Tomorrow evening, Roberto Di Matteo will come up against Chelsea for the first time since he guided the club to Champions League success on that memorable night in Munich back in 2012.
Now the head coach of Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04, the Italian will be plotting the downfall of his former employers, for whom he also made 175 appearances during a six-year playing stint in West London.
Ahead of the reunion in Germany, Sports Mole spoke with Di Matteo's ex-Chelsea teammate Michael Duberry, who has reflected on his time playing alongside the 44-year-old, as well as the importance of the match itself.
You played with some highly respected players during your time at Chelsea, but where does Di Matteo rank among them?
"Roberto was a brilliant player. He could score a goal and was a great attacking player. We had a great midfield at the time with Dennis Wise, Gus Poyet and Dan Petrescu. Roberto just knew where the goal was. Even if he was having a poor game, he could pop up with a goal or two. In that respect, he was brilliant for the team. The likes of Gus and Dan were arguably more technically gifted than Roberto, but when it came to scoring goals and what that brought to the team, Roberto was right up there."
As you mentioned, he scored some important goals, especially in cup finals. At the time, things were also changing off the pitch at Chelsea. Did he help contribute to that?
"That era, it was changing as far as the culture in football was concerned. Your preparation, your training, your post-match cooling down with all the massages - all that he brought with him from Italian football. It rubbed off on the players. At that time we had a multi-cultural team, but he was still able to add some of his own professionalism."
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He obviously went on to manage the club to Champions League success in 2012. For that contribution and his time there as a player, is he a Chelsea legend?
"He's a massive figure. He managed the club to the biggest achievement in its history. If you put Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Guus Hiddink and Roberto all in a line and asked which one of them would win the Champions League for the club, Roberto would have been the last pick, but he surprised everyone. He did it when the club was going through a bad stage with not the strongest team when you compare it to other Chelsea sides of the modern era. Some of the players were coming to the end of their careers at the club and it was their last chance [to win the Champions League].
"Whatever he done in that dressing room, he galvanized the team and he dug results out. You can watch the re-runs of that Champions League story and in some games it seemed like Chelsea were heading out, but from the brink, he pulled things around. He was a legend as a player - and I don't use that word for the sake of it because it's overused in football - but he was also a legend as a manager. His name will be synonymous with success at the club."
With that in mind, do you think that he was perhaps harshly treated when he was sacked? Did he deserve more time?
"That's football. Managers can either get three months or three years it seems. Everyone wants more time. It was a surprise that he went, but things happen for a reason. You have to go away to come back. Was he harshly treated? It's hard to say unless you know the ins and outs. The major surprise behind him going was the fact that he had a great relationship with everyone."
How pleasing is to see him back in the dugout at Schalke?
"It's good that he's back in management and has a chance to show that he's a good manager again. It's a good club for him and it gives him a chance to go again with Champions League football as well. He can spread his wings and start to learn his trade, because it's easy to forget that he's still a fairly new manager, despite his success. Hopefully he can get himself on the ladder again an earn himself a really big job, no disrespect to Schalke."
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Knowing him as you do, how determined will he be to beat Chelsea, despite his close connections?
"He will want to win. It seems that in modern day football if you score against your old team you don't celebrate, but you want to win. Everyone understands that he's got a job to do. Mourinho done the same at Chelsea - he got a warm reception from the fans when he came back with Inter Milan. He won't mean any disrespect to Chelsea, but he has a job to do and will be determined to get a victory."
In terms of the match itself, is there more riding on it than Mourinho would have hoped? A win would see them qualify, but a loss makes things nervy going into the final game, doesn't it?
"The last result [against Maribor] was not the result that they wanted. It would have been good to end things there and Mourinho could have then rested some important players against Schalke. Now, they go into the game needing a result. It's not a desperate situation, but they don't want to take things into the final game still concerned about not qualifying."
Why do you think Chelsea have perhaps struggled to replicate their Premier League form in the Champions League? They haven't lost in Europe yet, but there has been a couple of unexpected draws.
"They haven't dominated Europe as much as the Premier League. It's a different style of football, the tactics are different and opposition sides setup differently. All those elements make it difficult. If they were dominating Europe, we would be talking about a side to match the recent Barcelona team, but it's not that simple. At times it's good to keep things grounded. They know that they still need to work and that they are not the finished article. It keeps management and players alike thinking and improving."
Assuming that they get a good result against Schalke and get out of the group, how far do you see Chelsea going in this season's Champions League?
"The group stages can sometimes determine how far you go. If you win your group, your path might become a little bit easier. It depends on the likes of form and injuries after Christmas. I can see them going deep, though. They've got a history of it now. The management will keep them on their toes and you can tell that the players want it. Everyone wants to be a European champion and a burning desire to be the best - the best player, the best club and the best team. When you look around, are any teams showing real great form? Maybe a couple are, but if they can be avoided, Chelsea can go far."
Liam Apicella
