Mourinho wishes Rafa luck

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has wished new Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez his best while also sympathising with Roberto Di Matteo.

Benitez was last night confirmed as Di Matteo’s replacement after the Italian was dismissed in the wake of Tuesday night’s 3-0 Champions League loss to Juventus.

Mourinho, who spent just over three years at Stamford Bridge before leaving in 2007, was asked about the managerial change at his former club following Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

“That’s football,” Mourinho told Sky Sports 2. “I’m never happy when a manager is sacked. It can happen to me and is a feeling that no one likes to have.

“But at the same time, everyone knows I like Chelsea.

“I supported Roberto and I wished him to do well, and I will support the next Chelsea manager.

“I wish good luck to Benitez.”

[comment]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, described Di Matteo’s departure, which came just months after he secured both the Champions league and FA Cup for the club, as “very sad”.

The Frenchman also admitted his surprise that Benitez’s deal is only until the end of the season, and that the Spaniard accepted those terms.

“I find it surprising and very sad, personally,” Wenger said after his side’s Champions League victory over Montpellier.

“I believe it is important on our side to show loyalty and Di Matteo has come in a difficult situation, won the Champions League, won the FA Cup.

“He has done well and he was not given any time at all this season so it is a complete surprise to me.

“[The appointment and deal] is a surprise as well because Rafael Benitez is a guy who has a record.

“He is a manager of stature and it is a surprise he is appointed for such a short time. I am surprised as well he accepted that.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, a former member of the Chelsea coaching staff, also had great sympathy for Di Matteo.

[comment]

“It is disappointing. I have real empathy for him,” Rodgers said. ”I felt for Robbie because he went in there and did a brilliant job.

“It is incredible you can win the Champions League and a domestic cup competition and find yourself out of a job.

“It is a disappointing day because it really shows the game we are in now as managers. Years ago if you were bottom of the league and maybe hadn’t won in 10 games there was probably a likelihood that you might lose your job.”

Not everyone disagreed with the decision however, with former Chelsea captain Paul Elliott backing Abramovich’s approach.

“Results and performances haven’t been to the level of a club of this magnitude,” Elliott told BBC Sport. “Abramovich has always been good for Chelsea and will continue to be.

“Roberto, like every other manager, is in the results business. You can get away with bad results if the team is playing well, but the fact is that he wasn’t getting results and the team wasn’t playing well.”