Di Matteo enjoyed his possible Chelsea's glory night

'Mr Chelsea' enjoys glory night but it might be his last with the club, as wealthy Russian club owner might look for bigger name to manage the Blues

Roberto Di Matteo can now claim the title of "Mr Chelsea" with as much justification as any of the club's great players of the past or indeed some of those who helped Chelsea become European champions for the first time.
The 41-year-old interim manager transformed their season which culminated in the most glorious success in their 107-year history as Chelsea became the first London team to win Europe's top club competition with a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich.
"Football and football life sometimes is unpredictable and crazy," he said looking calm but slightly red-eyed after the anxiety of the match and wild celebrations that followed.
"I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened in the last three months and to finish off in this way is just incredible."
The issue now is whether his reign as interim manager ends with his departure from the club because owner Roman Abramovich wants a more glitzy, big-name manager, or whether this triumph, two weeks after Chelsea won the FA Cup, will persuade Abramovich that Di Matteo is the man for the job long term.
In the same guarded manner he has used when discussing his future or club decisions since his surprise promotion to the top coaching job, he batted away the inevitable question once again.
"It's not important," he said. "I've been happy with the role I've been given. Whatever happens to me I will accept," he said, refusing to be drawn on what Abramovich had said to him in the delirium after the match.
Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and Fabio Capello, who was talking to the suspended Chelsea skipper and his ex-England captain John Terry before the match, have both been mentioned as possible replacements.
DEAL HIM IN
Beaten Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes was in no doubt what Abramovich should do.
"If I was the club owner I would give him a three-year deal today," he said after his side's shattering defeat in their own stadium.
Russian billionaire Abramovich, who has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Chelsea since buying the club in 2003, has dreamed of winning the Champions League from the day he took control.
He was ecstatic as his players collected the trophy at the end of an astonishing night, when he too finally got his hands on the trophy.
Whether Di Matteo masterminded the victory, or Chelsea rode their luck in the face of relentless Bayern pressure, is open to debate, but there is no doubt he breathed new life into a team failing badly until he took over from Andre Villas-Boas at the beginning of March.
Chelsea lost only three times in 21 matches since he took control and they are now officially the best team in Europe, even though they could finish only sixth in the Premier League.
"We just had to do the best with what we had," Di Matteo said. "In the last week it's been especially difficult with four players suspended and two central defenders out with injury for a long time.
"You have to try to make the best and that's what we did and that's why we won."
A former Chelsea midfielder, his playing career ended prematurely when he broke his leg in their colours in a UEFA Cup match in 2000.
Di Matteo scored the fastest goal in an FA Cup final held at the old Wembley Stadium and scored the last goal in an FA Cup final there before the stadium was demolished.
If given the chance, he might even manage to lead Chelsea back to the Champions League final at the new Wembley next year.
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