Di Matteo has done the impossible

Not bad for an ‘interim coach'. This was the appellation given for some embarrassing weeks by grudging Chelsea to Roberto Di Matteo. He promptly reversed the seemingly impossible 3-1 deficit against Napoli, almost miraculously got his team past supposedly invincible Barcelona, and has now had the infinite satisfaction and joy of beating Bayern on their own Munich stadium — albeit on penalties.

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's oligarch billionaire owner, is known to have hoped for Pep Guardiola as the new coach, but he had no intention of coming. But the huge achievements of Di Matteo, previously a Chelsea hero and a first-minute goalscorer in Wembley Cup finals, made the appointment of any other manager an act of ludicrous ingratitude and illogicality. Besides, the fact is that Abramovich hasn't always gone for a glittering name. When he impatiently and impetuously got rid of Jose Mourinho, he installed his somewhat obscure deputy and his own friend, the Israeli, Avram Grant.

Misguided

True, Grant could boast that he took Chelsea thereafter all the way to a Moscow European Cup final which they'd surely have won had the unfortunate John Terry not slipped as he ran to take a vital spot kick in the shoot-out. But Grant, to be brutally honest, just happened to be there at the time. His ability to get jobs is unquestionable, but so is his penchant for losing them. He has only just been sacked by Partizan Belgrade after a handful of unsuccessful matches, having taken them over when they were flying high.

And then there is the question of Didier Drogba. If they lose him now to the millions which await him in Shanghai, it will be only their own misguided fault. He may now be 34 but his glorious finishing, his astonishing goal-scoring record, make him priceless and surely irreplaceable. He wanted a two-year renewal of the contract, which now runs out at the end of the season. In their ineptitude, they offered him just one year. Now, with that superbly headed goal against Bayern, even if he did give away a penalty, he has given them a cup they could never have won without him. Abramovich should make use of his billions, as Manchester City ultimately have made use of theirs. That injury-time victory over QPR's ten men was dramatic indeed.

The writer is a football expert based in England.