Barcelona vaulted over Chelsea in the third minute of stoppage time to seize a place in the Champions League final against Manchester United with their sole shot on target. It also stood apart because the strike into the top corner by Andrés Iniesta was exquisite after Lionel Messi had set him up on the fringes of the area.
There could be no sportsmanlike appreciation of that drive, which brought triumph on the away-goals rule, when Chelsea had so much to resent. They had seen a few penalty claims denied by Tom Henning Ovrebo and one still remained. In the closing moments Ballack screamed that his drive had been blocked by an arm.
The Norwegian referee was indifferent to the appeals and showed the midfielder a yellow card. A relatively inexperienced Ovrebo was not partisan and had dismissed Eric Abidal questionably in the 66th minute for denying Nicolas Anelka a goalscoring opportunity.
Furious: Didier Drogba lose his head after the 2009 semi-final
Chelsea’s rage exploded when Andrés Iniesta’s goal, deep in injury time, edged them out of the 2009 Champions League semi-final on the away-goals rule at Stamford Bridge.
Several Chelsea players, including Didier Drogba confronted referee Tom Henning Ovrebo at the final whistle, complaining they had been denied four certain penalties.
Guus Hiddink, the Chelsea manager, listed a shirt pull on Drogba by Eric Abidal, handballs by Gerard PiquéGerard Pique and Samuel Eto’o and Dani Alves’s grab on Florent Malouda as incidents the Norwegian official, who later received death threats, missed.
Uefa subsequently banned Drogba for six matches (two of which were suspended for two years), Jose Bosingwa - who had said of Ovrebo "I don’t know if he’s a referee or a thief" - for three games (one suspended) and fined Chelsea £85,000 for improper conduct by players and fans.
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