here's my attempt, hard to be neutral as i'm buzzing

Cech 6 had very little to do. Can't remember him making a save as he had no chance with morientes goal and one that hit the post. dominated area with crosses though

Diarra 5 struggled in the first half and made a few mistakes.Still no grudges, this guy is top class

Terry 7 kept villa (who?) very quiet

Carvalho 7 Despite cock up for their goal, he was quality for the rest

A Cole 7 up and down the flank all night. still makes mistakes and not good enough going forward but worked v hard

Mikel 8 superb showing once again. Cool on the ball, great passing and won tackle after tackle. Maka thanks for your service, but this could be your last season

Lampard 6 had good and bad moments in equal measure. Some of his free kicks and corners were better

Ballack 7 thought he got stronger as game went on and was v unlucky not to score

Essien 8.5 better at right back than in midfield strangely. got the winner and provided tremendous width on the right flank all second half

Sheva 7 got better as the game went on and big name player once again proved the difference on the big night

Drogba 7 worked so hard for the team. an injury seemed to take a bit out of him in second half but valencia couldn't deal with him.

subs: Cole 8 awesome. for someone to out for so long and be this good already is a credit to his talent and desire. was a major key to our victory

Not too many arguements with those marks. Think I would give diarra slightly higher and Drogs too. Felt Diarra was unlucky to go off as he was doing ok. He is one of the few players we have who doesn't look to get rid of the ball too early. Ok, sometimes he runs in to trouble but I do admire the way he always tries to wriggle and turn his way out of tight situations and he's not afraid to hoof it out either when need be. He's a star.

And Drogba just went on and on again tonight and won free kicks a plenty. Brilliant header in the first half.

Special mark for the ref - 10. I don't think he really put a foot wrong and seemed to give us a lot of the 50/50 calls. Top Bloke!!

I thought the referee, particularly in the second half, gave us quite a lot... more than he gave them.

all part of the g14 masterplan of course.

Quite right, G4. I thought this was the first game in a long time where I thought we got all of the calls from the referee.

He did a great job, though, in all honesty. The mugging on Drogba by Ayala was horrific, and the ref caught his nasty elbow to Drogba's face.

As to the ratings, I thought Ballack was brilliant, and his tactical positioning was immaculate.

Joe Cole was just fantastic.

I just finished watching the game on a delayed basis, so I did not go on the forum lest I find out the score. It was definitely worth the wait. The ranks right up there with the 4-2 Barca result, in my opinion. Just lovely football from Chelsea!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Ashley Cole made one great save during that one patch when our defence was at sixes and sevens. Cech was well beaten and would have never gotten to the left post in time. Cole blocked the shot between his legs, otherwise it would have been 2-0. He deserves a high rating just for that crucial play.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Ashley Cole made one great save during that one patch when our defence was at sixes and sevens. Cech was well beaten and would have never gotten to the left post in time. Cole blocked the shot between his legs, otherwise it would have been 2-0. He deserves a high rating just for that crucial play.

Yes, that was a nice save by Cole but if I may be a bit negative I would like to point out that after he had saved the shot he really fumbled with the ball. He should just have stood up and shot it away. Instead he lost it and if I'm not mistaking they almost got another chance to score.

Yeah , i thought Joey was superb , looks like he's come back just at the right time although that dosent mean earlier in the season he wasn't missed. Essien outstanding and unlucky to get booked , clumsey rather than dangerous . Ballack i thought looked comfortable in a Chelsea for a change and Sheva , although didnt have his best game for us , did what he's world class at doing , getting on the end of scraps in the six yard box . Delighted he scored .

I thought Essien's booking was fair - I would have expected an opponent to get booked for a challenge like that.

My Ratings:

Cech - 7 Amazingly didn't have anything to do other than bollock Mikel in the second half for not closing down Angulo!

Diarra - 6 Probably the only player who looked a little overawed by the occasion. Got caught in possession once in a very dangerous position.

Terry - 7 Again, really didn't have all that much to do.

Carvalho - 7 As above. Brought the ball out nicely as he seems want to do more and more this season. Could have scored early in the first half with a better header.

Cole - 7.5 Wasn't challenged all that much defensively, but made a great block to deny Morientes at a crucial time. Gave us good width on the left but his crossing leaves something to be desired.

Mikel - 9 Positioning was excellent, decision making excellent, passing excellent, ball retention excellent. Hard to believe this is his first season and that he is only 19.

Lampard - 7.5 As usual he worked hard. Corners were generally better than of late. Freekicks generally poor but one or two created chances including for Ballack near the end. Definitely lacking in confidence and not getting in to his usual scoring positions. Looked happier when we switched to 4-3-3.

Ballack - 8 Another good performance in europe. Clearly happier with the little bit of extra time that he gets on the ball. Worked hard, got forward and was very unlucky not to score the winner.

Essien - 8 Curiously, he again looked more dangerous once he switched to full back. He really plays as a sort of right half getting up and down that right side and looking very dangerous. It works well when we are looking to attack, although might cause a few problems if we are under pressure defensively. He has an enormous amount of energy and is pretty quick too. Most importantly, he produces an end product when gets in position - either a cross or a goal.

Drogba - 8.5 Unlucky not to score. Took kick after kick and elbow after elbow and just kept coming back for more. One incident I noticed in the first half at a corner. I think it was when Sheva headed over. As Drogba ran across the 6 yard line the defender just stood, quite deliberately, on the back of his calf. Very nasty and cynical and Ayala in particular was at it all night. To be fair to the ref he did pick up quite a bit of it. Drogs is definitely struggling a bit with fitness and tiredness but he never gives less than 100% and is always a nightmare for defenders.

Sheva - 8 Also worked really hard for the team. Took his goal well and looked quite dangerous in the second half when Joey came on even though he had to drop out wide - not really his best position.

Subs:

Cole - 8 Made a big impact on the game. I was surprised at how well he was able to get in to the game coming off the bench. Showed some lovely touches on the ball and could have scored himself with a bit more luck. Great to see him back at such a crucial time, especially as we are without Robben..

Mourinho - 9.5 You have to give credit to the manager for his changes and his powers of motivation. Some have said that he picked the wrong starting line up but I think he was wise to try and establish some control in the match before pressing harder for the win. The second half performance was outstanding as our midfield just crushed Valencia. Normally, I am a nervous wreck watching us play on TV. Last night I was so confident that we were going to win after we equalised. It was just a matter of when we would do it. Great example of the bond between manager and players during the ITV post match interview. Can you imagine Fergie or Benitez doing that?

Abramovich - 0 No excuse for not being there. Very surprised and disappointed in him.

I thought Essien's booking was fair - I would have expected an opponent to get booked for a challenge like that.

No I couldn't argue with the booking. But just a minute or two later I was well worried that Essien would get sent off when he barely touched one of their players - can't remember which one - who then started rolling all over the place. Fortunately the ref didn't fall for it, and the rest is history.

I thought Essien's booking was fair - I would have expected an opponent to get booked for a challenge like that.

No I couldn't argue with the booking. But just a minute or two later I was well worried that Essien would get sent off when he barely touched one of their players - can't remember which one - who then started rolling all over the place. Fortunately the ref didn't fall for it, and the rest is history.

That was Peter Drury being useless. It was Mikel who committed that foul. He obviously suffers from the "they all look alike syndrome" - what a numpty he is!

here's my attempt, hard to be neutral as i'm buzzing

Cech 6 had very little to do. Can't remember him making a save as he had no chance with morientes goal and one that hit the post. dominated area with crosses though

Diarra 5 struggled in the first half and made a few mistakes.Still no grudges, this guy is top class

Terry 7 kept villa (who?) very quiet

Carvalho 7 Despite cock up for their goal, he was quality for the rest

A Cole 7 up and down the flank all night. still makes mistakes and not good enough going forward but worked v hard

Mikel 8 superb showing once again. Cool on the ball, great passing and won tackle after tackle. Maka thanks for your service, but this could be your last season

Lampard 6 had good and bad moments in equal measure. Some of his free kicks and corners were better

Ballack 7 thought he got stronger as game went on and was v unlucky not to score

Essien 8.5 better at right back than in midfield strangely. got the winner and provided tremendous width on the right flank all second half

Sheva 7 got better as the game went on and big name player once again proved the difference on the big night

Drogba 7 worked so hard for the team. an injury seemed to take a bit out of him in second half but valencia couldn't deal with him.

subs: Cole 8 awesome. for someone to out for so long and be this good already is a credit to his talent and desire. was a major key to our victory

Can't really query those.

I thought Carvalho was very good, again.

Diarra struggled.

Mikel was AWESOME. Stunning stuff for a kid of 19.

Joey Cole and Essien stole the show.

It's a real pity the The Bison is missing for the 1st Leg of the Semi's.

He is key.