Chelsea did not wait too long to find a replacement for the fired Roberto Di Matteo, announcing the appointment of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez until the end of the season.

Roman Abramovich, unhappy with Chelsea's poor run of form over the past couple of weeks, let go of the man that gave him his most coveted European Champions League title, and then decided to hand the reins over to the man that has not been in management for nearly two years.

Benitez was linked with a move back to Liverpool in the summer, before the Anfield club named Brendan Rodgers as their manager, as the Spaniard said he was waiting for the right project to come back into management, since leaving Inter Milan.

That has been secured, albeit only for a few months, with Abramovich giving the rather demanding Chelsea keys to the former Valencia manager.

It is understood, Chelsea asked Pep Guardiola if he would come out of his sabbatical sooner than next summer, but after the former Barcelona manager said he would wait out a year, before coming back into management, the European champions quickly moved to secure Benitez's signature.

"Chelsea Football Club can confirm Rafael Benitez has been appointed interim first-team manager until the end of the season," the club said in a statement on their official website.

"The owner and the board believe that in Benitez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives.

"The 52-year-old Spaniard is due to meet the players at the training ground in Cobham tomorrow."

Earlier, Chelsea let go of Di Matteo, with the 3-0 loss to Juventus on Tuesday being the final straw.

"Chelsea Football Club has parted company this morning with Manager Roberto Di Matteo," the club had said in a previous statement.

"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 will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager."

Benitez will now hope for some luck along the way as Chelsea look to squeeze through into the knockout rounds of the Champions League, while maintaining pace with the Manchester clubs in the English Premier League.