Gutted Schalke manager Roberto Di Matteo admits last night’s hammering by Chelsea was the worst defeat of his managerial career.
The former Blues favourite, who delivered the club’s first Champions League triumph as boss in 2012, is now in charge at the Veltins Arena.
He welcomed his old team to Gelsenkirchen for yesterday’s Group G clash and Chelsea ran riot in Germany by putting five past the Bundesliga outfit.
It was Di Matteo’s first loss on home soil since taking the Schalke job in early October and he says the 5-0 drubbing was by far his most difficult loss to stomach so far.
“Yes,” came the short response when questioned if it was the most painful defeat of his managerial career to date.
"It is certainly a disappointing night for us in terms of the scoreline, and also the way we played. But we did play against a really great team tonight.
“If you concede too much space and time to those players, they'll exploit that.
"It was a difficult game. If you concede a goal in the second minute from a set-play, of course it doesn't help.
Di Matteo, who was brutally sacked by Blues owner Roman Abramovich despite securing that first European success two years ago, went on to apologise to Schalke’s supporters for the heavy loss.
“We are sorry for this performance,” he added.
“We paid them too much respect, weren't aggressive enough, we didn't put enough pressure on them, and they were ice cold. It was a super, clinical performance from them."
Chelsea return to Premier League action this weekend as they make the long trip to Sunderland on Saturday.
