Rome

Wow. So that is what football is.

OK, I don't know where to start.

Manchester United safely secured their passage to the final, disposing Arsenal at the Emirates, a team that promised their fans a 'magnificent' performance.

But it is amazing what fascinates me is not the tie that produced five goals; instead, it was the other tie that has only two goals to offer. No offense, United displayed a good performance in both legs to secure their path to Rome, but the simplicity of the execution brought no drama. Arsenal were never going to score five the moment Ronaldo made that face for the second time.

The tie was dubbed 'The Beauty and the Beast'. Understandably so. Barcelona have played some silky, mesmerizing goals this season under Guardiola, and they strolled past everyone - even scored six at Bernabeu - but they failed to find the net at home turf for the first time when they played Chelsea, a display of the most resilient defense by any team I have seen all season.

I, just like almost any neutral, would have certainly wanted the attacking team to prevail. They went into their rhythm straight from the start, and things quickly settled into my prediction - a 70-30 possession to the Catalans, except for one thing: an insane strike from Essien. Andy Gray said, "It doesn't get any better than this," and how often do we hear that phrase, but he got that right, and he meant every single word of it, literally. The ball is in the air, he hit it on his weaker foot, the volley was supersweet, it dipped just enough to hit the underside of the bar, Chelsea is leading after only nine minutes.

Barca would continue their dominance afterwards, but again, no real penetration. It was beginning to look very much like how they got knocked out last season - a whole lot of possession in both legs, no penetration, one super strike settled it. With all the ball they had, Cech did not need to make one single save. Ninety minutes and no shots on target.

But ninety minutes of 'clean sheet' is not enough. There's injury time. But later on that. I want to mention about the referee. You make mistakes in a game, and as you made it, you go along with it. As a professional referee, you do not intend to make mistakes, otherwise it won't be known as mistakes. But if you do, then just make sure you don't make more mistakes. You don't try to correct the past, and more importantly, you don't lean on one side.

First mistake was the penalty he should have given for Abidal's foul on Drogba (oh ya the Malouda-Alves tussle, but I think that was too soft). Honestly, I think Drogba went to ground a bit too easy (as always) but it was a penalty, Abidal tugged his shirt, and made a tackle afterwards. No penalty. (Maybe if you consider the penalty that should have been given to Barca in the first leg, things are even now.)

But maybe at halftime, he reviewed that and realized he made a mistake and probably he needed to make amends. Drogba had another claim for a penalty when Yaya Toure tackled him, but I think he got that one right, the ball changed direction which means Toure got the ball. But then Anelka was felled when he was through on goal. The ref almost made up his mind that Abidal should be off. I saw that in replays and I couldn't see a tackle Abidal made on Anelka. Two sending offs in two second leg semifinals - both I find horribly wrong - ruining the dreams of two players.

But the ref went on making more 'mistakes', probably driven by his guilt of sending off Abidal, denying Chelsea penalties of blatant handball by Pique and a less blatant one by Eto'o later on. As a referee, you don't try to correct past things. But what can you say, they're human. That is why it is very unlikely for a referee to give a second penalty to the same team even though it is legitimate.

I was rooting for Barcelona for the sheer entertainment of their passing, but as the game builds on, I thought Chelsea thoroughly deserved to win, they defended superbly and did the most on their breaks, had the most gilt-edged chances and had some decisions against them. Barcelona made no shots on target for ninety minutes.

But then the unthinkable came. In the act of desperation, with Pique staying up front, Alves whipped in a good cross (after countless bad ones) which bounces off I don't know how many bodies until Iniesta got the first shot on target for Barca, and man was that a sweet one. It was heartbreak for the home side, and I know how nailbiting it felt to hold on to a one-nil lead (Garcia goal, remember?) but I don't know how it feels like to lose like that.

In the end, it was understandably hard to swallow for all Chelsea players, but again, Lampard acted most professionally, he is the only Chelsea player who got a Barca jersey I think (in the form of goalscorer Iniesta). Too bad some players couldn't play in the final, but let's hope it'll be a great one.