There were celebrations at Stamford Bridge tonight, as unfancied Chelsea hammered their Champions League semi-final opponents, Barcelona, 1-0 to set up a repeat of last year's final with Manchester United in Rome on 27 May.
Chelsea had drawn 0-0 with Barcelona in the Nou Camp last Tuesday after a display that was roundly criticised by the majority of sports commentators, which just shows how much they know!
From the start, Guus Hiddink's men took the game to Barca, and it came as no surprise when Michael Essien opened the scoring after 18 minutes. The Spanish champions huffed and puffed, but rarely threatened to dominate as those in the media said they would.
Their fight became that much harder midway through the second half when Eric Abidal was sent off for a foul on Anelka, and, although Chelsea continued to waste chance-after-chance, and should even have had two penalties, the eventual result was never in any doubt.
Until the very end.
