Gullit - Roberto Di Matteo put Chelsea on the map

Former Chelsea player and manager Ruud Gullit has claimed that it was Roberto Di Matteo who put the Londoners on the map of international football – not current Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

Gullit, who led Chelsea to FA Cup success in 1997, believes that only clubs who have won Europe's elite club competition can truly gain international recognition as a major force in world football. Mourinho led the Stamford Bridge club to its first top-flight title success in 50 years in 2004/05, with the Portuguese boss overseeing three of Chelsea's five title wins to date.

However, Di Matteo was at the helm as caretaker boss following the dismissal of Andre Villas-Boas when Chelsea won the Champions League for the first time in 2012, defeating Bundesliga side Bayern Munich on penalties in the Germans' own Allianz Arena. Gullit believes it was this victory more than anything else which established Chelsea's reputation as a big name on the global stage.

"I think that Robbie Di Matteo put Chelsea on the map of international football," Gullit told media ahead of his appearance as an ambassador for Carlsberg during the Premier League trophy's visit to Dublin on Wednesday. "He is very responsible for that, and now Chelsea has a different aura around it because of that.

"If you want to have international acceptance in the big teams, you need to win the Champions League. You can win whatever you like, but if you don't win the Champions League you're not going to be able to be mentioned among the big teams.

"Whatever happened with Liverpool, even when they have a bad season, Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs because of what happened in the past, the five European Cups they won. Same with Bayern Munich, same with Real Madrid, same with Barcelona.

"And I remember Barcelona in my era, Barcelona was a big team but was not recognized internationally because they had never won the Champions League – that happened when they won it the first time. That gives you that etiquette of being part of the biggest clubs."

The Dutchman then relayed a story about how the Chelsea players were given added incentive to achieve the biggest feat of their careers when they arrived at the home of the Bavarians for the match on May 19^th, 2012.

"You have to get your inspiration also from some things and before the game, I think on the locker door there was something that read, 'Everybody in Europe wants Bayern Munich to win'," said Gullit.

"That was the motivation. It was a big mistake! The guy who put that on the locker room door was stupid, but they did it and that gives you an extra motivation. Chelsea was not the best team because they were never expected to win the Champions League, never.

"Because they had lost on penalties before this in Moscow [to Manchester United in 2008], they thought it was never going to happen. So therefore it was a miracle, but it was because of Di Matteo, he put Chelsea on the map."

While the two-time European Cup winner with AC Milan believes Chelsea are prioritising Europe this season, he reckons that while they may be the team to beat in England, opposition from other strong leagues on the continent won't fear facing any side from the Premier League – even if he does feel that the English top flight is the most exciting league on offer right now.

"The Premiership is the holy grail at the moment, money wise at least. There are other competitions as well, but I think that the English Premiership is the most exciting one," said Gullit. "Germany is very good, Spain has already showed how good they are. Even the Italians who everybody criticises are doing well because they had semi-finalists in the Europa League and one of the finalists in the Champions League, so they are doing something well there.

"The funny thing is, the people in the Premiership were a little bit like, ‘Hey, what's going on here, what happened?’ because they were convinced they would be dominating the Champions League, but they couldn't. So other teams in other countries are doing something different but in a good way as well.

"In Europe there are a lot of good teams," added Gullit. "Paris Saint Germain is a very good team, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and I think that other teams are also [good]. Of course it all has to do also with money. I think the structure in the Spanish league is also going to change, they need to do that also with the Italians.

"Nobody is sitting still and the German [Bundesliga] is very good because the German competition is all healthy – all healthy clubs, nobody has debts, they have a great infrastructure there. The stadiums are all full there, people are very enthusiastic about it and they play some good football."

Carlsberg ambassador and former Ballon d'Or winner, Ruud Gullit was in Dublin to showcase the coveted Premier League Trophy.