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Chelsea 2-1 Benfica

:Headline: Result: Chelsea 2-1 Benfica: ID:22559: from db_amp
Chelsea will face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals following a nervy win over Benfica at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea will face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals following a nervy 2-1 win over Benfica at Stamford Bridge.

The result on the night was enough to see the Blues go through 3-1 on aggregate against their Portuguese opponents.

Despite a bright start from the visitors, it was Chelsea who came closest early on when David Luiz had his fierce shot blocked by Joan Capdevila.

The home side made the breakthrough in the 19th minute when Ashley Cole was brought down by Javi Garcia in the area. Lampard stepped up to see his penalty creep in under the goalkeeper.

Benfica remained a constant threat on the counter attack as Oscar Cardozo saw his 25-yarder fly over.

However, their cause was made more difficult when captain Maxi Pereira was sent off five minutes before half time after he picked up his second yellow card for a malicious-looking tackle on Jon Obi Mikel.

The away team nearly drew themselves level just two minutes after the break, but Cardozo's stinging drive was clawed away by Petr Cech.

Ramires was guilty of an incredible miss soon after as he failed to convert from two yards after Mikel has squared the ball across goal.

Chelsea soon began to gain the momentum as Fernando Torres and Juan Mata both flashed shots narrowly wide.

Although the home team looked to be heading through, Benfica grabbed an away goal with five minutes to play when Garcia headed in from a corner.

Despite a nervous final few minutes, Chelsea's passage into the final four was sealed in injury time thanks to substitute Raul Meireles's strike on the counter attack.

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