<p>   u00a0</p>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Despite the Blues being victorious in their last Champions League game, their manager feels there is still more to do.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div>   A 75th-minute goal on the counter-attack from Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea a huge advantage heading into next week&#39;s return leg at Stamford Bridge as Di Matteo&#39;s risky selection gamble paid handsome dividends.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div>   <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/mar/matteo28mar.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 750px; " /></div>  <p class="caption">   Roberto Di Matteo. Pic/AFP</p>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   After watching Chelsea labour to a 0-0 draw at Tottenham last weekend, Di Matteo took the brave decision to omit Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien from his starting line-up at the Stadium of Light.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   It was the sort of decision that could have gone horribly wrong but instead Di Matteo was left to reflect on Chelsea&#39;s best away performance of the season.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   However the interim coach insisted Chelsea would take nothing for granted against a Benfica side who have already helped to eliminate Manchester United from Europe this season.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;We haven&#39;t qualified yet,&quot; Di Matteo said. &quot;It&#39;s a dangerous assumption to think you&#39;ve qualified. Away from home Benfica has had some great results but we cannot think that we&#39;re through yet.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;I think we&#39;ve put ourselves in a good position but it&#39;s not a result you can rely on for the home game because it&#39;s only one goal.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;You look at the results that Benfica has achieved in the Champions League and you&#39;re not going to sleep very calmly looking at that.&quot;</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Nevertheless it was a far cry from the potentially fatal first leg mauling Chelsea had suffered against Napoli in the last 16, when only a miraculous comeback in the second leg saw them overturn a 3-1 deficit.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;I think we are pleased that we are in a different position going into the second leg next week,&quot; Di Matteo said.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;You know we had a mountain to climb against Napoli. Next week will be a mountain as well -- but it will be a little bit smaller because we had a good result here.&quot;</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Chelsea&#39;s winning goal involved two players -- Fernando Torres and Kalou -- who had not been expected to start.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Di Matteo said with Chelsea battling in the Premier League to finish in the top four along with an FA Cup semi-final looming, his selection for Benfica had arisen out of necessity to rotate his resources.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;You know we&#39;ve been playing all these games, and they&#39;re all at high intensity, and tonight was another one,&quot; he said.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;It was just a question of trying to energise the team, freshen up the team. We knew that Benfica would play at a high tempo and we needed some fresh players who could run and that was the reason for it.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;We cannot play just with 11 players. We need everybody in this squad. Players that haven&#39;t played much in the past are going to play a role in the future. It&#39;s just impossible for us to go every three days and reach fitness levels that are needed to win games.&quot;</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Di Matteo also said the Portuguese connections of former Benfica duo David Luiz and Ramires, along with Paulo Ferreira and Raul Meireles had been crucial.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;One of the reasons I selected David Luiz, Meireles, Ramires and Ferreira is because they know Benfica very well, their players and the atmosphere. They&#39;ve had that experience,&quot; he said.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Benfica coach Jorge Jesus meanwhile said he was confident his side could recover in the second leg.</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;We still have one game to go, it will be played the same if it&#39;s 0-0,&quot; Jesus said. &quot;We have the conviction that we weren&#39;t anything less than Chelsea.u00a0We believe we can go there and win. We didn&#39;t deserve to lose tonight.&quot;</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;Chelsea had too much experience. It wasn&#39;t a just result, but the truth of the match is they won 1-0.u00a0The virtue is that they managed time very well. They were waiting for a chance and when they got their chance they scored.&quot;</div>  

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo insisted his team still had a "mountain to climb" after a gritty 1-0 victory over Benfica that put the Premier League side on course for the Champions League semi-finals.

Job only half-done says Di Matteo

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Sports / Cricket / Article / Job only half-done says Di Matteo

Job only half-done says Di Matteo

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast