Luis Garcia scored in the fourth minute on Tuesday to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory over English champion Chelsea and put the four-time winners into the Champions League final.
The 1-0 aggregate loss ended Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho’s reign as European champion. He led FC Porto to the title last season.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, however, has a chance to add the Champions League title to the Uefa Cup he won last season with Valencia.
Liverpool took an early lead when Steven Gerrard played a through pass to Milan Baros, who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper and appeared to be brought down by Petr Cech at the same time. But play continued and Garcia managed to nudge the ball goalward, brushing Chelsea captain John Terry.
Chelsea defender William Gallas tried to clear the ball off the line, but it was ruled a goal — the fifth for Garcia in 11 Champions League matches this season.
”We’re going to the final, that’s the most important thing. Whether it was a goal or not, I’m sure people will comment on that, but we’re happy we’re going to Istanbul,” Gerrard said. ”Chelsea put us under pressure, but we defended really well.”
The English rivals drew 0-0 at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday.
”The best team lost,” Mourinho said. ”Nobody knows if it was a goal, not even the linesman knows if it was a goal. But after that only one team played, the other team just defended. So, I think the best team lost and we are very sad that we did.”
Chelsea, who clinched the English title on Saturday for the first time in 50 years, almost snatched a vital away goal in the fifth minute of injury time at Anfield when forward Eidur Gudjohnsen fired across the front of the goal after Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek had failed to clear a cross.
Liverpool, who last won the European Cup in 1984, will meet either AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven in the final on May 25 in Istanbul, Turkey. Milan won the first leg 2-0.
”At the end of the day, it’s only a semifinal and the Cup is still there to be won,” Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said.
Liverpool last reached the European Cup final in 1985, when 39 fans were killed at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, after Liverpool fans rioted.
Liverpool were weakened by the absence of suspended Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso, while Fernando Morientes and Mauricio Pellegrino were unable to play because they played in the Champions League earlier this year for other teams.
The pre-game atmosphere matched the build-up, and the noise at Anfield was deafening before kick-off.
When the Liverpool fans stretched their scarves over their heads and sang their traditional song You’ll Never Walk Alone, the 6 000 Chelsea fans tried to match the sound with We Are the Champions.
As the two teams walked out, the Liverpool fans gave their intimidating roar.
Benitez had clearly instructed his players not to let the Chelsea stars slip smoothly into their patient passing game, and they charged firmly but fairly into challenges all over the field.
”We had a good game, the same as the first leg,” Benitez said. ”We have done a good job. When you have your supporters behind you, you run a bit more.”
The result was that Frank Lampard had little time to orchestrate Chelsea moves and striker Didier Drogba frequently lay on the turf after some strong challenges from Sami Hyypia and Carragher.
Although Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole floated a cross over the top from the left and Dietmar Hamann forced Cech into a save with a snap shot out of a tackle, there were surprisingly few other chances before the break, despite the break-neck speed of the game.
While the goalkeepers were having comparatively little to do, there was plenty of action right in front of them. When Lampard, Cole or Gudjohnsen fired in a powerful shot, there was a Liverpool leg to block it while Carragher was commanding in the air.
Drogba drove a 25m free kick too high and, when Lampard fired one low from almost the same spot, it beat the defensive wall only for Dudek to dive low to his right to push it around the post.
Knowing just one away goal would put his team through, Mourinho sent on Arjen Robben and Mateja Kezman for Cole and Tiago Mendes with 22 minutes to go.
Robben, whose fitness had been in doubt, soon threatened with a shot that Carragher anticipated and blocked. Then the Dutch winger curled a shot just too high.
Mourinho made his final gamble by sending on towering German defender Robert Huth to play up front. But it was Liverpool who threatened to score a second when substitute Djibril Cisse jumped to meet a cross, only for his well-timed header to go too close to Cech. — Sapa-AP