Manager Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked by Chelsea after just eight months in charge.
Di Matteo won the Champions League and FA Cup as caretaker manager last season and was given a
two-year deal in June.
But in the wake of the
3-0 defeat to Juventus,
which has left the Blues on the brink of a Champions League exit, he has left Stamford Bridge.
"The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first-team manager,"
a statement said.
Owner Roman Abramovich, who is looking for a ninth manager since
taking over at Stamford Bridge in 2003,
is known to be a
long-term admirer
of
former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.
However it is not known whether Guardiola is willing to
end his sabbatical from football and Abramovich has made contact with
former Liverpool manager Rafael BenÃtez to gauge his interest in taking
charge on a short-term basis.
The club's Russian benefactor made contact with Benitez before Tuesday's defeat in Italy as he assessed his options.
After an impressive start to the season, the Blues have won two of their last eight games.
They sit third in the Premier League table, four points
behind leaders Manchester City, who they host at Stamford Bridge on
Sunday.
Chelsea could become the first Champions League holders to exit at the group stage of the competition.
The club statement continued: "The team's recent
performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the
board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in
the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the
season.
"The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying
for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as
maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while
competing in three other cup competitions.
"Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts."
Di Matteo
took full responsibility for the defeat in Turin,
which means Chelsea will be knocked out if Juve draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk on 5 December.
He said: "If anyone has to take blame, it's me. I selected a team I was convinced would win or at least draw."
When asked whether he needed a vote of confidence from
the club's owners he added: "No, I don't need that. The fact they put
trust in me in the summer, that's enough for me."
Former
West Brom
and
MK Dons
manager Di Matteo, 42, who had been working as assistant manager at Stamford Bridge,
replaced Andre Villas-Boas in March.
The ex-midfielder won the FA Cup twice and made 175
appearances for the Blues between 1996 and 2002, and took over as boss
in the wake of Chelsea's
3-1 defeat to Napoli
in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
But they overturned that deficit with a
4-1 win at Stamford Bridge
and secured a
2-2 draw at Barcelona
in the semi-final second leg despite having John Terry sent off in the first half at the Nou Camp.
After
beating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final,
they
beat Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out
in the Champions League final.
They finished sixth in the Premier League and Abramovich waited until June to give Di Matteo the job on a permanent basis.
And after the arrivals of
Eden Hazard,
Oscar
and
Victor Moses,
they suffered just
one defeat
in their opening 12 matches before the recent downturn.
Although Chelsea enjoyed an impressive opening to the campaign, Di Matteo faced
constant questions about Terry,
who was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the Football
Association for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand last
October.
There was further controversy when the
Blues accused Clattenburg of using inappropriate language
towards midfielder John Obi Mikel in their 3-2 home defeat by Manchester United in October.
At 262 days in charge, Di Matteo lasted longer than
previous Abramovich managers Villas-Boas (256), Avram Grant (247) and
Luiz Felipe Scolari (223).
Benitez, 52, has been out of work since he was
sacked by Inter Milan in December 2010
after just six months in charge.
The Spaniard left Valencia to
join Liverpool in 2004
and
won the Champions League in 2005,
as well as
reaching the final in 2007,
before
leaving Anfield by mutual consent in 2010.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who has an
eight-year contract,
is surprised by Di Matteo's departure.
"I'm astonished really," he said. "It just goes to show
you how precarious we are as Premier League managers and we can't take
anything for granted.
"As far as I'm concerned he's done nothing absolutely
wrong. The philosophy was to perhaps change the look of the team which
he's tried to do and that doesn't happen overnight.
"He's won two competitions in less than a year so it's unbelievable."
