea get interested in all of our players."
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