Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich sack Roberto Di Matteo

Roman Abramovich fired Roberto Di Matteo this morning after an 'unacceptable' run of results.

The Chelsea owner, furious with the club's disastrous Champions League campaign, sacked him this morning just hours after their 3-0 defeat at Juventus.

Chelsea executives met at Stamford Bridge to tell Di Matteo that his reign was over just six months after leading them to glory in the European Cup.

Abramovich's No 1 target is former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, but the Blues owner needs to persuade him to end his year-long sabbatical from football. If he fails in this bid, he will turn to Rafa Benitez to take the helm.

Abramovich was furious that the team, who started the season with the chance to win seven trophies, are already in freefall.

Although he was prepared to overlook the Community Shield defeat against Manchester City, he was furious with the 4-1 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup.

Abramovich’s circle made it clear that they had to play seven games to 'qualify' for the Community shield and that it should be treated seriously.

Likewise the 4-1 defeat against Atletico in Monaco came after they won the Champions League final against Bayern Munich and they wanted to win it.

Chelsea need a miracle to qualify from Group E of the Champions League and are in danger of becoming the first holders in the history of the competition to go out in the group phase.

They are four points behind this weekend’s opponents Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League and cannot afford another defeat after last week’s 2-1 loss at West Bromwich.