Chelsea pensioners reach end of the road

This defeat may be the final nail in the coffin for this Chelsea side

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (3-1 agg)

As Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League at Old Trafford last night, there was a growing realisation that the best team in their history had missed the chance to win the greatest prize for the last time.

Ever since Roman Abramovich bought the club and splashed the cash on players galore, the dream has been to win Europe's premier competition.

That dream has developed into an obsession, borne out of frustration at refereeing decisions, near misses and the Moscow penalty shoot-out agony.

As they have collected domestic medals galore, with three Premier League titles, some members of the side have become genuine club legends but are unlikely to ever get their hands on the big-eared trophy now.

John Terry and Chelsea are set to go trophyless this season

The likes of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are now approaching their mid-thirties, while John Terry, Nicolas Anelka, Paulo Ferreira and Florent Malouda are not getting any younger.

It is getting harder for them year on year to win the prestigious prize, and Abramovich is now likely to ditch some of the older stars in favour of bringing in new blood, without the scars the current squad holds.

Chelsea should win the Champions League some day, but those who laid the foundations like Drogba and Lampard may not be there to see it.

This season presented one of their best-ever chances to win the competition.

Without any real prospect of winning the league, they were able to focus solely on the Champions League. A semi-final with Manchester United provided no real worries for them as they knew they could beat them, but like so many times this season they came up short.

This side is well past its sell-by-date and needs to be revamped in the summer.

Ironically, it was the oldest outfield player on the pitch who made the biggest influence on the game.

While some of Chelsea's older heads battled in vain, Ryan Giggs was once again the stand-out performer for United.

Ryan Giggs set up all Man Utd's goals in the tie

He set up both of their goals, after setting up the only goal in the first leg, with sublime passes only he is capable of.

He is so calm and composed on the ball and is simply getting better and better.

His experience certainly helps and he is not the same kind of player he was earlier in his career, but is still just as influential, if not more.

He has been re-invented as a central midfielder and this is testament to his desire and love of the game.

He is the prime example for any budding youngsters to follow and his influence will be felt at Old Trafford long after he retires.

At 37, he is still United's best player and who knows how long he can go on for? At this rate, he could easily play on until his forties.

He has been the catalyst for this campaign and could lead his side to the treble.

He is incomparable in the modern day game and shows not all players are motivated by sheer money.

One of the main talking points that has come out of this game is Carlo Ancelotti's selection of Fernando Torres and his subsequent dire performance.

It was no surprise to see him in the starting line-up, as Chelsea paid £50million for him to play and lead the line. He is meant to be the final jigsaw in their team and the man who makes the difference.

Torres has so far failed to live up to his price tag

But Ancelotti should have ignored the price tag and let his head make the decision. Torres has still not scored for Chelsea and has not looked remotely like doing so, while Didier Drogba has shown recent signs of returning to form. It would have been brave of Ancelotti to leave Torres out but it would have been the correct decision and would have gained him respect from pundits and supporters alike.

Torres was anonymous once again in this game, despite a few early touches, and deserved to be brought off at half-time. The problem was, the damage had been done by then.

Chelsea needed to make early in-roads and show United they were still in the tie, but had no focal point to the team and were therefore unthreatening until Torres was brought off.

Playing with Torres at the moment is like playing with ten players. He has no physical presence, no belief and seemingly no desire. The team does not suit him and he looks disinterested, just as he did in his final half-season at Liverpool. This is more than just a blip now and questions over whether he has 'lost it' need to be asked.

Next season, when the team will be more designed towards helping him and accustomed to his style of play, the real Fernando Torres will probably come to the fore.

But at the moment he is a liability and his presence reduced Chelsea's chances of reaching the semi-finals significantly.

Didier Drogba showed when he came on with his desire and strength that he should have started the game.

Drogba's goal seemed to get Chelsea back in the tie, only for United to go up the pitch and score

He has everything Torres doesn't have at the moment and it should have been something of a no-brainer for Ancelotti to pick him.

His goal summed up what he could have offered Chelsea if he had started the game, as he offered an out-ball, took the ball down well and fired past Edwin van der Sar. Torres is simply not capable of anything like that at the moment.

Drogba will probably be sacrificed in the summer in an attempt to get Torres performing, with a team designed more around him, but currently he is the best striker Chelsea has and should be treated that way.

With Chelsea's £50million striker misfiring, it was ironic to see how influential Man Utd's £6million striker was in comparison.

Javier Hernandez is a goal-poacher supreme and was once again in the right place at the right time to score the opening goal, which set United on the way to the semi-finals.

Senior stars like Ryan Giggs have helped 'Chicharito' settle in at Manchester United

He has scored 18 goals this season almost un-noticed and comes to the fore in Champions League games.

He seems to have a real goalscorer's instinct of where to run. He showed that for United's second goal, where his off-the-ball run created the space Park Ji-Sung needed to seal the game.

Hernandez is a natural goalscorer along the lines of Michael Owen and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and has developed into a key player as the season has progressed.

United fans will obviously be hoping he becomes as important as Solskjaer was to them, but Hernandez has the ability to be even more vital than that.

Solskjaer was a top-drawer player but suffered from his reputation as a super-sub, consistently starting games from the bench.

But Hernandez is more than that. His best displays invariably come when he starts games and he has developed a real understanding with Wayne Rooney. The Hernandez-Rooney partnership could be one that lasts years.

Rooney is just hitting top form and that will be a real relief to him.

He still has problems, as was shown with his on-camera swearing at West Ham, but is returning to the kind of form he showed last season.

It is more than just the goals. Some of the cross-field balls he played during this match were phenomenal. He is a key part of United's build-up play and the end product.

It says a lot for the Rooney-Hernandez partnership that Dimitar Berbatov is being left on the bench.

Berbatov has been sublime this season and scored more goals than ever before. He is the Premier League's top scorer but cannot break this partnership.

He has been much-maligned during his time at Old Trafford and so it is ironic he is not starting games when he is starting to receive praise. But that is testament to Hernandez and Rooney and it is good that Sir Alex Ferguson is sticking with the partnership for the good of the team, despite Berbatov's imperious form. It certainly gives him a genuine goalscoring option on the bench.

Park deserved his goal, too. He is one of United's true unsung heroes and should get more credit than he does.

He always seems to pop up and score important goals (usually against Arsenal), and seems to be one of the first names on Sir Alex Ferguson's team-sheet for the big games.

His industrious style sums up this Manchester United side. He works so hard for the team and is beginning to get the recognition he deserves.

Another key player in United's run-in will be Antonio Valencia.

He came on with 15 minutes to go in this game, but will start games as he is unlike anyone else United have.

It is great for the team that he has recovered from his horrific broken leg in time for the key part of the season, and his crossing ability could provide the difference between one trophy or two this season, or even between two trophies and three.

Nani has had a great season and had another good game here, yet has been overlooked in the PFA Player of the Year nominations.

Nani's petulance has drawn much criticism this season

To me, that is no surprise.

Some of his on-field antics hardly endear himself to his fellow players, and he hardly covered himself in any glory in this game.

First he made the most of a Ramires foul, rolling around on the ground in apparent agony until Ramires was sent off.

Surprise, surprise, he was up and running as soon as Ramires had left the pitch. He has a real reputation for diving and feigning injury and something needs to be done about him now. Either Ferguson needs to sit him down and tell him these actions are not acceptable, or he needs to be reprimanded in some way by the authorities.

With the tie all but dead with around 20 minutes remaining, he was fouled deep into the Chelsea half.

He than waved an imaginary card at the referee, and this is another act of bad sportsmanship which just sums him up.

He is an odious individual and the sooner he leaves England to go to a more cynical country like Italy, the better.

He seems to have a very high opinion of himself and is undoubtedly a very good player, but that does not excuse him from such criticism.

He has learned a lot from his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, both by the way he plays and some of the more unlikeable aspects of his game, but will never be the same player.

He needs to grow up now as such antics will not be stood for any longer.

As for Ferguson, this looks set to be another vintage year.

Sir Alex Ferguson has won 35 major trophies as Manchester United manager

He already has two Champions League winners' medals in his pocket and must feel confident a third may come his way next month at Wembley.

He is surely one of, if not the, best manager of all time and United fans must pray he has no plans to retire any time in the immediate future.

This may not be the most exciting team he has assembled but it could be the most effective.

No-one will care how they have played this season if they win the treble. They show incredible desire and a will-to-win which out-dos most opponents, and it looks almost impossible to beat them at Old Trafford.

If they are looking for widespread acclaim, they will need to sign some flair players in the summer, as they have looked mechanical since Cristiano Ronaldo left.

Stars like Nani will also need to be kicked into shape but the future looks positive for them and it may just be that two or three players are needed to make the side truly scintillating.

As for Chelsea, the writing seems to be on the wall for Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti's side lost in the first knock-out round to Inter Milan last season

Roman Abramovich has one goal: to win the Champions League. Ancelotti has now come up short twice and his two wins in the competition with AC Milan are unlikely to save him against the trigger-happy Russian.

However, his tremendous success last season in winning the league and FA Cup double should be remembered - to sack him now would make little sense.

Who could replace him? There are not many managers who can match his record and it may turn out to be another costly mistake by Abramovich if he sacks him.

Roman Abramovich has spent heavily since buying Chelsea in 2003

He has made the same mistakes here as he did with Jose Mourinho, forcing a player on him he didn't want, and only has himself to blame.

Torres has all the hallmarks of Andriy Shevchenko, just even more costly.

Shevchenko knew he wasn't Mourinho's man, and Torres must surely know he is not Ancelotti's.

Ancelotti is expected to get the best out of whoever is thrust upon him, and is likely to pay for Torres' failure in the summer.

This could be a watershed moment in Chelsea's history. The team will be much-changed next year and some club legends will pay for this failure. They look a tired team who are going nowhere fast.

As for United, they now have a real chance of winning the Champions League.

A probable semi-final against mid-table German side Schalke presents a real opportunity for a place in the final, and anything can then happen.

United should beat Schalke but should take them seriously as any side who reaches the semi-finals of the Champions League must be more than capable.

Raul is still scoring consistently for Schalke

Raul will be the key man United will need to stop but they should go through to meet Barcelona or Real Madrid at Wembley in the final.

That would be a much tougher proposition and they are likely to come up short there, but anything can happen in a final.

Barcelona brushed aside Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate with Lionel Messi's 48th goal of the season sealing thir semi-final place.

Real Madrid should come through against Tottenham tonight and they also look formidable, so it will be extremely difficult for United to get their hands on the trophy.

But they do have a chance against anyone, as proved in their 2008 semi-final win against Barcelona, and their industrious style will stand them in good stead.

With the likes of Giggs, Park and Nani on form, anything is possible.