Lionel Messi missed a penalty as
holders Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Champions League
semi-finals after 10-man Chelsea battled to a 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou
on Tuesday. Chelsea, leading 1-0 from the first leg, snatched a 3-2
aggregate win on a night of extraordinary drama which saw the Premier
League side recover from 2-0 down and the dismissal of captain John
Terry to reach next month's Munich final.
Barcelona looked to be cruising to
victory after goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta put them 2-0
up in the first half either side of Terry's red card for a foul on
Alexis Sanchez.
But a superb counter-attack and
chip from Ramires put Chelsea ahead on away goals, and in the dying
seconds substitute Fernando Torres completed an unlikely fightback to
kill off an unforgettable contest.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di
Matteo hailed his side's "incredible achievement" in reaching the final,
where his side will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
"A lot of people had written us
off and we showed again what kind of character these players have," Di
Matteo said. "We didn't expect to play with 10 men and we knew it was
going to be tough. It was even more difficult than we expected.
"They're a great team, with some
fantastic players. We just showed what we're made of." Disappointed
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola attempted to strike a philosophical note
after a traumatic exit.
"The first thing I feel is huge
sadness," Guardiola said. "I think we played exceptionally well. We have
done everything we possibly could to reach the final. Finals are great
but we'll have to watch this one on TV. "We have played well recently
but it wasn't enough. Sometimes football is like this. This year it was
not our turn. This year it seems like we could couldn't win."
An extraordinary first half had
seen Chelsea manage to frustrate Barcelona in the face of remorseless
pressure despite the setback of losing Gary Cahill to injury after only
12 minutes. Cahill was replaced by Jose Bosingwa, with Branislav
Ivanovic moving to centre-back.
Despite the defensive reshuffle
Chelsea's thin blue line held firm, with Petr Cech saving brilliantly
with his leg from Messi on 19 minutes before Terry slid in desperately
to block Iniesta's follow-up.
At the other end Chelsea were
limited to pumping long clearances for Didier Drogba, who, just as he
had done at Stamford Bridge a week earlier, was forced to plough a
lonely furrow up front.
It was only to be a matter of
time before Barcelona's monopoly of possession yielded its reward and
the breakthrough came on 35 minutes, the start of a catastrophic period
for Chelsea.
A headed Drogba clearance fell
only as far as Dani Alves on the edge of the area who picked out Isaac
Cuenca on the left, who in turn rolled his pass across the six-yard box
for an unmarked Busquets to sidefoot home.
It got worse for Chelsea a
minute later with Terry's dismissal, which left the English side with
neither of their starting centre-backs. It was not long before the
makeshift nature of Chelsea's defence was exposed and Barcelona struck
what looked to be the killer blow on 43 minutes.
Careless play from Raul Meireles
saw Messi dart forward and feed Iniesta, who sprang Chelsea's defence
and prodded past Cech for 2-0. Camp Nou rocked with delight but
incredibly, within minutes, Chelsea were back in the game and ahead on
away goals AS Ramires scored.
Lampard's magnificent pass sent
the Brazilian racing in behind the Barcelona back four and when Victor
Valdes advanced the rangy midfielder clipped an exquisite chip into the
net to make it 2-1 on the stroke of half-time.
The Catalans were swiftly back
into their stride in the second half, however, and when Drogba brought
down Cesc Fabregas to concede a penalty the match again seem to have
swung in Barcelona's favour. Yet Messi, the most prolific scorer in
Europe this season with 63 goals, implausibly crashed his spot-kick
against the bar and Chelsea were let off.
But the pattern of the game had
been set, and what followed was 40 minutes of excruciating tension as
Barcelona took up permanent residence on the edge of Chelsea's penalty
area. Chelsea, however, somehow managed to thwart their tormentors,
closing down relentlessly and never allowing Messi, Xavi and Iniesta the
freedom to work the ball into dangerous positions.
All too often Barcelona's artful
probing led to nothing as they cut the ball back from wide positions
where Chelsea's wall of bodies stood firm. Sanchez had a goal disallowed
before Cech tipped a shot from Messi onto the post in a frantic finale.
Then with Barcelona caught
pressing upfield, Torres darted clear of the home side's defence and
touched round Valdes to score and Chelsea were through. The win came at a
cost, however, with Ramires, Ivanovic and Meireles all picking up
bookings that will keep them out of the final.
