Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

It was a game of two halves. Honest. Despite the clich鬠it really was. For the first 45 minutes, Chelsea were electric, turning defence into attack in fluid movements that flowed up and down the field to the delight of the home spectators. Joe Cole went all out on the left wing and Jesper Gronkjaer owned the right side of the field. When the Danish winger put the home side into the lead in the 21st minute with an arching shot into the far top corner that left Roma clutching at air, it looked as if this would be Chelsea's night. Confirmation appeared to come in the 42nd minute when Frank Lampard produced a great finish after some sharp build-up play from Melchiot and Gudjohnsen to put Chelsea 2-0 up. Champions League Final, here we come, thought the Stamford Bridge crowd. This pleasant state of affairs ended in the 45th minute when Morientes looped a header over Cudicini. The ball came back off the post and struck Ibarra on the arm before crossing the line. Anders Frisk, the Swedish ref, awarded the goal, and rightly so.

The game that began so gloriously for Chelsea effectively ended in the 59th minutes when the excellent Morientes worked a one-two with Lucas Bernardi before driving a low shot past the helpless Cudicini. Monaco were now leading 5-3 on aggregate. In stark contrast to the first half, nothing went right for Chelsea in the second period. Gronkjaer's crosses were suddenly too high or wide and when he got an excellent pass from Bridge all he could do was blaze over the bar. Gudjohnsen, who hit the bar in the first half, barely made contact with the ball for the remainder of the game. Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri introduced Johnson, Parker and Crespo but all they did was show up the limitations of the side. This is a team that lacks a world-class striker and Ranieri knows it. He won't be around, though, when Roman Abramovich purchases that player.

Unlike Ranieri, Monaco coach Didier Deschamps, a former Chelsea midfielder, has created a unified team that's strong at the back and deadly at the front. His side should start as favourites when they meet Porto in Gelsenkirchen on 26 May.