Di Matteo wants suspensions revoked

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo says the suspensions that will see six players miss the Champions League final should be overturned.

But the interim boss concedes it would be difficult to convince UEFA to make an exception and change their rule for the clash with Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in May.

Chelsea will be without Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meireles through yellow-card bans, while captain John Terry has no chance of featuring in the showpiece after picking up a straight red card in the semi-final second leg at Barcelona.

German giants Bayern will be missing defenders Holger Badstuber and David Alaba as well as midfield enforcer Luiz Gustavo.

When asked if Chelsea would consider a joint approach with Bayern to try to get UEFA to change their minds, Di Matteo told Sportinglife.com: “If there’s any possibility, we would consider it, of course. But I think it would prove very difficult.”

With it looking increasingly likely that the club’s protests will fall on deaf ears, the Italian has called for a rule change next season, which would see all players’ slates wiped clean after the quarter-finals.

Di Matteo added: “Maybe they’ll look at it and maybe change it for the future. Right now, it would be difficult. It’ll be nice if they did that.”