Chelsea beat Liverpool in thriller

Chelsea reached the Champions League final for the first time with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Liverpool after extra-time at Stamford Bridge.

Fernando Torres cancelled out Didier Drogba's first-half goal but a Frank Lampard penalty after 98 minutes restored the home side's advantage before the Ivorian's second seemed to have settled the tie.

Ryan Babel's 30-yard shot slipped through Petr Cech's fingertips with three minutes remaining to set up a dramatic finale but Avram Grant's men held on and they will face Manchester United in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on May 21 after a 4-3 aggregate success.

Extra-time was incident-packed with Sami Hyypia, a first-half replacement for the injured Martin Skrtel, letting the ball get away from him on the wet surface before fouling Michael Ballack for the penalty moments after Michael Essien had a goal ruled out for offside.
Ballack, who scored from the spot against Manchester United at the weekend, stepped aside for Lampard to calmly slot home on his return to the side following the death of his mother.
Drogba then notched his second as he got ahead of Jamie Carragher at the near post to fire home substitute Nicolas Anelka's cross.

Rafael Benitez was then forced to replace the injured Torres with Babel only for his side to be denied a penalty when Drogba upended Hyypia in the penalty area.
Cech's blunder from Babel's shot ensured a thrilling conclusion but Chelsea, after losing to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals in 2005 and 2007, held on to gain a measure of revenge