Di Matteo's men were hammered 5-0 by his former club and Premier League leaders Chelsea in midweek in a defeat that left them needing a win in their final Group G game against Maribor to have any chance of progressing to the knock-out rounds.
But the Gelsenkirchen club bounced back superbly with a fine Bundesliga win at the Veltins-Arena on Saturday, with striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring a hat-trick to take him past a century of Schalke goals.
And Di Matteo was quick to praise his players for the character they displayed in getting back to winning ways.
"We have given a very good team performance today and deserved the win," the Italian told Schalke's official website. "We played very well in the first half and created lots of chances.
"We were solid at the back but we were also good going forward. We have built on the good performance we showed against Wolfsburg.
"It was a victory for the team and the best response we could have hoped for after the defeat to Chelsea."
