Ten-man Chelsea withstood another onslaught from Barcelona to reach
the Champions League final on Tuesday after hanging on for a 2-2 draw
against the defending champion.
Chelsea's hopes looked all but
over after going down 2-0 and having John Terry sent off for a needless
foul in the first half, but Ramires' audacious lob right before halftime
gave the advantage back to the Blues on aggregate.
After Lionel
Messi blasted a penalty off the crossbar in the 59th and hit the post
with another shot, substitute Fernando Torres netted in injury time to
make it 3-2 on aggregate and ensure that Chelsea reached the May 19
final at Allianz Arena in Munich.
Chelsea won the first leg 1-0 at
Stamford Bridge last week after Didier Drogba scored with the hosts'
only shot on target amid a series of wasted chances by Barcelona.
It
is Chelsea's first Champions League final since losing to Manchester
United on penalties four years ago, and gives owner Roman Abramovich
another chance to finally capture the elusive title in Europe's premier
club competition.
Bayern Munich leads Real Madrid 2-1 in the other semifinal going into the second leg in Spain on Wednesday.
Sergio
Busquets and Andres Iniesta had put Barcelona up 2-0 by the 44th as the
Spanish club once again dominated possession from the start. In between
those goals, Terry was given a straight red card for putting his knee
into the back of Alexis Sanchez, making a Chelsea fightback look even
more unlikely.
But just like at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea proved very opportunistic once it created a rare counterattack.
Ramires
ran onto a long pass to send an impressive lob over Victor Valdes to
calm Chelsea's nerves and boost the visitors morale as they headed back
into the dressing room.
Barcelona's inability to convert its
possession advantage into goals was symbolized by Messi's rare miss from
the spot in the 49th, as the Argentina winger has now been held
scoreless in seven meetings against Chelsea.
Messi hasn't scored in his last three games, after netting 63 times previously this season.
Torres,
who has struggled all season, was then sent clear in acres of space and
rounded Valdes to slot the ball into an empty net in injury time - his
eighth goal in 11 games against Barcelona.
source : jakarta post
