Milan Sings on... Chelsea Falls back

Philips Stadium, 4th May 2005

It is an Electric atmosphere here in the Philips Stadium in Eidenhoven... After all, their beloved PSV are playing against AC Milan in the Champions League Semi-Final... It just keeps getting better for the Home FANS... And amidst the voracious support, PSV starts off confidently, crossing the ball into the Milan box at will... 10th Minute... Ji-Sung Park runs in and Fires in an excellent opener to KICK START the drama thats about to be witnessed this day... The Mean and Much Famed Milan Defense starts to Crumble... They were bad in the Previous home game too though they managed to maintain a clean sheet...

The team that hadnt conceded a single Goal in the last seven Games was clearly out of its touch... everything seems to be falling apart... A dangerous cross comes in and Paulo Maldini heads it clear braving the Strikers foot... Result.. Maldini is taken off at the Halftime to heal his wounds... Kakha Kalazde comes in to replace his captain...

The second half starts... again PSV is in great form ad pressure pays off... Philip Cocu finishes of an easy chance as Dida, awakened from his sweet nightmare has no idea where the ball is and ends up missing a sitter... PSV has levelled the difference and are trying to make amends to their first tie loss...

90 Minutes of play over... just four minutes of injury time remain... and an excellent ball from Kaka finds Massimo Ambrosini unmarked in the PSV box... Its Disasater for PSV... all their hard work seems to have gone down the drain by one small mistake in the entire game... but Guss Huddink is not ready to give up... they strike back with all the force and end up with an excellent Goal from Philip Cocu within the next 30 seconds...

Still an away Goal is an Away Goal and Milan ends up the Lucky losers of the day... Though losing 3-1 to PSV in the away game, the away goal saves the day and Ambrosini is the Hero of the day as Milan scrapes through into the Final... Thus continues the Milanese Fairytale, though Chelsea have a different tale to tell...

Anfield, 3rd May 2005

Its an amazing day here at Anfield... Liverpool are all fired to extract the Revenge for all their Carling cup defeat by Chelsea, while Chelsea, still upbeat by its EPL win three days back is all set to set its foot into the Champions League Final too... Its seems as if nothing could stop this Chelsea Juggernaut... They had rolled over Barcelona and Bayern and looked to repeat their tale here too... and Benitz is all set to stop it from happeneing...

KICKOFF: The refree blows his whistle and the situation is very tense right from the word go... The two teams are engaged in a classic struggle for possesion in the midfield... With just over three minutes gone, Steven Gerrard flicked the ball forward and Milan Baros hurtled after it, just managing to lob it over Petr Cech before being brought crashing to the ground. Referee Michel Lubos refused a penalty but Garcia was onto the ball in a flash, clipping it goalwards, with the spin ensuring William Gallas could not recover in time to hook it off the line.

The TV replays are still unclear whether it was a Goal or not but the Ruling by Referee is Final and Liverpool start off home campaign well again… Now Chelsea really needed to show what they are made of. Instead, they seemed transfixed by the intensity of the occasion and the home side's suffocating pressure.

Liverpool, with Dietmar Hamann in for the suspended Xabi Alonso, were tackling as if their careers depended on it and were winning not only the 50-50 balls, but most of the 40-60 tackles as well. Then again, Chelsea only had to score once to go through on away goals and there was no need for any panic in their ranks.

Indeed, both sides, with just one frontline striker each, traded blows without ever threatening to break through again before the interval. Didier Drogba burst onto Joe Cole's pass but could not turn inside the immaculate Jamie Carragher, and Chelsea patently lacked any natural width. Benitez was living every moment on the touchline, while Mourinho was rather more subdued. But then he had re-energised his side against Fulham and Bolton with motivational half-time team talks.

Once again, Chelsea tried to respond but Liverpool held firm, albeit while rather uncertain about whether to twist or hold. They soon had little choice. Djibril Cisse was brought on for Baros to provide fresh legs up front, but Mourinho responded with Mateja Kezman and Robben on for Cole and Tiago with 22 minutes left. With Drogba having curled one free-kick wastefully over the bar and Jerzy Dudek tipping another fierce effort by Lampard around the post Chelsea needed the inspiration of even a half-fit Robben. Carragher was nevertheless indefatigable, producing one vital block from Robben, although Gerrard soon matched him with a last-ditch tackle on the Dutchman. There were red shirts everywhere that Chelsea turned.

On came the towering figure of defender Robert Huth for Geremi with 15 minutes, flung up front to unsettle the home side. Liverpool's hearts fluttered every time that Chelsea broke over the half-way line, but still they held firm. Cisse's shot was deflected wide on the break and Cech denied the striker a second time when clean through. Anfield throbbed in expectation. The Reds even had to cope with six minutes of injury-time, with Gudjohnsen flashing a shot inches wide with the goal seemingly at his mercy. Eventually the final whistle blew and Anfield erupted. It was, indeed, the stuff of legends.