Failure not part of the plan for Di Matteo in Turin

Roberto Di Matteo last night refused to contemplate the implications of Chelsea crashing out of the Champions League for his own future ahead of tonight’s potential do-or-die clash at Juventus.

It was déjà vu for football’s most trigger-happy club yesterday as Di Matteo became the latest Blues manager to face serious questions about his job security following a slump in results. And it could prove the start of Groundhog Day for the Italian if the European champions fail to stop the rot in Turin.

Defeat would leave Chelsea on the brink of becoming the first Champions League holders not to secure a place in the knockout stage, having taken qualification for granted during the Roman Abramovich era.

And there is no telling how Abramovich would react to such an embarrassing exit, especially in the midst of the club’s latest winter of discontent, which has seen them drop from first to third in the Premier League after taking two points from 12.

Di Matteo admitted on Friday he feared Abramovich was going to sack him along with Andre Villas-Boas before he took charge of Chelsea but he refused to reveal whether he was of a similar mind last night.

“I’m not thinking about that,” he said. “I’m preparing for the game and the team for tomorrow, and have important decisions to make about that. We are very confident we can have a good game and, hopefully, a good result.”

Di Matteo also stuck to his policy of not disclosing what conversations he and Abramovich might have had since Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at West Brom.

That loss heralded the first visible cracks in the Chelsea dressing room, with players said to have argued loudly and Di Matteo also thought to have been furious with their performance.

But the Italian “absolutely” welcomed the frank exchange, saying: “It’s important that we communicate with each other, and the players express themselves.”

Having been especially critical of a defence that went a ninth game without a clean sheet on Saturday, Di Matteo knew the challenge facing his side tonight in the absence of the injured John Terry.

“We need to pay attention and focus in certain situations defensively,” he said, revealing Ashley Cole would be back from a hamstring problem.

So finely poised is Group E that a Chelsea win tonight would secure qualification, while a draw would leave them needing only a routine victory against Nordsjaelland to progress.

A defeat, however, and Juventus would require only a draw at Shakhtar Donetsk — who could well have little to play for — to reach the last 16 at Chelsea’s expense.

Di Matteo may be under pressure but he was given a welcome vote of confidence yesterday from Juventus assistant manager Angelo Alessio

Alessio, performing the duties of Juve manager Antonio Conte during the remainder of the latter’s ban over the ‘Calcioscommesse’ match-fixing scandal, said of Di Matteo: “We’re pleased when an Italian coach does so well in England. I don’t think he is actually going to lose his job if they don’t qualify.”