Rafael Benitez to be appointed Chelseamanager tonight as he jets in forinterview to replace Roberto Di MatteoRafa Benitez is expected to be confirmed asChelsea’s new manager this evening.Chelsea are preparing to make a statementconfirming the shock appointment following thismorning’s dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo.Whether his appointment will be permanent or atemporary measure in preparation for the arrivalof former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola in thesummer remains the subject of intensespeculation.For Benitez it represents an astonishing return tomanagement after almost exactly two yearswithout a job since he was sacked byInternazionale. Benitez is flying into London fromAbu Dhabi in preparation for tonight’sannouncement.Benitez is Chelsea’s first-choice to replace DiMatteo, who was axed in the early hours of thismorning after Chelsea lost at Juventus last night,leaving them in danger of failing to qualify for theknockout phase of the Champions League for thefirst time in their history.The Evening Standard is reporting that the job isBenitez’s to lose, although he will only be given acontract until the end of the season with ownerRoman Abramovich still keen on hiring formerBarcelona coach Pep Guardiola for the long term.Benitez turned down the chance to be an interimcoach at Chelsea in March after the sacking ofAndre Villas-Boas and the post went to Di Matteo.The 52-year-old wanted an 18-month contractrather than the three months he was offered butit is believed he is now prepared to accept acaretaker role, having been out of work sincebeing fired by Inter Milan in 2010.Benitez was at an event in Abu Dhabi thismorning and when asked whether he has hadany contact from Chelsea, Benitez replied: “Youasked me directly, I can’t answer directly. Infootball a lot of people are talking so we will seewhat happens in the next few days. I am lookingfor a club that can challenge for trophies andChelsea are one of these clubs. I have to talk withmy agent and see what he has been doing thelast couple of days. But I am just trying to go to ateam that can win.”Chelsea see Benitez as the man that can get thebest out of ailing £50million striker FernandoTorres.The Spain international has scored just 19 goalsin 87 appearances since joining in January 2011,which compares badly with the 65 he netted in91 League starts for Liverpool, most of whichcame when Benitez was in charge at Anfieldhaving signed him from Atletico Madrid in 2007.Chelsea fans will not welcome his appointment,although there is still speculation linking formerboss Avram Grant with the job.It is believed Chelsea have considered firing DiMatteo for some time and that it was not a knee-jerk reaction to last night’s loss or defeat to WestBrom in the Premier League on Saturday.It is understood there has been concern over hisfailure to get the best out of the squad thisseason, especially having spent over £80millionon new players in the summer.Chelsea’s first choice to replace Di Matteo on along-term basis has always been Guardiola. Theyhave been in contact with his advisors regularlyover the past 18 months and tried to hire him inthe summer despite Di Matteo winning theChampions League in May.Chelsea have been in touch again in the past fewdays but are still facing a difficult task. Guardiolais taking a year sabbatical in New York and has nointention of cutting it short.He is expected to make a decision on his future inthe new year with Manchester City, AC Milan andBayern Munich also interested in him butChelsea’s sacking of Di Matteo will not help theirchances of luring him. Abramovich has sackedeight managers since he bought the club in 2003and the instability is in danger of putting offGuardiola.In May, Di Matteo fulfilled Abramovich’s dream asChelsea won the Champions League for the firsttime in their history but last night’s 3-0 loss lefttheir hopes of retaining the title in doubt.Di Matteo was sacked as the team arrived backfrom Turin and Standard Sport understands chiefexecutive Ron Gourlay and chairman Bruce Buckdelivered the news on behalf of Abramovich. Themanager said a quick farewell to his players,many of whom have been devastated by hisdeparture. Chelsea announced the decision in astatement this morning but there was no mentionof a caretaker manager, which strongly suggeststhe new boss will be in place for Sunday’s matchagainst Manchester City.The downturn in Chelsea’s fortunes has beendramatic because it was just over a month agothat the club beat Tottenham 4-2, which wastheir sixth victory in a row in all competitions, togo four points clear at the top of the PremierLeague.But the club have won just two of their last eightmatches since then, which has seen them drop tothird place in the top flight and also third in theirChampions League group with just one matchremaining and looking certain to miss out onqualifying for the group phase.Chelsea banked £47m for winning European’sbiggest prize and earlier this month the Bluescredited that sum with them posting a £1mannual profit, their first during the Abramovichera.However, an early exit this season would leavethem in danger of falling back into the red nextyear — last term Manchester United received£28m after failing to make the last 16.Chelsea said: “The team’s recent performancesand results have not been good enough and theowner and the board felt that a change wasnecessary now to keep the club moving in theright direction.”