Di Matteo Chelsea’s coach:
Roberto Di Matteo admitted it would now be a difficult task for us to finish in the top-four and secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
‘We were looking to win the game and close the gap on Spurs, that was our idea today, we have to give credit to Spurs, they defended well and played a good game,’ said Di Matteo.
‘It’s going to be difficult [to finish in the top-four], from the day I was appointed we all knew it would be a difficult task but there are still eight games to go and we will try to win as many as we can to try and gain fourth spot.
‘To make the gap up we will have to win all of our games, you look at the fixture list and you just have to try to win the next game.’
‘In the first half we were a little bit too slow in possession, we didn’t move the ball quick enough or get into dangerous positions,’ said the Italian.
‘ They defended deep and it’s always difficult to break the opposition down, every team that comes to Stamford Bridge defends with a lot of men behind the ball so it’s never easy, and they defended well.
‘He [Cech] made some very crucial saves for us. On the other hand, we hit the post and we created some chances. We had a penalty claim as well with Ramires, I think Assou-Ekotto just pulled him down because he wasn’t aware of him.’
‘We’ll have to assess the team and see what the fitness levels and energy levels are like,’ he confirmed. ‘We need to assess the players to put a team together who can play against Benfica and be very competitive. We have so little time between games to recover so you feel it.’
Redknapp Tottenham’s coach:
‘It was an important point, the longer it went on we were getting at them and I could see us winning it really, they were probably happier to hear the final whistle than we were,’ said the Tottenham manager.
‘We kept getting corners and free-kicks in dangerous positions, but I thought Cech made a couple of great saves, the one from Bale low down was a fantastic save where it pitched right in front of him, he did really well to get a hand to it.’
