Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (1-1 on agg, Liv. win 4-1 on pens): Reina saves best until last as Liverpool take road to Athens

Rafael Benitez's wife Montse put her head in her hands and rocked in the directors' box - and she was among the more sane at Anfield last night. This was English football at its most dramatic, its most tense and, for Liverpool, its most joyful. They have vanquished Jose Mourinho again and, in their seventh European Cup final, are on the brink of history once more.

We begin at the end with Pepe Reina, a goalkeeper who makes the art of saving penalties look simple. Last night he stopped two in the shoot-out to decide who goes to Athens on 23 May. In the FA Cup final last year he stopped three. In his last season at Villarreal he stopped nine and, in a tie of such grinding stalemate, it was no surprise that it was a goalkeeper who emerged decisive.

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Reina's heroics came as this epic struggle over two matches - a tie levelled on aggregate by Daniel Agger's goal on 22 minutes - culminated in a penalty shoot-out in front of the Anfield Road stand. In the end, Chelsea crumbled under the pressure. Maybe it was the sound of 40,000 Scouse voices screaming them down, but Arjen Robben and then Geremi failed from the spot and Liverpool were relentless. Four out of four penalties from Bolo Zenden, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt hit the net.

It was one of those nights that will live long in the Anfield memory. The directors' box was full of the old boys who built the tradition and on the front row one half of the new American ownership, George Gillett, shook hands with fans. Someone should have told him that it is not like this every week, although under Benitez the special nights seem to be coming around a lot more often than not.

A soaring triumph for Benitez, his second Champions League final in the space of there seasons, and then the other side of the story. "Mamma mia," Mourinho muttered in exasperation as he was asked again whether this defeat would affect his future at the club.

But as Anfield exploded with joy at the expense of the Chelsea manager, again it was impossible to banish that thought. Ominously, Roman Abramovich was not in the stadium last night. It is impossible to read the thoughts of Chelsea's silent owner but the trophy he craves most is now gone for a third Mourinho season.

Up until now the tension between the Russian billionaire and his manager has been against the backdrop of a remarkable season for the Portuguese coach; after last night Abramovich has something to complain about. For the first time since he came to England in 2004, Mourinho will not - barring a remarkable turnaround - deliver the Premiership and he is out of the Champions League. In the world that Abramovich has created at Stamford Bridge, that constitutes failure.

The Chelsea manager delivered a rambling, tetchy analysis of the game with one point standing out above all. "I saw one team playing to win and they were in blue," he insisted over and over again. On the night it seemed a graceless way to go, but for those who have seen Mourinho accumulate anger and frustration over the season it was, in the context of his character, understandable. Mourinho believes he has been robbed this season by injuries and the politics that led to his club's January transfer embargo - and he will not be dissuaded. And he was clearly hurt too.

There was, in truth, so little between these two teams but Liverpool edged it. Agger's goal won the game but Kuyt's disallowed goal 11 minutes into the first period of extra time should have stood. The Dutchman also had a header against the bar in the 59th minute and a shot saved two minutes from the end of normal time. They were the defining moments of a game that was an advert for English football only in the sheer drama of the occasion. As a match it was a deathly mix of caution and defensiveness that was sustained only by what was at stake.

It could not have been in greater contrast to the attacking exchanges of Milan and Manchester United at Old Trafford last week and what will surely be a thriller at San Siro tonight. If it is to be Sir Alex Ferguson's team who face Liverpool in Athens, then the difference in styles will be as stark as the loyalties on the streets of the Greek capital. Benitez's Liverpool are beginning to harvest results as efficiently as Mourinho's blue machine once did.

The long ball to Didier Drogba and Peter Crouch was the route for both these sides and yet they were still afraid to commit too many in support of their targetmen. There were flashes of imagination from Joe Cole and Jermaine Pennant but in the main they were erased by two formidable defences. Jamie Carragher was the lone man sprinting towards the Kop as Kuyt's penalty hit the net and few deserved a place in the final as much as Liverpool's rock.

The goal came on 22 minutes. Joe Cole could consider himself lucky to avoid a booking for a clumsy trip on Gerrard and it was the Liverpool captain who took the free-kick on the left. He pulled the ball on to the run of Agger coming into the box and he met it perfectly, guiding it into the bottom corner of Petr Cech's goal.

The chances for Chelsea were scarce, a header from Drogba that hit Michael Essien's shoulder, a second-half cross from Ashley Cole that Carragher cleared. Four minutes into extra time, Kuyt's header from John Arne Riise's cross hit the bar. His follow-up to Xabi Alonso's shot that was disallowed for offside should have stood. "History will only remember the result," Mourinho said. And history continues to elude him.

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): Reina; Finnan, Agger, Carragher, Riise; Pennant (Alonso, 78), Gerrard, Mascherano (Fowler, 118), Zenden; Kuyt; Crouch (Bellamy, 105). Substitutes not used: Padelli (gk), Arbeloa, Hyypia, Gonzalez.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Ferreira, Essien, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Geremi, 118); J Cole (Robben, 98), Mikel, Lampard, Kalou (Wright-Phillips, 107); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Boulahrouz, Bridge, Diarra.

Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).

How penalties unfolded...

Bolo Zenden steps up to take the first penalty and sends Petr Cech the wrong way.

Scores, 1-0.

Arjen Robben goes the same way as Zenden and Jose Reina guesses right.

Misses, 1-0

Xabi Alonso rolls in a low penalty. Cech guesses the right way but cannot keep it out.

Scores, 2-0

Frank Lampard goes for power, blasts the ball past Reina.

Scores, 2-1

Steven Gerrard slots the ball to the bottom right of goal - Cech dives the other way.

Scores, 3-1

Geremi hits the ball at a very saveable height - and Reina obliges.

Misses, 3-1

Dirk Kuyt is the coolest man inside Anfield. He strokes the ball low to Cech's right and in it goes.

Scores, 4-1