F365 Features

Fleet Street puts Didier Drogba and Rafa Benitez in the spotlight but pays particular tribute to Frank Lampard...

'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' - Martin Samuel, The Times.

'Alongside Lampard, Chelsea gave thanks to Didier Drogba whose two goals last night say that, unquestionably, he is a man for the big occasion, a player capable of carrying them all the way against Manchester United in Moscow on 21 May. Liverpool were not easily disposed of, they reinvented themselves after a first half in which they should have been beaten out of sight. Through Fernando Torres's equaliser they took this game to extra-time before eventually Rafael Benitez's powers of improvisation, maybe even his good fortune, ran out.

'Last year's FA Cup final is this year's Champions League final and before then Chelsea have the opportunity to unnerve United as they chase them down the final straight of the Premier League title race. Never have two English clubs approached the last three matches of their season with so much at stake and so much to lose. They are carving up the two richest prizes in club football between them in a thrilling end to the season' - Sam Wallace, The Independent.

'It was a night that no self-respecting Chelsea fan would have missed for the world, when the heartache of all the Champions League near-misses was banished in an orgy of West London celebration. So where was Roman Abramovich?

'This is the man who, we were told, fell in love with the game watching Real Madrid's march on the European Cup, so surely he would not want to miss the greatest midweek party that Stamford Bridge has hosted. Lots on at work? Hen-pecked into staying at home? It seemed unlikely' - Matt Dickinson, The Times.

'There has to be patience before even an oligarch's wishes are fulfilled. Five years after buying the club, Roman Abramovich has now seen Chelsea achieve the prestige he craves. The Russian has the particular pleasure, too, of flaunting that status in Moscow, where Manchester United will stand in his way at the Champions League final on May 21.

'This might have been Chelsea's anticipated destiny, considering all the funds pumped in, but it still had to be achieved in the midst of sport's uncertainty and emotion. While this game had no real distinction, its course stayed tantalisingly obscure for much of the evening.

'... Benítez, who prides himself on being a strategist, had bungled in his pre-match characterisation of the Ivorian as an habitual diver. Motivational skills are supposed to be reserved for his own squad, but he had inadvertently galvanised a Chelsea forward who sometimes has a habit of trailing off into listlessness' - Kevin McCarra, The Guardian.

'Benítez had a reasonable point about Drogba's histrionics in the first leg. As things turned out, however, the Liverpool manager might have been better advised to keep his mouth shut.

'The big Ivorian looked the most dangerous player on either side by a considerable distance through the first half, when Chelsea went about the business of reducing Liverpool to incoherence.

'... It was a goal every bit as outstanding as the one with which Paul Scholes secured Manchester United's place in the final just over 24 hours earlier, and Drogba's celebration concluded with a 10-yard knee-slide that ended in front of Benítez in the dugout, a sardonic gesture easy both to understand and to forgive' - Richard Williams, The Guardian.

'As Chelsea's victorious players cavorted in the rain at Stamford Bridge at the final whistle, a great sense of pride spread through English football.

Because the rest of Europe can't get a look-in.

'Last night was a classic of its type. The rain and the mud meant it was never going to be a feast of technical excellence but the nobility of two teams who fought each other to a standstill was spectacle enough.

'And how about the drama, the emotion and the passion. How about the impossible tension of the grieving Frank Lampard stepping up to take such a vital penalty-kick? It was watch-through-yourfingers time' - Oliver Holt, The Daily Mirror.

'If there was one man to assist Chelsea on their voyage to a Champions League climax in Moscow it had to be Lampard, showing real character on his return to the fold. Removed shortly before the final whistle, Lampard walked from the field to tumultuous acclaim. Roman Abramovich was on business in Russia, and Lampard ensured Chelsea, too, would soon have business in Russia.

'On another evening, the Stamford Bridge crowd would have revelled in Didier Drogba's double, marvelling at the striker's barnstorming performance. On another night, the Shed would have thrilled to the defensive defiance of John Terry, a true leader on this most tense of occasions.

'Everyone at the Bridge had thoughts only for one man, one subject. This was Lampard's night, his chance to do something special. Even before Sami Hyypia's foul on Michael Ballack presented him with his free strike from 12 yards, Lampard impressed, looking lean and hungry, always guiding passes around the pitch' - Henry Winter, The Daily Telegraph.

'As Drogba charged back towards his team-mates for an elaborate sliding celebration under Rafa Benitez's nose, Lampard went up to the Matthew Harding stand to share the great moment with the bluest of all Blue fans.

'It was a wonderful 20 seconds or so as they rose as one to salute a man who had suffered such a huge personal bereavement only a week ago.

Then Drogba ran over to wrap Lampard in his embrace. The whole Chelsea family were together - the players on the pitch, Lampard's wife Elen in the stands and even dad Frank Snr.

'What a display it was from Frank Jnr. What a night to return to the fold. Just as his mum Pat would have wanted' - Steven Howard, The Sun.

'London against Manchester, north against south, Russian against American owners, the elder statesman Sir Alex Ferguson taking on the owner's pal, Avram Grant. Those are just the highest entries on the menu.

'For our delectation, also, Didier Drogba, in perhaps his last game in Chelsea blue,will confront Rio Ferdinand, the outstanding defender of the semi-final phase, and Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo will seek to assert their brilliance on club football's grandest stage' - Paul Hayward, The Daily Mail.