Rafael Benitez finally got the credit he deserved from Chelsea fans for the decent turnaround in the season after the departure of Roberto Di Matteo earlier in the season.

Metro reveals that the Spaniard had been heavily criticized by fans at Stamford Bridge due to Chelsea’s irregular form when he first arrived at the club, but the same fans have slowly started realizing that their season has been saved by Benitez.

The Blues were struggling for form under Di Matteo at the start of the campaign, and being ousted from the UEFA Champions League in the group stage hit owner Roman Abramovich hard. The Champions League has been a trophy adored by the Russian owner, and despite winning it for them last year, Di Matteo was given the sack midway through the campaign.

Then Chelsea had two options, either to go with a permanent manager straight away, or have an interim manager take care of proceedings till the board can lock in on a permanent manager in the summer. Abramovich opted for the second option, and despite looking bleak initially, it sure paid off for the Russian.

Chelsea fans came down hard on Benitez, due to his past association with Liverpool and his comments about the club. The criticism was not well received by the manager, who kept insisting that his job was to manage as interim boss, and the supporters were harming none other than their own players by not supporting them.

Benitez then tightened the strings in the Barclays Premier League, ensuring Chelsea attacked with confidence, and scored enough goals to qualify for the Champions League. Also, the Spaniard had one eye on the UEFA Europa League, which Chelsea were demoted to after their loss in the Champions League group stage.

Chelsea won the Europa League under Benitez, and Frank Lampard signed a new deal with the club, something which was well appreciated by Abramovich and the fans. Along with the trophy, Chelsea also secured automatic promotion into the Champions League group stage by finishing 3rd in the league.

Time will tell what the future holds for Benitez, but if one thing is sure, that is the respect he has earned from the Chelsea supporters.