Revenge mission! Chelsea must beat Shakhtar at fortress Stamford Bridge... or face crashing out, says Di Matteo

By Matt Barlow
PUBLISHED:23:28 GMT, 23 October 2012| UPDATED:23:32 GMT, 23 October 2012

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Roberto di Matteo admits Chelsea must win their remaining two home games if they are to avoid being the first defending champions to crash out at the group stage in the Champions League.
Di Matteo’s team were beaten 2-1 by an exciting Shakhtar Donetsk side, who have taken a grip on Group E and visit Stamford Bridge in a fortnight.

Hand it to them: John Terry sported an anti-racism armband but was helpless to prevent Shakhtar celebrating victory

What's going on? Roberto di Matteo saw Chelsea outclassed in Ukraine

Chelsea’s final home game is against Danish minnows Nordsjaelland, who surprisingly held Italian champions Juventus to a draw.
‘We need to win our remaining home games, for sure,’ said Di Matteo. ‘The consolation was the draw in Copenhagen. It shows it’s a difficult competition but certainly we have to win our home game against Shakhtar.’

Party time: Shakhtar were good value for their victory

Juve’s dropped points were the most positive aspect for Chelsea on a night when Frank Lampard suffered a recurrence of the calf injury which ruled him out of the last two England games. He is a doubt for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League game against Manchester United.
Di Matteo added: ‘The early goal helped them and unsettled us. For the second, we got caught in possession and they punished us on the break. We have to do better in those situations.

Tough night: Chelsea' trip got worse when Frank Lampard limped off in the 18th minute

‘We have to improve our performance and be more compact. I’m confident it will be a different game at home. We are very hard to beat at home.’
Chelsea have not lost a Champions League group game at home since 2003, when they were beaten by a Besiktas team managed by Mircea Lucescu, now Shakhtar boss.
John Terry led out the Chelsea team for the first time since accepting his FA ban but his side went behind in the third minute.

At full stretch: Petr Cech was the busier of the two keepers as he tussles with goalscorer Fernandinho (second left)

Terry blocked Willian’s shot but it fell kindly for Alex Teixeira to score. The home side went two up when Fernandinho scored after Eden Hazard lost possession.
Petr Cech kept the score down before Chelsea finished strongly, Oscar pulling a goal back in the 88th minute.

Scant consolation: Oscar (centre) fired Chelsea's goal in the 87th minute

‘We didn’t play well,’ said defender David Luiz. ‘I am shocked by the performance. I don’t know what happened. Only in the last 15 minutes did we have good chances.’
Roman Abramovich will not enjoy his 46 birthday today but Di Matteo said: ‘The best gift we can give him is a victory on Sunday.’