Last minute goals have been a nightmare for all Chelsea fans in the later part of the season with a lot of teams coming from behind to deny the Blues vital points in the Championship race. However it was a last minute goal which propelled them into the record books as they overcame a spirited Benfica side 2-1 in the Europa League final.

The first half of the encounter was dominated by the Portuguese outfit, as Chelsea failed to close down space effectively, letting Benfica have too much time on the ball. They created many chances but failed to capitalise on any of them.

Chelsea have made it back to back European titles, producing an excellent second half performance against Portuguese giants Benfica to beat them 2-1 to end their season long wait for silverware. In what was clearly a tale of two halves, Benfica battered Chelsea in the first, but failed to make their superiority count in the only place that matters, on the scoresheet.

Chelsea played much better in the second half and went ahead through a Fernando Torres goal on the hour mark, but the Blues' lead lasted only 9 minutes with Oscar Cardozo drawing Benfica level from the penalty spot after Cesar Azpilicueta was adjudged to having handled the ball in the box. The game appeared to be headed for extra time for all money, before Ramires, who was deployed in a wide right position in this game due to the absence of the hamstrung Eden Hazard won his side a late corner.

A year on from their famous Champions league final triumph over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Chelsea head into yet another European final but this time as the favourites. The Blues played the role of the underdogs throughout last season's Champions League, winning against the odds from the first knockout round. Their Europa League campaign has been more sedate in comparison.

Their opponents in Wednesday's final will be Benfica and incidentally the last time the two sides met was in the last 8 stage of last year's champions league. Chelsea won with a difference of one goal, Salamon Kalou scoring the only one. The second leg was another closely contested affair. Lampard scored a penalty to put Chelsea in front, then the now Manchester City man, Javi Garcia equalised in the eighty fifth minute to suddenly to put the Eagles on the brink, they needed one more goal to win on aggregate. However that was not to be as Raul Meireles scored in stoppage time from the edge of the box on a counter. This year though, both the teams got to the final after getting knocked out of the group stages of the Champions League, Benfica losing out to F.C.Barcelona and Glasgow Celtic while Chelsea lost out to Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk.

John Terry is in danger of missing his second European final in successive years after twisting his ankle in the game against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 32 year old, who missed Chelsea’s Champions League Final encounter against Bayern Munich last year due to suspension seems en route to carrying forward his jinx and might miss Chelsea’s Europa League encounter against Benfica on Wednesday. The backbone of the Blues’ defence, Terry, was stretchered off during the match and reports do not seem to bode well for him.

The road to Amsterdam is all clear for Chelsea and Benfica as the two European giants made it through to the Europa League finals following comprehensive 2^nd leg victories in the semis. Both the sides secured 3-1 victories on the night, with Chelsea defeating Basle 5-2 on aggregate, while Benfica overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Fenerbahce 3-2 on aggregate. Rafa Benitez has previously won the UEFA Cup with Valencia and now stands the chance of delivering Chelsea their sole trophy of the year.

Chelsea 3-1 Basle (5-2 Agg)

There has been plenty of talk in recent weeks about Benitez finally taming David Luiz and after scoring an injury-time winner in the 1^st leg, the Brazilian maverick was at it again last night as he scored a stunner to seal Chelsea’s progress into the finals. Luiz’s 59^th minute curler ended Basle’s challenge in the tie as it put the Blues in a commanding 5-2 lead.

The era of Spanish dominance is well and truly in the past after Bayern Munich brushed aside Barcelona 3-0 in the 2^nd leg of their semi-final to clinch the tie 7-0 on aggregate and setup the first all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on May 25^th at Wembley. Barcelona were always up against it after their 1^st leg mauling and with Lionel Messi being restricted to the bench through injury their chances reduced further.

Any hopes of Bayern being slack were washed away three minutes into the 2^nd half when Arjen Robben got the crucial away goal after cutting in from the right. Gerard Pique’s own goal on 72 minutes made it 2-0 to the Germans, who added a 3^rd four minutes later through Thomas Muller. The stage is set for the Germans to shine on the continent’s biggest stage and on a personal note, Bayern have a glorious chance to make up for the disappointments of 2010 and 2012.