Why do England's top sides suddenly think they're Barcelona? Last night, as with the Barclays Premier League's top four in the past few weeks, it was all-out attack mixed with some dodgy defending, that classic Catalan recipe.

It's clear that John Terry is the glue holding Chelsea's back line together. His return for the semi-final is a huge boost, but his absence at Stamford Bridge helped to create one of those incredible nights of football that we all crave.

Today of all days, I don't want to hear or read anyone saying that footballers are overpaid. No one dare complain after a tie as brilliant as this one. This is why the best players earn fortunes, because they can inspire special occasions that remind us why we love the game so much.

From magical goals to crucial mistakes, the match had the lot. It's up there with the best I can remember. Now we can finally stop talking about Liverpool's 4-3 win over Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United in 1996 as the ultimate see-saw encounter.

They may be spirited, but this Chelsea team do not bear close comparison to the title-winning sides of José Mourinho. They were built to keep games tight and shut down opponents - and Chelsea can't do that any more. The back line isn't as good as it was, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou don't possess the same quality as Damien Duff and Arjen Robben, and the team as a whole don't have that extra edge about them.

In their favour, Chelsea's players are carrying scars from last year's defeat in the Champions League final. There is a desperate determination to make amends for the disappointment in Moscow. But there are chinks in Chelsea's armour and they're not going to beat Barcelona if they defend as they did last night. Guus Hiddink's men are not good enough to stop Barcelona scoring, so the question will be whether Chelsea can outscore them.

Petr Cech is wobbling and all Chelsea can do is hope his bad patch will pass quickly and that the defenders do a better job of protecting him. Hiddink can't do much other than play down his goalkeeper's struggles in public and let Cech overcome them himself.

The manager can put an arm round Cech and tell him he's the best, but that won't stop the seeds of doubt from growing. Players know when they're not right and ultimately they can't kid themselves. He's making bad decisions on crosses, he's jumping like a man a foot shorter than he is.

When you're in need of inspiration, the top teams have big players who step up and provide it. Strangely, it was a Liverpool player who did that for Chelsea last night - José Manuel Reina, who has been the best goalkeeper in the top flight this season, just ahead of Brad Friedel.

Reina's mistake that handed Didier Drogba a goal changed the flow of the match and gave Chelsea a dramatic lift. It was Reina's first key mistake of the campaign - unexpected and unlikely. But then this was a wild, crazy game. Anything could happen, and everything did.