Toughest task yet for Di Matteo’s winning Chelsea team

Beating Manchester City at home in the league and qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League were the highlights of Andre Villas-Boas’ brief stint as Chelsea manager. The club’s owner took a gamble by sacking the Portuguese when he did but that paid off in the best possible way just seven nights ago.

Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea have also now booked a place in the FA Cup semi-finals next month. They are currently fifth in the Premier League with ten games to go, and need to finish the season higher than that or the Champions League quarter-finalist’s only remaining route left into next season’s Champions League would be by winning it outright this year.

Roberto Mancini’s City, like Manchester United, have exited both European club competitions already this season, leaving both clubs in the two horse race for the Premier League with nothing else left to compete for. If Chelsea are to go all the way and win the FA Cup this year then two dates at Wembley Stadium stand between that becoming reality.

Similarly, two fixtures at the Etihad Stadium will determine whether City finish as English league champions this season or not. The first is this evening against Chelsea, with the potential championship decider against United at the end of April.

There wasn’t a great deal of pressure on the interim manager at the Stamford Bridge club last week. Villas-Boas was the man responsible for the defeat in the first leg. Ensuring there was to be no hiccup against Leicester City last Sunday presented Di Matteo with the opportunity to take his team into the a couple of big league fixtures in winning form, but despite City’s defeats against Sporting Lisbon and at Swansea, I cannot see their 100% record at home being troubled.

Furthermore, I would very much like to be able to look back on this game and realise that all the talk of it featuring Carlos Tevez was in fact just a clever disguise by the manager, to avoid answering distracting questions about City’s recent blip. If the Argentine is involved in anyway, regardless of his talent, then it could ultimately scupper their title challenge this season.

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