Benitez promises Premiership challenge

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A 1-0 victory on the night, 1-1 on aggregate and then the agonies of a 4-1 penalty shoot-out triumph, menas Liverpool now face either Manchester United or AC Milan in Athens on May 23.

Benitez said: "This is really important for our club and for the future. We will try to have a bigger impact on the Premiership next season, but for now we will try to win the Champions League again."

He added: "But the league is so hard, when you see United and Chelsea winning every game, you have to be almost perfect to be a contender.

Now we are in the final and need to enjoy it rather than talk a lot about what others have said. I will just enjoy this, the atmosphere was fantastic. But Chelsea were pushing hard and we had to work really hard in defence.

"(Didier) Drogba was difficult, but they have other very good attackers, we had to work very hard to control them."

It was the second time in three seasons Liverpool had beaten Chelsea at this stage after drawing the semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge and winning the second meeting 1-0 in 2005.

But this time they were coming back from a goal behind, Joe Cole's effort separating the sides until Daniel Agger's first-half leveller.

Benitez said: "It was more difficult than 2005, more satisfying because we were a goal down going into the match. We needed to score and could not concede. And Benitez revealed his pride in his team after they reached the club's seventh European Cup final.

He said: "I could not have asked for more. It was very hard, they have some great attacking players and it was hard to keep them under control and keep a clean sheet. But we did that, we played with great passion and skill, and our fans helped us through."