Barcelona: Frank Lampard has hailed his team-mates after Chelsea overcame Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final.
The Blues were 2-0 behind on the night just before half-time and were a man down after having John Terry sent off for a kick on Alexis Sanchez. But a stunning goal from Ramires just before the break gave Chelsea hope before Lionel Messi missed a penalty and a resolute defensive performance eventually saw Fernando Torres race clear and seal their progression with a breakaway goal in stoppage time.
Lampard said: “What a performance! I know it was backs to the wall at times but we dug in until the very end.
“I know people want to see beautiful football, but with 10 men for 50 odd minutes and to be two goals down and perform like that - what a spirit we showed - unbelievable stuff!
“That clock felt like it was moving very slowly in the second half but I had a feeling it was going to be our night. You always know they are capable of scoring at any moment because of the players they have in their team, but there is a determination about us.
“In this game you get what you deserve and we were all in it together and we dug in and what a fantastic result we have got.”
Lampard admitted he was never confident the tie was safe until the moment Torres rounded Victor Valdes in stoppage time to seal Chelsea’s place in the final against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid next month.
“I could only relax when Fernando went round the keeper,” said Lampard. “The second half seemed like it was taking so long - even with seconds to go what happened a few years ago when they scored right at the death was all fresh in our minds.
“You wonder if it can happen again and at times we rode our luck, but you make your own luck and we deserved that result.”
The midfielder said he had not seen the Terry sending off but feels sorry for the club’s captain, who will now miss the final.
He said: “No, I didn’t see the incident. John said that he ran into the back of him. I honestly haven’t seen it but I’ve got to say I feel for him in there.
“We are in this together and we won tonight, together. If he misses the final and we can go on and win it, which is a big ask, then he will be up right there getting it with us.
“I don’t even want to think about who we will play in the final yet. Real and Bayern are two very, very good teams and I wouldn’t want to go for one over the other – they are two fantastic sides.
“Of course Chelsea people have a lot of love and respect for Jose Mourinho after what he did here but we are just delighted. Nobody expected us to go through, so the fact we are in the final is just brilliant for us.”
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