Nervy Chelsea sink Benfica to set up Barca clash

u00a0 Roberto Di Matteo39s side were firm favourites to reach the semifinals after a 10 firstleg win in Lisbon but they were made to sweat before clinching a 31 aggregate success at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday u00a0 Frank Lampard39s first half penalty and a red card for Benfica captain Maxi Pereira just before the break should have put Chelsea firmly in control u00a0 But this was a far from convincing performance from the Blues and Javi Garcia39s late header made for a few anxious moments before Raul Meireles sealed the victory in stoppage time u00a0 quotIt was a tough game and having won 10 away it presented us with a bit of a conundrumquot said Lampard who was scoring his 22nd Champions League goal u00a0 Frank Lampard scores a penalty against Benfica in their CL game Photo AFP u00a0 quotIt is a relief to get through as they39re a good side and deserve respect u00a0 quotWe didn39t want to be too gung hoquot u00a0 Chelsea can now look further to another grudge match with old rivals Barca who claimed a controversial victory over the Blues at the semifinal stage of Europe39s elite club competition in 2009 u00a0 That was the most recent in a long line of explosive encounters between the two clubs and Chelsea39s sixth semifinal appearance in the last nine years looks certain to reignite the feud u00a0 However Di Matteo39s men will need to improve on some wasteful finishing and careless defending here if they are to stun Barca and book a place in the final in Munich u00a0 quotYou have to respect Barcelona because they are the best side in the worldquot said Lampard u00a0 quotThey will obviously start as favourites but we have a lot of self belief and we believe we can beat themquot u00a0 Benfica boss Jorge Jesus added quotWe39ve been the better team in both legs and I39m very proud of my players u00a0 quotWe played with 10 men for the best part of an hour and made Chelsea look ordinary We were penalised by the referee unjustly I feelquot u00a0 Salomon Kalou39s late winner last week had put Chelsea in charge and they received a further boost as injuries to Benfica39s firstchoice centrehalves Jardel and Luisao forced Jesus to deploy midfielder Garcia as a makeshift defender u00a0 Yet Di Matteo had warned Chelsea to guard against complacency as the Portuguese team had scored in all of their European away matches this season u00a0 Chelsea had the ball in the net when Juan Mata fired low past Artur but the Spaniard39s strike was correctly ruled out for offside u00a0 Benfica had been warned but their understrength defence was creaking and Ashley Cole took full advantage in the 21st minute u00a0 Cole made a perfectly timed run into the penalty area and although his first touch was a little heavy the leftback39s surge panicked Garcia into a crude block that sent him crashing to the turf u00a0 Referee Damir Skomina pointed to the spot and Lampard making his 550th Chelsea appearance stepped up to drill the penalty under Artur39s dive u00a0 Benfica39s hopes of a miraculous comeback suffered a hammer blow when Pereira already booked for dissent following the penalty earned a second yellow card for a studsup lunge on John Obi Mikel in the 40th minute u00a0 Benfica needed an early goal in the second half to have any chance and they almost got it when Oscar Cardozo39s curling effort brought a brilliant stop from Cech Di Matteo39s team should have been further ahead when Ramires producing an unwanted candidate for miss of the season somehow failed to convert Kalou39s crossshot from barely two yards out u00a0 Torres and Mata had chances to kill off Benfica but couldn39t finish yet there was a moment of concern for the hosts as skipper Terry was forced off u00a0 Terry39s departure unhinged Chelsea39s defence and substitute Yannick Djalo twice went close with a shot and then a header u00a0 When Kalou was denied by Artur it seemed of little consequence but Garcia set up a tense finale when he rose unmarked to glance a closerange header past Cech from an 85th minute corner u00a0 Chelsea39s nerves were showing now but substitute Meireles finally ended Benfica39s spirited show when he broke away and lashed past Artur