Di Matteo Wants "Perfect" Chelsea Against Shakhtar

Roberto di Matteo admits Chelsea will need to play the "perfect game" if they are to get their Champions League campaign back on track against Shakhtar Donetsk at Stamford Bridge.

Published

7 months ago

Categories

Sports

Topics

Pro Sports

People

Roberto Di Matteo

Tags

champions league, chelsea football club

Transcript

SHOTLIST: LONDON, NOV 6, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - Pan of Chelsea traning SOUNDBITE 1 Roberto di Matteo (man), Chelsea coach (English, 24 sec): "I think there are some comparisons to last season where we had must win games. Probably tomorrow is another one like that, fortunately we have players who have that kind of experience, who have been there before. I think we need to play the perfect game to beat Shakhtar but we are strong at home." - Overlay of Chelsea training - Overlay of John Terry, Chelsea captain, training SOUNDBITE 2 Willian (man), Shaktar striker (Potuguese, 25 sec) "It is a very important match for us. We have come here with a lot of respect for Chelsea. We know that they are a very strong team at home and the the crowd will put us under a lot of pressure but we are going to try to get a good result. That is very important for us." - Wide of Willian AFP TEXT: Fbl-Eur-C1-ENG-UKR-Chelsea-Shakhtar Football: Di Matteo wants 'perfect' Chelsea against Shakhtar by Ed Aarons LONDON, Nov 6, 2012 (AFP) - Roberto di Matteo admits Chelsea will need to play the "perfect game" if they are to get their Champions League campaign back on track against Shakhtar Donetsk at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. The reigning European champions were soundly beaten by Shakhtar in Ukraine last month and go into this match on the back of a Premier League defeat by Manchester United and a disappointing draw against Swansea on Saturday. England defender Ashley Cole has been ruled out of Wednesday's game due to a hamstring strain, with Ryan Bertrand expected to replace him at left-back. Chelsea captain John Terry is though set to return after serving a four-game domestic ban for racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand. But David Luiz and Juan Mata both face late decisions on whether they can take their place in the starting line-up. Donetsk are currently leading Group E by three points but di Matteo is confident his side can deal with the pressure and secure an important victory. "We need to play the perfect game to beat Shakhtar but we are strong at home and I think we'll be fired up to win it," the former Chelsea and Italy midfielder told a news conference on Wednesday. "The way they went to Turin (against Juventus) and played there showed what confidence they have. "But we are a strong team and we will have to put them under pressure and score the goals to win the game. "I'm confident because this team has a strong winning mentality and the experience of playing in games like his because you don't feel the pressure so much," di Matteo insisted. "We certainly have to win our home games and I believe we can do that. With a win it's all in our hands and that's what we want to do." Meanwhile Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu refused to read too much into his team's 2-1 win at home to Chelsea last month. "I know that they will play under the pressure of their supporters and I'm thinking that they might have a very good match," he said. "I appreciate Chelsea and it's going to be another match than the match we played in Donetsk." Chelsea's triumphant run last season saw them reverse a 3-1 deficit at home to Napoli in the last 16 before famously going through to the final after drawing 2-2 against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic believes that experience will give them the edge against the Ukranian champions, although he warned the Blues would have to be at their best to combat the attacking threat of Brazilian trio Wilian, Alex Teixera and Fernandinho. "All these games are difficult to play because we are under pressure," Ivanovic said. "But we know how we have to approach it if we are going to win the game. "We will be judged on how we perform defensively and this is where we have to improve. I'm sure we can create chances and score goals so we must work hard on our defensive play. "We must be solid and compact in the group stage because the real aim is for us to reach the knockout stage." Cole suffered his hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium last weekend. Di Matteo admitted it was a major setback to lose a player of his experience but welcomed the return of Terry." "It's a real blow for us because he has all the experience of playing in big games like this," he said. "But on the other hand, JT (Terry) is available again so fortunately we will have a lot of experience in our side to be able to win the match." END