Soccer:Chelsea captain John Terry apologised to his team-mates for "letting them down" after being sent off in the first half of the second leg of his side's remarkable Champions League semi-final aggregate victory over Barcelona.

The 10-man visitors battled back from 2-0 down at the Nou Camp to draw 2-2 on the night and win 3-2 on aggregate to progress to the final - all after losing centre-back Terry for inexplicably kneeing Alexis Sanchez eight minutes before half-time.

After viewing a replay of the red-card incident, Terry said: "Sanchez was darting in behind me. I've seen the replay and it does look bad. I'm not that type of player to intentionally hurt anyone. I've raised my knee, which I maybe shouldn't have done in hindsight. But hopefully people who know me as a person, as a player...I'm not that type of player.

"I'm disappointed but delighted for the lads. To come here and play the way they did and get the result they did with 10 men...I feel I've let them down. I've apologised to them and I want to apologise to the fans as well.

"At the time, I was bewildered because I was trying to protect myself a little bit, but looking at it on the replay, I've no complaints. I've let the lads down. They've performed brilliantly, so hopefully this doesn't take it away from the players. This is what this football club deserves. We deserve to be in the Champions League final. The boys were excellent and I hope the incident doesn't take away from how hard they worked."

Caretaker boss Roberto Di Matteo refused to condemn Terry. The Italian said: "He's fantastic leader of this group. He's the captain of our club. Everybody can make a mistake in life. We're just so happy that this group has managed to go to the final.

"It's an incredible achievement by this group of players. A lot of people had written us off and we showed again what kind of character these players have. We didn't expect to play with 10 men and we knew it was going to be tough. It was even more difficult than we expected. They're a great team, with some fantastic players. We just showed what we're made of."

Midfielder Frank Lampard savoured the result as one of the most special of his 11 years with the west London club. "It's one of the finest moments I've felt in a Chelsea shirt," he said on Sky Sports 2. "It was backs to the wall. I know we dug in and people want to see beautiful football, but with 10 men for 50-odd minutes or whatever it was, to perform like that was unbelievable.

"That clock wasn't half slow in the second half! You know they're liable at any moment because of the players they've got in their team but there's a determination about us and you get what you deserve. We were all in it together and we dug in."

Defender Branislav Ivanovic, who will miss next month's final in Munich along with Terry, Ramires and Raul Meireles after a late yellow card, added: "It was a very difficult game. We deserved to qualify."

Pep Guardiola was unable to explain his emotions or pin down why his exceptionally gifted Barcelona team had failed in their bid to get past Chelsea. The holders, bidding to become the first club to win back-to-back European titles since AC Milan in 1990, lost despite dominating possession and creating a host of

chances.

World Player of the Year Lionel Messi could not add to his 63-goal season, smashing a penalty against the bar just after the break and later striking a low shot that ricocheted off a post before the visitors rallied to draw 2-2.He has now failed to score in eight games against Chelsea, twice as many as against any other club in Europe.

Guardiola told a post-match news conference he did not know what else Barca could have done but their elimination from Europe's elite club competition highlighted the fact that when their flowing passing game fails they have little scope

to adjust their tactics.

With only defenders Carles Puyol or Gerard Pique able to challenge the imposing Chelsea players in the air, pumping balls into the box was not much of an option, especially after the latter went off with concussion midway through the first half.

In the end, Guardiola was left musing on whether luck was simply against the club this season following a spectacular run of success that has yielded 13 trophies since he took over in 2008. "I have a feeling that sometimes football is like this," he said. "To be honest, I just think that this year was not our turn. This year, it seems like we couldn't do it and that's it."I am sorry if I am not very clear but I have a lot of emotions inside right now. Maybe in time I will see things more clearly. I don't even know how I feel really.

"I don't know what to tell the players about why they are not in the final. Yes we are sad but it's not our saddest night.”