How Liverpool rated | How Chelsea rated

What a player. What a man. What an absolute diamond of a footballer. The critics, the haters, they cannot touch Frank Lampard now. Not after last night. Not after that penalty. He won, they lost. He stood tall, they skulked in the background.

The debate is over. The phone-ins, the message-boards, the sad little snipers from outside the arena; what do they matter when set against this, among the gutsiest acts from any athlete, across many decades?

Didier Drogba’s second goal of the night may have ultimately made the difference between the teams, once Ryan Babel’s late goal confirmed that there are no circumstances in which Liverpool will give up in Europe, but it is Lampard’s bravery that will stand in the memory of all who witnessed this incredible match.

The scores were tied and extra time was eight minutes under way when Sami Hyypia, the Liverpool defender, clumsily fouled Michael Ballack just inside the penalty area and Roberto Rosetti, the Italian referee, having moments earlier erased a goal from Michael Essien for offside, pointed to the spot. At that moment, only those without an ounce of humanity would not have felt a knot tightening in their stomach as Lampard seized the ball.

Not just because a place in the Champions League final was at stake, and to miss would almost certainly have handed the psychological advantage, and the match, to Liverpool. Not just because Lampard is still grieving for Pat, his late mother, who died last week after a short illness, and his head must have been a swirl of conflicting emotions. Not even because to take the penalty meant denying Ballack, a German-born teammate with all that that implies, who has missed once from the spot in his entire professional career.

For all of those reasons, for any one of them, everybody would have understood had Lampard shrunk from the responsibility. Many, indeed, would have preferred it. Lampard did not flinch. Somehow, Frank Sr, his father, did not turn away either. Unlike some of Lampard’s teammates, and Fernando Torres, the Liverpool striker, he looked on, eyes filled with tears, as his son scored, sending José Manuel Reina the wrong way. Pat, your boy did you proud. It was, and will for ever be, his career-defining moment.

And this was a defining match, too. It brought down the curtain on the José Mourinho years at Stamford Bridge, because nobody can omit Avram Grant, his replacement, from this achievement now.

Mourinho has been gone since September of last year but his spectre lingers. This, however, is a triumph of Grant’s own. He has managed all but one of the matches that have taken Chelsea to Moscow and the first all-English European Cup final, while Mourinho’s contribution was a disappointing home draw with Rosenborg, of Norway. Whatever the arguments about the merit of Grant’s appointment, this result means that at the very least he deserves the right to be in charge at Chelsea next season, and the chance to build his own team.

This also concludes the era in which it was considered impossible for Chelsea to get past Liverpool in Europe, the single-goal margin of victory belying the superiority of the home team. Chelsea were every bit as dominant as Liverpool had been at Anfield last week and deserve their journey east for the way that they refused to be intimidated by history. It is Manchester United next, in the Barclays Premier League and beyond. What a climax to the season these two will provide.

Were it not for the emotion surrounding Lampard, the night would have belonged to Drogba. His integrity and honesty having been doubted by Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, going into this game - and with just cause, it must be said - he responded with words before the match and then deeds during it. No prizes for guessing what will have hurt BenÍtez more. Drogba topped and tailed this victory, first with the goal that broke the second-leg stalemate in the 33rd minute, then with what proved to be the winner in the last minute of the first half of extra time.

For lovers of the passing parade, Drogba’s celebration was worth the admission price alone. First, he mocked BenÍtez’s words with a belly-down dive towards the corner flag, then he rubbed it in with a defiant knee-slide in front of the Liverpool bench that almost took him into the arms of the Liverpool manager. You could say he milked it. You could say a good many would, in the circumstances.

The goals were what mattered, though, and a pair of pearls they were. The first came when Lampard put through Salomon Kalou on the left, and he forced a save from Reina. The ball was parried, and Drogba was there first, ahead of a surprisingly sluggish Liverpool defence. He struck his low shot between Reina and the near post, a world-class finish. Then, in extra time, with Chelsea leading 2-1, a shot from Nicolas Anelka’s cross on the right also left Reina with no chance. At the time it seemed almost superfluous; by the time Babel had pulled one back from 40 yards with three minutes remaining - the goal of the night, yet redundant - the importance of Drogba’s strike two could not be underestimated.

In between this furious Chelsea activity, Torres scored after a fine run by Yossi Benayoun, but this was not a happy night for Liverpool. They had few good chances and looked particularly inoffensive in the first half, which Chelsea dominated. It is testament to their reputation in this competition, however, that before the extra-time goals rained in, the noun that best summed up the mood at Stamford Bridge was fear. Not in the soul of one man, though. When it mattered, Pat’s lad had courage enough for all.

Chelsea (4-3-3): P Cech — M Essien, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — M Ballack, C Makelele, F Lampard (sub: A Shevchenko, 119min) — J Cole (sub: N Anelka, 91), D Drogba, S Kalou (sub: F Malouda, 70). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, J O Mikel, Alex, J Belletti.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, J Carragher, M Skrtel (sub: S Hyypia, 21), J A Riise — X Alonso, J Mascherano — D Kuyt, S Gerrard, Y Benayoun (sub: J Pennant, 78) — F Torres (sub: R Babel, 98). Substitutes not used: C Itandje, S Finnan, P Crouch, Lucas Leiva. Booked: Alonso, Arbeloa.

Referee: R Rosetti (Italy).

Key Battles

John Terry v Fernando Torres

There is no love lost between this pair. When they first locked horns at Anfield in August, on Torres’s home debut, the Liverpool forward scored but also ruffled Terry’s feathers with what the Chelsea captain felt was a tendency to go to ground a little too easily. Terry seemed to have snuffed out his opponent’s threat for 63 minutes, but then Torres briefly evaded his attention to score the away goal that Liverpool so badly needed. It is hard to say who won this duel overall, given that Torres scored, but Terry was certainly the one smiling at the end.

Frank Lampard v Xabi Alonso

And guess what? These two are not best buddies, either. Ever since Alonso’s ankle was broken by a mistimed tackle by Lampard at Anfield on New Year’s Day 2005, they have brought out a belligerent side in each other that seems contrary to their nature. There was no doubting which of them had the upper hand, Lampard approaching the game as if it was a personal odyssey after his recent bereavement. His passing was far brisker and more purposeful than that of Alonso, who, one excellent pass to Riise apart, did not look his usual self.