Players are to blame this time

At the very moment Chelsea needed to retain possession, consolidate their early advantage and take the sting out of the game, they forgot the basics.

Hugo Ibarra's goal in added time at the end of the first half changed the game, gave coach Didier Deschamps the motivational ammunition he needed in the dressing room and, ultimately cost Chelsea their place in the final.

Make no mistake - Chelsea should be in the final. However, they took their eye off the ball last night and paid the price.

Ranieri said: "We dominated and put them under a lot of pressure in the first half but conceding that goal at the end of the half changed the match."

Ibarra's strike meant that instead of having the advantage, by virtue of their away goal, Chelsea would have had to score two more in the second half to win.

Worse followed when the elusive Fernando Morientes finished a sweeping attacking move with a low, crisp strike after 15 minutes of the second half.

Where did it all go wrong? Deschamps, a former Stamford Bridge favourite, explained: "Chelsea expended a huge amount of energy putting us under pressure in the first half."

It was quite clear that Chelsea would not be able to sustain the energy levels demonstrated in a pulsating first 45 minutes. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Geremi faded dramatically after the interval and were both replaced.

Even Lampard, a prodigious influence in the early stages, couldn't maintain the same level of commitment once Monaco began to exploit the space between Chelsea's attack and defence.

The intensity of Chelsea's football in the first half clearly gnawed at Monaco's self-confidence. Had Joe Cole scored, instead of slicing his shot after 15 minutes, or Eidur Gudjohnsen headed in instead of hitting the bar, the match would have been over at half-time.

Chelsea rocked Monaco with their pace and power and goalkeeper Flavio Roma had to make two outstanding saves, the first from Hasselbaink and the second from Lampard.

These missed opportunities were to prove costly but when Gronkjaer curled home a superb drive in the 22nd minute, Chelsea appeared to have found the impetus to overhaul that two-goal deficit.

Lampard's cool finish enhanced the feelgood factor, but within minutes, they faced a new reality when the tricky Jerome Rothen crossed from the left onto the head of Morientes. The ball looped to the back post where Ibarra supplied the finishing touch.

Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini claimed he'd handled the ball but Swedish referee Anders Frisk was having none of it. "The referee didn't see it," said Ranieri. "What can you do?"

Gronkjaer squandered a wonderful opportunity soon after the re-start but the goal Morientes scored in the 60th minute really put recovery beyond Chelsea. Robert Pires, working for French radio, claimed that Monaco deserved their win. "They were the better team and they were far more disciplined," said the Arsenal midfielder. As for the final, he fancied Porto to beat Monaco. "It will be a great triumph if Monaco win," he added.

Porto coach Jose Mourinho was at Stamford Bridge assessing the opposition for the final which, if the speculation is accurate, will be one of his last engagements before he joins Chelsea.

There is, though, a theory suggesting that Deschamps would be the more logical successor to Ranieri.

None of which, of course, will comfort the sad Italian coach, who did his best but discovered it wasn't quite good enough.

Let's hope he can get the single point Chelsea need at Old Trafford on Saturday to finish second in the Premiership.

That would at least be some small consolation for Ranieri.