• Bundesliga

Di Matteo appointed Schalke manager

Roberto Di Matteo © Getty Images

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Schalke have appointed former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo as their new head coach after parting company with Jens Keller.

Di Matteo has been out of a job since being sacked by Chelsea in 2012, despite guiding the club to their first ever Champions League crown that year.

The Italian takes over from Keller after Schalke revealed they would be holding a crisis meeting on Tuesday surrounding the future of the under-fire manager.

Di Matteo is set to meet his former club Chelsea on November 25, when they visit the Veltins Arena for their fifth Champions League match in Group G. The first meeting between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Keller's job had appeared to look safe last month after Schalke took seven points from three Bundesliga games, including a 2-1 home derby win against Borussia Dortmund.

However, following the 2-1 defeat to Hoffenheim at the weekend, which followed a 1-1 draw with Maribor in the Champions League last week, the German club opted to make the change.

"We did not lose against Hoffenheim because they were the better team and we did not draw with Maribor because the opponent asked too much of us - instead it happened because we did not act like you have to act against those teams," sporting director Horst Heldt said after the Hoffenheim loss.

Schalke have won only two of their 10 competitive games this season and were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal by third-tier club Dynamo Dresden. They currently have eight points from seven Bundesliga games and sit 11th in the table, while they face a battle to qualify from their Champions League group, in which they are competing against Chelsea, Maribor and Sporting Lisbon.

As well as managing Chelsea, Di Matteo has also taken charge of MK Dons and West Bromwich Albion in the past.

The former Italy international, who is fluent in German, was previously linked to the Eintracht Frankfurt job, while in late 2012 he was also mentioned as a possible candidate to take over at Schalke.

Keller, who was appointed Schalke coach in December 2012 and secured the club Champions League football for two consecutive seasons, is the second Bundesliga manager to be sacked this season after Hamburg relieved Mirko Slomka from his duties.

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