Roman: My Chelski stars

Lampard said: "Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world at the moment but we've beaten them, which gives us the belief we can go on and win the competition. We have to believe.

"We're in the semi-finals and it won't be easy but if we play like we did yesterday we've got a good chance of reaching the final. There's an incredible feeling in the dressing room and it's the result of all our hard work since July.

"It was a great night for the whole of Chelsea and I'm ecstatic. It's the best night of my career and a lot of the lads are saying the same thing. A lot of us are young lads who haven't experienced much Champions League success so this is incredible."

The result makes the position of Ranieri even more fascinating. It has been clear for weeks Chelsea want to replace him and were caught out having discussions with Sven-Goran Eriksson. Ranieri has even described himself as a "dead man walking" but it has turned the Italian into a cult figure with the fans, who continue to chant for him to be kept. "It's difficult to kill me," he said after the match.

"I may be dead but I will continue to work. Can we win the Champions League? Why not? Anything is possible now. I think this can transform the season and we want to catch Arsenal in the league. Describing my joy at the final whistle is difficult, but I was mad, it was 30 seconds of delirium. Roman Abramovich was mad afterwards as well, everyone was going crazy in the dressing room."

Chelsea have an astonishing away record in this season's Champions League, having won all of their six games and conceded just one goal. They will be full of confidence ahead of the semi-final first leg in Monaco on 20 April. Monaco's victory over Real Madrid was a bigger surprise than Chelsea's elimination of Arsenal but Lampard is adamant they will not take the French side lightly.

He said: "There wasn't much of a reaction when we heard the Monaco result and we're just pleased to be in the semifinals. People will say it's an easier draw but there are no easy games in the semi-finals."

Lampard also praised Ranieri and said: " It's a great vindication for the manager. He's a good man and deserves a lot of credit for the way he has handled himself this season. All the speculation isn't nice and he has done a great job all season."

Arsenal's sudden dip in form means they are now just four points ahead of Chelsea in the league and they must face their next two games without Thierry Henry who limped off late on last night with a hamstring injury.

Lampard added: "Arsenal are still the best team in the land because of their week-in week-out record but we're fighting to be up with them. Last night shows we're getting pretty close but we've had four goes at it this season."

Full-back Bridge dedicated his match-winning goal to his manager and is hoping it will convince Abramovich to abandon his plans the Italian. Bridge said: "I'm not too sure what to believe about the manager and am not sure what's going on. I'm pleased for him but you never know what's going to happen. Maybe this result will persuade the board that he should stay. He's been great for me and I can't ask for that much more. All the lads get on very well with him and there's a possibility he might stay on."

Bridge added: "Ranieri talks to us about the speculation, tells us to put it to the back of our minds and seems to get on with it. I feel sorry for him in a way and think most people do. We'll have to see what happens. Everyone feels for him." Meanwhile, Henry may have a scan to determine the severity of his injury, which will keep him out Friday's home game against Liverpool and the trip to Newcastle on Sunday.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "Thierry wanted to come off. He will be out for the weekend but it's difficult to say for how long after that." The French striker was having treatment on the injury today. Freddie Ljungberg may also miss the next three games. The midfielder needed painkilling injections to enable him to play last night after he broke two bones in his right hand in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.

He was clearly ill at ease playing with a heavy strapping and must now decide whether to have a metal pin inserted in his hand or to wear a heavy cast. "I had four painkilling shots before the game," said Ljungberg. "The defeat was probably the hardest moment of my career. It will take a long time to accept. Maybe we were too deep in the second half and Chelsea looked stronger is that period. It was a cruel blow to us but we have to recover."

Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira added: "It hurt us. Now it depends on how we react as a team. We have to show how strong we are."

The Highbury tie attracted a peak audience of 10 million viewers on ITV1 - the highest Champions League figure of the season.