Night

Chelsea might need been main by a single objective from the primary leg of their Champions League semi-final, however the odds had been closely stacked towards interim supervisor Roberto Di Matteo as he stood on the touchline at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium.

Not solely was he up towards Pep Guardiola (the person Chelsea proprietor dreamed of changing him with) however Di Matteo additionally needed to navigate his well past a assault that includes Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez with out his first-choice centre-backs – one in all whom went off injured and the opposite was despatched off.

Commercial

What transpired proved to be probably the most heroic achievements within the membership’s historical past, as Di Matteo’s 10 males by some means managed to attract on the evening and win the 2012 tie to advance to the ultimate the place they beat Bayern Munich on penalties to grow to be European champions.

Di Matteo plans to be at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s newest conflict with Barcelona on Tuesday evening. Within the build-up to the sport, the Italian gave Telegraph Sport an interesting perception into the evening he acquired the higher of Guardiola and wrote himself into membership folklore.

Plans torn aside

Chelsea’s journey to Barcelona got here on the finish of a busy 10-day run through which they thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 within the semi-finals of the FA Cup, secured a 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg lead towards the Spaniards at Stamford Bridge and drew towards Arsenal on the Emirates.

Commercial

“We had been enjoying each three days, so we didn’t have an excessive amount of time to organize on the pitch, it was extra video evaluation and staff conferences,” Di Matteo mentioned. “I watched quite a lot of Barcelona video games and our recreation plan was to go together with a 4-2-3-1, keep compact and double up on Messi. I advised the gamers that we weren’t going to see a lot of the ball, however they had been ready for that after the primary leg.”

Di Matteo’s plans had been ripped up within the first half, as he misplaced Gary Cahill to harm after simply 12 minutes and captain John Terry to a crimson card within the thirty seventh minute, simply after Barca had taken the lead via Sergio Busquets.

Chelsea captain John Terry was given his marching orders within the thirty seventh minute – Getty Pictures/Adrian Dennis

With a patched-up central defence of Branislav Ivanovic and substitute José Bosingwa, and Ramires moved to right-back, Chelsea went 2-0 down within the forty third minute, due to an Andrés Iniesta objective, and heading to a heavy defeat.

Commercial

“At that time you simply assume it’s slipping away from us,” Di Matteo mentioned. “It wouldn’t have been the primary time that Barcelona took a staff aside. They took groups aside 11v11, so with one man down, 11-10, it might have occurred.

“I wasn’t indignant with JT. It was a little bit of a foolish crimson card and he apologised to the remainder of the staff after the sport, however what was it going to attain if I used to be indignant? He was actually devastated at half-time, however I wanted to deal with what I might management. I had already been fascinated by what I’d say to the staff at half-time after we went 2-0 down and the modifications we would have liked to make.”

Ramires marvel objective

The temper was turned on its head by an excellent Chelsea objective towards the run of play on the stroke of half-time, as Ramires was despatched via by Frank Lampard and produced a Messi-like end to chip the ball over Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés.

Ramires’ pleasant lob end put Chelsea forward on the away targets rule – Getty Pictures/Darren Walsh

Chelsea might have been trailing 2-1 on the evening and stage on mixture, however they had been main on the away targets rule at half-time.

Commercial

“Mr Ramires got here up with probably the most stunning objective in his profession after which abruptly every little thing modified,” Di Matteo mentioned. “The entire dynamic of the sport modified as a result of from being out, abruptly at half-time we had been main on away targets.

“Lamps performed probably the most pleasant reverse cross and I believed that Ramires was going to attempt to go around the goalkeeper, however he got here up with this unbelievable end and it modified half-time for us.

“I advised them ‘proper now we now have certified for the ultimate and that’s a stupendous place to be in’ and the gamers had been mentally ready to not have an excessive amount of of the ball. I made a few small changes and we knew we’d want some luck, however there was a perception we might do it.”

Maintaining cool

Chelsea definitely needed to experience their luck within the second half, as Messi struck the crossbar with a penalty and hit the publish after Alexis Sánchez had seen a objective disallowed for offside towards Dani Alves.

Commercial

Di Matteo preferred to smoke the occasional cigarette to gather his ideas when he was a supervisor. There had been no time for a fast half-time puff on the Camp Nou, however he tried to exude calm from the touchline.

“What am I going to do? Run up and down the touchline? No, I simply tried to remain calm as a result of, clearly, if I’m agitated or anxious then the gamers can really feel that,” Di Matteo mentioned. “My coronary heart charge was most likely somewhat increased than ordinary and time appeared to maneuver so slowly, however I used to be fairly calm. I attempted to point out the blokes that I knew it was doable.

“If Barcelona had scored one objective then they most likely would have scored one other and perhaps one other, however Messi missed the penalty and hit the publish and every time you go from 50 to 60 minutes after which to 70 minutes and 80 minutes, you begin to assume ‘we’re going to do that’.”

Neville’s ‘goalgasm’

Apart from reshuffling his defence, Di Matteo’s choice to ship on Fernando Torres instead of Didier Drogba late within the recreation proved to be impressed and provoked a well-known response from Gary Neville, who was commentating on the match.

Commercial

Neville produced his “goalgasm” second, as Torres rounded Valdés within the ultimate minute to attract Chelsea stage on the evening and ensure of their Champions League ultimate place with a 3-2 mixture victory.

“Didier was operating out of power somewhat bit and I knew that Fernando might give us one thing recent,” Di Matteo mentioned. “I didn’t see it as a bet in any respect and I knew there was the chance for them to provide us one thing on the counter-attack.”

Torres had joined Chelsea for a British file £50m in January 2011 and struggled to reside as much as his switch charge. However that second in Barcelona assured him a fond place in followers’ reminiscences for ever extra.

Commercial

“He deserved the objective as a result of he labored so onerous for the staff and to alter folks’s appreciation of him,” Di Matteo mentioned. “So I used to be very, very comfortable for him.”

Di Matteo’s management

Di Matteo is the primary visitor on a brand new podcast referred to as Fashion within the Area, hosted by founder Julie Anne Quay, who can be a director and minority proprietor at Barnsley. His episode is centred round management and there was no higher instance of Italian’s capability to guide than the dramatic evening within the Camp Nou.

It’s typically mentioned that the Chelsea staff of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole might successfully handle themselves, however that ought to not detract from the function Di Matteo performed of their Champions League success.

Commercial

Put in as interim supervisor following the sacking of André Villas-Boas, who he had been assistant to, Di Matteo knew that his job was to reconnect a powerful group of Chelsea gamers.

Di Matteo was unfazed by the interim title, his solely purpose was to ‘assist the membership and attempt to assist the gamers to attain one thing particular’ – Getty Pictures/Mike Hewitt

“Finally, the power of the group was what made Chelsea profitable and we had wonderful gamers,” Di Matteo mentioned. “However no staff has ever gained something with no supervisor or a coach.

“The actual fact I used to be the interim supervisor, I didn’t care in any respect. I didn’t care about my title, they may name me no matter they wished to. I simply wished to assist the membership and attempt to assist the gamers to attain one thing particular.

“It was about bringing all of the little teams of gamers again collectively and having the ability to pull collectively, understanding that within the dressing room we had been one household. For those who don’t have a powerful group, it’s unattainable to achieve success. The Barcelona recreation was an awesome instance of that.”

Commercial

The Pep issue

Guardiola would have been Abramovich’s dream appointment after sacking Villas-Boas, so beating the Spaniard in his personal yard undoubtedly helped Di Matteo land the full-time Chelsea job – at the least for a couple of months.

Di Matteo acknowledged he was nicely conscious of Chelsea’s curiosity in different managers, however insisted he by no means let it distract him from the duty at hand.

After the sport, Guardiola wished Di Matteo and Chelsea ‘all one of the best for the ultimate’ – Reuters/Albert Gea

“You most likely know that there was a couple of supervisor the membership was focused on on the time,” Di Matteo mentioned. “However I wasn’t actually taking any discover of it or listening to the noise as a result of I used to be too busy.

“I by no means noticed it as me going up towards Pep and I didn’t take any particular pleasure from beating his staff, not like some colleagues I beat, let’s be trustworthy!

Commercial

“He’s one of the best coach on this planet and I advised him that a couple of instances. He’s a really humble man, an awesome man. He had some good phrases on the finish of the sport after we shook palms. Some conversations stay non-public, however he did want us all one of the best for the ultimate.

“Would I’ve stayed at Chelsea if we had misplaced to Barcelona or misplaced to Bayern Munich? Who is aware of? I by no means knew something about that, but it surely’s an incredible story and I’m fortunate that I used to be a part of it.”