Two Ways to the Final

Marco Beretta’s second header found the far part of the goal, and Rotherham Stadium had its improbable arithmetic: Rotherham United had erased Chelsea’s two-goal advantage, but not yet taken the tie. After extra time and a penalty shoot-out, Chelsea were through to the UEFA Champions League final, winning 4-3 from the spot after a 2-0 defeat on the night. The route there was a test of nerve as much as of defending; the decisive detail, for Rotherham, had arrived before the half-hour.

His two goals levelled the aggregate score at 2-2 after Chelsea’s 2-0 win in the first leg on 29 April. They also turned a semi-final that had seemed to be slipping away into a contest that lasted 120 minutes and went to penalties. Rotherham’s evening ended there; Chelsea’s place in the final was settled from the spot, 4-3.

Chelsea had 14 corners and eight shots on target; Rotherham goalkeeper Maciej Szramowski made eight saves. Rotherham managed six shots, four on target, and spent the match defending a lead that only became meaningful because Beretta supplied it twice. He was the outstanding figure on the night, but the result was not a simple coronation: Chelsea had to survive the extra time before winning the shoot-out. For Rotherham, the final was close enough to touch and still out of reach. For Chelsea, the first-leg advantage had disappeared, and the tie had to be reclaimed in the most unforgiving way available.

Beretta’s contribution was unusually concentrated: two goals, both headers, both before the interval. Rotherham had given themselves a chance to overturn the first leg without finding a third goal in open play. Chelsea, for their part, were left to make their progress from the spot after the match had been level for the remaining stretch. The distinction matters: Rotherham won the night’s contest over 120 minutes, but Chelsea won the semi-final tie and will play in the final.

Ponferrada’s passage had a different shape, and was decided a day earlier. The first leg, on 30 April, had also finished 0-0, leaving the aggregate score goalless and the second leg unable to separate them. Ponferrada advanced on penalties; Borussia Dortmund were out. Michele Cenderelli was the outstanding player in a tie where neither side found a goal across the two matches.

Together, the semi-finals offered no common script beyond the final destination. Rotherham and Chelsea produced six goals across their two meetings, then needed penalties to decide which side continued. One tie was shaped by Beretta’s pair of headers; the other by the absence of a goal at either end of the aggregate. Chelsea and Ponferrada now have the final ahead of them. For the two eliminated sides, the point of difference was small in its detail and absolute in its consequence: a shoot-out settled both places.