Chelsea are through to the Champions League final after a draw against Barcelona in their semi-final second-leg encounter was enough to hand them a 3-2 aggregate victory over the holders.
Roberto Di Matteo's team defended brilliantly throughout, and will
now travel to Munich on May 19 despite playing the majority of the match
with 10 men.The Catalans appeared to be home and dry after goals by Sergio
Busquets and Andres Iniesta either side of a John Terry red card
appeared to put the Blues out of the competition before half-time.However, Ramires put the tie back into Chelsea's hands with a fantastic effort just before the interval.Lionel Messi missed a penalty early in the second-half, and the Blues
combined superb defending with a bit of luck, before Fernando Torres
put the icing on the cake by finishing off a counterattack at the death.
The game plan from Di Matteo was simple as Chelsea, much as they had done in the first leg, looked to defend deep in numbers and relieve pressure on the counter whenever they could.
Barca continued to control the game, and opened Chelsea up once more
with a delightful passing move, with only the legs of Petr Cech
preventing Messi from opening the scoring.
Cesc Fabregas and Didier Drogba each found the side netting before
Javier Mascherano sent an unlikely 25-yard piledriver just over the bar
as the home side continued to search for a way through.
The hosts were forced to bring on Dani Alves after 26 minutes for
Gerard Pique, who failed to recover sufficiently from an earlier clash
of heads with Victor Valdes.
The Brazilian played a part in the opener 10 minutes after his
arrival, releasing Isaac Cuenca down the left, whose cutback evaded
multiple bodies before Busquets tapped in.
It went from bad to worse for Chelsea, as they found themselves reduced to 10 men within two minutes. Terry appeared to knee Sanchez in the back off the ball, and was shown a straight red card by the referee.
Barca took advantage of their superior numbers, and struck again two
minutes before half-time. Messi caused panic with a run at the defence
before slipping in Iniesta, who slotted into the corner.
But rather than implode, as so many teams have done against the Catalans, Chelsea responded, out of nowhere, in some style.A punt from defence by Frank Lampard was latched onto by Ramires, who
guided a delightful lob over Valdes to send the Londoners into the
break with the advantage on away goals.
Barca were handed a chance to regain the aggregate lead three minutes
after the restart, with an apparent trip on Fabregas by Drogba in the
box was spotted by the officials, leading to a penalty.
However, Chelsea’s advantage was left intact as Messi smacked the spot-kick off the crossbar.
Sanchez headed an Alves cross just wide and Cuenca was blocked at the
last by Cech, as Barca set up camp in the opposition half for the
remainder of the match.
But it was proving to be the same story as the first leg, as
Chelsea’s doggedness at the back was just enough to keep Guardiola’s men
at bay.
They were almost caught out 10 minutes before the end though, but
Messi could only strike the post after being put clear with only the
keeper to beat.
But the Catalans were out of ideas in attack, and were finished for
good by substitute Torres in the final minute of injury time. With
almost every Barca player committed in the opposition half, the Spaniard
latched onto a pass from defence by Ashley Cole, rounded Valdes and
fired home.
Chelsea continue their incredible renaissance under Di Matteo, and will await either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final at the Allianz Arena on May 19.
