Soccer Central

Chelsea went into this tie at Stamford Bridge 3-1 up, and it was therefore expected that Chelsea would be the team heading through to the Champions League semi-final fairly comfortably. Liverpool took the match by storm in the first-half though, taking a 2-0 lead into the break, stunning Chelsea, and proving that despite Chelsea’s home advantage; they weren’t going to make this easy for Chelsea.

Liverpool was just one goal away from taking the overall lead, but Guus Hiddink’s half-time team talk obviously did the trick as in the 52nd minute Didier Drogba pulled a goal back and Chelsea once again had a clear advantage. In the 57th minute Alex scored a belter of a freekick, the game was levelled, and Liverpool now had a lot of work to do in order to get back in the game.

When Frank Lampard scored in the 76th minute then the game looked to be over; Chelsea was winning 3-2 on the night, 6-3 on aggregate, and the club was surely now well on its way to playing Barcelona in the semis. Liverpool fought back though, and two goals in two minutes meant that Liverpool was now only one goal away from achieving an aggregate win, with eight minutes left to find the net. There was a tense end to the game, and had Steven Gerrard been on the field then perhaps Liverpool would have found that extra goal that they required; sadly they didn’t though, and instead it was Chelsea that scored, again through Frank Lampard, meaning that it ultimately ended 4-4 on the night, with Chelsea winning 7-5 on aggregate.

This was a brilliant game to watch as a neutral; a real spectacle for football fans of the world, but probably not a particularly pleasurable experience for Guus Hiddink who was twice one goal away from absolute humiliation. Had Liverpool won this game at Stamford Bridge then it would have been a huge upset, and although they did come close; Liverpool’s Champions League run has once more been ended by Chelsea, and Chelsea will now be hoping to reach their second consecutive Champions League final.

Chelsea has never before won the Champions League, and if the club does indeed make it to the final then Manchester United may well once more be their opponents. If it is a repeat of last year then Chelsea will surely be looking to exhibit their revenge; if Manchester United is to make it to the semi-final though then may have to do what no English team has ever before managed; win in Porto.

Chelsea can now relax a bit as they’ve made it through to the Champions League semi-final, Arsenal and Manchester United meanwhile have it all to look forward to tomorrow evening. Chelsea is through to another Champions League semi-final, Liverpool however is out, and tomorrow we’ll find out whether we have one, two, or three English teams heading through to the Champions League semi-finals.