Ronaldhino scored a late goal on Tuesday to lead FC Barcelona into the quarterfinals of the Champions League after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
The Spanish team won the two-leg series 3-2 on aggregate.
Ronaldinho scored in the 78th minute after beating three Chelsea defenders and then Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard scored the equaliser from the penalty spot in injury time.
Barcelona provided most of the flare in the match, while Chelsea always looked dangerous.
”I think we deserved to get through and I congratulate the players,” Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said. ”We said before the game that nothing was decided and that we had to play a good team which is very dangerous. We did well and we didn’t give away many chances.”
Tension was heightened in the run-up to the match after Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had criticised Barcelona and the referee following the first leg.
”Beating a team with a great coach always makes you really happy,” Ronaldinho told Canal Plus. ”There’s nothing better than winning a game like this one.”
Last year, Chelsea had overturned a 2-1 deficit to beat Barcelona 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and win 5-4 on aggregate.
Chelsea looked to do it again Tuesday and pressed for an early goal. Damien Duff sent a pass across the penalty area in the fourth minute but no teammate was on hand to strike it home.
Barcelona, however, looked confident in defence and withstood the opening pressure.
”Under normal circumstances the team which scored more goals deserves its victory,” Mourinho said. ”But if we are talking about both games, there was a key moment when [Asier] Del Horno was sent off. Barcelona plays fantastic soccer, it can’t be denied, but when it was 11 against 11, Chelsea was the winner.”
Del Horno was sent off in the first leg after body-checking Lionel Messi in the first half.
In the second leg, the hosts had the first shot at goal in the eighth minute when Thiago Motta sent in a low drive that was saved by a diving Cech.
Chelsea’s first attempt came when lone striker Didier Drogba had a penalty-area header saved by Victor Valdes in the 19th.
Messi limped off the field in the 25th with an injury and was replaced by Henrik Larsson. Messi was a key player for the Spanish team in the first leg.
Chelsea then went into its customary defensive mode and seemed prepared to wait for a chance to surprise the Spanish champions. It almost came in the 34th when Arjen Robben broke in from the right wing and powered a shot from outside the area that Valdes did well to save.
Joe Cole later had a flick-on shot go over the crossbar moments before the break.
Chelsea attacked early in the second half but Barcelona responded with a curving corner kick by Ronaldinho that Cech barely punched away.
Mourinho substituted Duff and Drogba with Eidur Gudjohnsen and Hernan Crespo in the 58th minute, and the change livened up the English team’s attack.
Crespo sliced the ball barely wide on a cross from Cole in the 18th minute.
Eto’o almost added a second goal in the 85th minute when he had a sharp-angled shot bounce off the far post.
Barcelona defender Carles Puyol received a yellow card for a foul on Gudjohnsen and will miss the quarterfinals. – Sapa-AP