Having been reduced to 10 men, Chelsea's patchwork defense absorbed and repelled the Barcelona attack for as long as it needed it to.
Cech, Ivanovic and Cole stood tallest as the leaders of the Blues' defense.
Spending all game on the attack took its toll on Barcelona. The hosts passed their way around the Chelsea defense, but could never break through during that fateful second half.
Full credit to Roberto di Matteo for instilling his players with confidence and belief. They lived off of it in the second half.
That's all for now and thanks for joining us. Let's discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion that is on the way on NESN.com.
91st minute, 2-2: Chelsea's record signing, the much-maligned Torres, puts the Blues into the final.
There was a shout for a hand-ball in the Chelsea box, but it was quickly cleared to Torres.
The Spaniard walked in on goal, rounded Valdes and put it into the empty net.
89th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Meireles is shown a yellow card, and he will miss the final should Chelsea progress.
85th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Messi, Sanchez, Alves and company are straining to find space in this Chelsea back line.
The Blues are just a few minutes away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Champions League.
83rd minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Messi pops up at the top of the area, and fires his shot off the near post.
He found the tiniest of spaces to aim for, and nearly put his team into the final.
82nd minute, 2-1 Barcelona: It looked as if Barcelona had scored the sure winner, but the referee's assistant ruled Alves offside.
80th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Torres is replacing Drogba, who fought off a knee injury and gave his all for 80 minutes.
75th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Barcelona looks like it has reached an impasse.
It has all the possession and play, but does not seem capable of unlocking the Chelsea defense.
Cech is in great form, Ramires, Bosingwa, Ivanovic and Cole are turning everything away.
Messi has dropped deep in search of space, and has not been able to influence the game since his penalty miss.
74th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Keita has come on for Fabregas.
72nd minute, 2-1 Barcelona: The Chelsea veteran responds at the other end with a two-footed scissor tackle on Fabregas.
He is given a deserved yellow card for the tackle.
71st minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Messi pulls Lampard down and gets cautioned by the referee.
69th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Drogba fell, got back up, clutched his hamstring and limps around.
Chelsea wanted Barcelona to play it out of bounds, but the hosts would not oblige.
68th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Cuenca is coming off with Tello taking his place.
It's a head-scratcher, as Pedro is older, more experienced and has an impressive goal-scoring record over the last three years.
66th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: This game has become a battle of persistence versus resistance.
Barcelona is attacking with nine players, while Chelsea is defending with eight … and Cech.
64th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Ivanovic nearly scores at the other end.
He met Lampard's corner with a free header, but couldn't put it on target.
62nd minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Cech stands tall again with a save on Cuenca.
He followed the play across the face of goal, raced off his line, and turned away the Barcelona youngster's shot.
59th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Cech has been cautioned for time wasting.
The Barcelona crowd have been whistling at the Chelsea goalkeeper every time he prepares for a goal kick.
They might have influenced the referee's decision. It's reportedly happened at the Nou Camp before.
58th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Kalou is coming on for Mata.
Mata has been a non-factor in this one. Kalou will provide fresh legs and another outlet for the Chelsea defenders.
It remains to be seen how long Chelsea can defend like this.
56th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Barcelona has all of the ball, but Chelsea has 10 men behind it.
Drogba took an outlet and shot from the halfway line, drawing a save from Alves.
54th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Sanchez misses with a header from close range.
Alves played a deft cross to the back post. Sanchez arrived, but could not aim his header on target.
52nd minute, 2-1 Barcelona: There's a bit of pushing and shoving going on between Fabregas and Lampard.
49th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Messi bangs the penalty kick off the bar. He went for power over placement, and his scoring touch failed him at a crucial moment.
Perhaps it was poetic justice, as the foul on Fabregas was a soft one.
48th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Drogba has given away a penalty for a foul on Fabregas.
47th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Fabregas starts the second-half Barcelona shooting gallery, but Ivanovic intercedes and turnes it away.
Halftime, 2-1 Barcelona: The first half has come to a close. It was thrilling and action-packed.
Chelsea, reduced to 10 men and some tears, is astonishingly poised to advance to the Champions League final.
Busquets and Iniesta gave Barcelona a 2-0 lead. But the host let down its guard and Chelsea dealt a punishing blow on the counter-attack.
45th minute, 2-1 Barcelona: Ramires puts Chelsea back in the game. It's an amazing and dramatic turn of events.
Lampard played him in behind the Barca defense, and the Chelsea midfielder chipped over Valdes from 18 yards out. It was a sublime effort from the Brazilian.
Chelsea now leads courtesy of the away-goals rule.
44th minute, 2-0 Barcelona: Barca has doubled its lead. This time Iniesta is the goal scorer.
Sanchez, Messi and Iniesta countered against five Chelsea defenders, and unlocked the Blues 35 yards away from goal.
Sanchez found Messi to his left. Messi laid it off to a streaking Iniesta, who ghosted past Bosingwa and beat Cech with his shot.
39th minute, 1-0 Barcelona: Barcelona smells blood, and they are pushing for that second goal.
Chelsea is now without its starting center backs. Cahill's injury was a blow. Terry's dismissal could be fatal.
Terry let his team down. There are reports that the referee didn't see the incident, but he was told by his assistant what Terry had done.
39th minute, 1-0 Barcelona: John Terry has been astonishingly sent off.
He walked up behind Sanchez and kneed him in the back. It was off the ball, and the referee found out about it.
It was a dirty play by the Chelsea captain, but one that happens all the time.
But Terry deserved to get sent off.
37th minute, 1-0 Barcelona: Busquets has tapped in the all-important opening goal. Cuenca fed him with a pass across the face of goal. The Chelsea defense had broken down on the play, leaving three Barcelona players with a chance at tapping it in.
32nd minute, 0-0: Mikel is booked for tripping Sanchez.
30th minute, 0-0: The first 30 minutes haven't yielded a goal, but there are loads of subplots.
Barcelona will continue to dominate possession, but Chelsea knows what is at stake. There is a great premium on the first goal.
27th minute, 0-0: Pique has to leave the game because of his injury.
He was brought in to contain Drogba, but his day is done.
Alves comes on, leaving Barcelona with one specialist defender — Puyol — on the field.
25th minute, 0-0: End-to-end action almost created goals at both ends.
Barca's patient passing approach almost created an opening for Messi.
Cech cleared down-field to Drogba, who brushed Pique aside and shot wide.
22nd minute, 0-0: Mascherano tests Cech from distance, but his shot goes high.
The Argentine midfielder-turned-defender has license to step forward and make something happen in the attacking end.
19th minute, 0-0: Cech just saved a certain goal.
Fabregas and Messi combined at the top of the area, to send Messi in alone on goal.
Cech took a couple of steps off his line, got down and made a kick-save on Messi's shot.
16th minute, 0-0: Pique and Valdes are both down in the Barcelona area.
Chelsea played a long ball into the box, and Valdes raced off his line to clear it.
He threw his body into the air to punch the ball away. Pique arrived at the same time and got the worst of the collision.
But both players are now on their feet. Valdes has returned to the goal, but Pique is being looked at on the sidelines.
14th minute, 0-0: As for the game, it's all Barcelona at this point.
Barcelona is controlling the ball and the game tempo. The passmasters are probing and prodding as expected.
It has pinned Chelsea deep in its own end, but the visitor has kept its shape and cleared each entry pass.
12th minute, 0-0: Cahill is coming off now, and Bosingwa will take his place.
Cahill slipped trying to defend Sanchez in the area. The Chilean put a spin move on the Chelsea defender causing him to lose his footing.
Bosingwa will probably line up at right back, and Ivanovic will slide over to the middle.
10th minute, 0-0: Bosingwa looked like he was coming on, but Terry — yes, the Chelsea captain — reportedly told the bench to give Cahill two minutes and see if he can run it off.
Sixth minute, 0-0: Cahill slipped and it looks like he's pulled his hamstring.
The Chelsea defender is down and limping to the sideline.
His loss would be a major to Chelsea, as David Luiz is injured. Bosingwa is the only recognized defender on the Blues' bench.
Third minute, 0-0: Barcelona and Messi have the first threat on goal.
Messi raced in behind goal, and took a shot from close range that went wide.
Cech came out and cut down the angle, leaving Messi little space for which he could aim.
Third minute, 0-0: Both teams have taken a patient approach to the early part of this game, focusing on shape and when in defense.
Pregame: We like to think that at this stage of the season and in the second leg of a semifinal there will be no surprises.
Guardiola springs a huge one by starting Dani Alves on the bench. The Brazilian fullback is so important to the Barca attack, patrolling the entire right side of the field.
The Catalan quartet of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Fabregas will man the Barca midfield, while Mascherano, Pique and Puyol will be stay-at-home defenders.
It's a bit of a surprise that Obi Mikel starts for Chelsea. He's been frozen out of the team for so much of the season. Di Matteo restored the Nigerian when he took over as Chelsea boss. We'll see if his faith is repaid by the Blues' midfielder.
2 p.m.: Here are the lineups
FC Barcelona
Victor Valdes (1), goalkeeper
Javier Mascherano (14), center back
Gerard Pique (3), center back
Carles Puyol (5), center back
Sergio Busquets (16), midfielder
Xavi (6), midfielder
Andres Iniesta (8), midfielder
Cesc Fabregas (4), midfielder
Alexis Sanchez (9), forward
Isaac Cuenca (23), forward
Lionel Messi (10), forward
Substitutes
Jose Pino (13), goalkeeper
Adriano (21), defender
Daniel Alves (2), anywhere
Seydou Keita (15), midfielder
Thiago Alcantara (11), midfielder
Pedro Rodriguez (17), forward
Cristian Tello (37), forward
Chelsea FC
Petr Cech (1), goalkeeper
Banislav Ivanovic (2), right back
Gary Cahill (24), center back
John Terry (26), center back
Ashley Cole (3), left back
Raul Meireles (16), midfielder
John Obi Mikel (12), midfilder
Frank Lampard (8), midfielder
Ramires (7), midfielder
Juan Mata (10), forward
Didier Drogba (11), striker
Substitutes
Ross Turnbull (22), goalkeeper
Jose Bosingwa (17) defender
Michael Essien (5), midfielder
Florent Malouda (15), midfielder
Salomon Kalou (21), forward
Daniel Sturridge (23), forward
Fernando Torres (9), striker
12 a.m. ET: Chelsea FC is 90 minutes away from crashing the party. The Blues can beat the odds and advance to the UEFA Champions League final — all they have to do is beat or tie FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
Calling it a herculean task is some understatement. Not only is Barcelona the defending champion, but it is also smarting from Saturday's loss to Real Madrid that effectively ended its four-year grip on the La Liga title. The loss — Barcelona's first at home since September 2010 — has prompted talk that the club is reaching the end of an era. But defender Gerard Pique brushed those suggestions away.
"I believe a team that has won 13 awards in the last few years deserves more credit than that," Pique said in a pregame news conference. "People talk too easily. I think we deserve more respect."
Pep Guardiola's men will be especially motivated for Tuesday's clash. Chelsea pulled out a 1-0 upset in the first leg of the semifinal round despite Barcelona controlling the game. The hosts will look to impose their game on the visitors, striking early and often.
Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo rested eight starters in Saturday's draw with Arsenal. His energized group knows Barcelona will push forward, leaving space at the back for Chelsea to attack. If Chelsea scores once, it will have a serious chance at pulling off a shock. But the main task at hand is to remain steadfast in defense.
Join us right here for Barcelona-Chelsea. We'll have all the action starting at 1:45 p.m.
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