Chelsea reached the Champions League final for the first time with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Liverpool after extra-time at Stamford Bridge.

Fernando Torres cancelled out Didier Drogba's first-half goal but a Frank Lampard penalty after 98 minutes restored the home side's advantage before the Ivorian's second seemed to have settled the tie.

Ryan Babel's 30-yard shot slipped through Petr Cech's fingertips with three minutes remaining to set up a dramatic finale but Avram Grant's men held on and they will face Manchester United in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on May 21 after a 4-3 aggregate success.

Extra-time was incident-packed with Sami Hyypia, a first-half replacement for the injured Martin Skrtel, letting the ball get away from him on the wet surface before fouling Michael Ballack for the penalty moments after Michael Essien had a goal ruled out for offside.

Ballack, who scored from the spot against Manchester United at the weekend, stepped aside for Lampard to calmly slot home on his return to the side following the death of his mother.

Drogba then notched his second as he got ahead of Jamie Carragher at the near post to fire home substitute Nicolas Anelka's cross.

Rafael Benitez was then forced to replace the injured Torres with Babel only for his side to be denied a penalty when Drogba upended Hyypia in the penalty area.

Cech's blunder from Babel's shot ensured a thrilling conclusion but Chelsea, after losing to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals in 2005 and 2007, held on to gain a measure of revenge.

There was also a touch of controversy about Drogba's opening goal with Lampard sliding in Salomon Kalou down the left channel with the Ivorian marginally offside.

The former Feynoord striker cut inside Hyypia on the wet surface and although his curling shot was pushed away by Jose Reina, Drogba swept in the rebound from a tight angle, beating the Spanish custodian at the near post.

After Benitez's claims in the build-up to the match that Drogba was a diver, the Chelsea man provocatively celebrated by running down the touchline and sliding on his knees in front of the Liverpool bench.

But that shouldn't detract from a superb all-round performance by the big striker.

He forced Reina into the first save of the match when his 25-yard shot skidded along on the slick surface before being pushed around the post.

And he missed a great chance to open the deadlock when Lampard fed him down the left channel only for Drogba to scuff his shot past the far post.

Ballack's long-range drive was fisted away by Reina and the German almost made it 2-0 when his 25-yard free-kick curled marginally wide of the post, hitting the stanchion with Reina beaten.

With Claude Makelele superbly shackling Steven Gerrard, Liverpool offered little in attack in the opening 45 minutes bar a lightning counter-attack which ended in Cech making a fine save at the feet of Torres.

But as the rain continued to fall after the break, Chelsea sat back and the visitors became more of an attacking threat with Javier Mascherano's chip headed across goal by Gerrard only for Dirk Kuyt's toe-poke with the outside of his right boot to be turned away by Cech's left foot.

Liverpool - who had gone eight games without scoring at Stamford Bridge since Benitez took charge - broke that run after 64 minutes when Yossi Benayoun skipped away from Makelele and his darting cross field run concluded with a precise through ball to Torres who calmly slotted the ball past Cech.

Both sides then had half an eye on extra time with an outstanding run by Essien which concluded with a shot into the side netting from a tight angle the closest either side came to a winner.

But the real drama was to follow with the Premier League's top two sides now set to battle it out at the end of the season for both major honours.

Lee Walker / Eurosport