Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has admitted that he did touch the ball in the penalty area but insisted his attempt to stop Nicolas Anelka was not deliberate.

The incident was one of four possible penalties turned down by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo that left Chelsea furious.

“To be fair, it touched my hands but it was not deliberate,” Pique said. “The referee can decide what he wants and you have to respect all the decisions. But sometimes they are wrong.

“I'm just happy that I'm through to the final.”
Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba also claimed they were fouled in the area, while Samuel Eto'o also handled but Ovrebo did not point to the spot.

“There are no words to describe how happy the team is,” Pique added.

“A team like this, trying to attack all the time, cannot go 180 minutes without scoring. It was in the last minute but it was enough.”

With Chelsea leading Barcelona had Eric Abidal sent-off for a professional foul on Anelka and boss Pep Guardiola was surprised that opposite number Guus Hiddink did not then try to kill the game with a second.

“They created chances on the counter-attack but they were conservative,” Guardiola said. “We showed a lot of strength and bravery and hung on.

“It was difficult to play against Chelsea 11 against 11 and we played 11 against 10. I can understand the feeling of Chelsea because they had Rome there and in the last minute we can take it.”

Barcelona will be without Abidal, the injured Rafael Marquez and Dani Alves for the final after the full-back picked up a third yellow card to trigger a suspension.

Pique will have to lead the defence with Carles Puyol and is relishing the prospect of a final against his former club Manchester United in Rome.

“It means a lot,” Pique said “It will be special because I had three good years there, maybe I didn't play a lot but they were important years for me.”