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Roberto Di Matteo targets title challenge

:Headline: Roberto Di Matteo targets title challenge: ID:35407: from db_amp
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo challenges his players to close last season's 25-point gap on English champions Manchester City.

Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is setting his sights on a Premier League title challenge in the coming season.

Di Matteo took caretaker charge of the Blues on March 4 and, within 11 weeks of his temporary appointment, the club went on to win both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

The 42-year-old Italian was given the manager's job on permanent basis last month and he is now hoping to make vast improvements on last season's fifth-place league finish.

"Those weeks were the craziest and most amazing of my life," said Di Matteo. "We were fighting for fourth place, the FA Cup and the Champions League. We had to switch from one competition to another and the pressure was so intense. It was just crazy.

"Manchester City have raised the bar. That is our challenge, to make up the 25-point gap in the league.

"They are doing what Chelsea did in 2004, in terms of how they have come on to the scene, signed a lot of players and tried to build a foundation. That's the challenge."

Chelsea begin their Premier League campaign with a trip to Wigan Athletic on Sunday August 19.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
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