Chelsea booked their place in the UEFA Champions League semi-final despite a 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium.

Banished manager Jose Mourinho again stole the attention by appearing then disappearing from the stadium before the kick-off - but goals from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba ensured he would get to show his face in this competition in the next round.

Lampard had opened the scoring with a heavily deflected first, before Michael Ballack handed Claudio Pizarro a leveller.

Didier Drogba looked to have finally killed off the Germans with a second, but late, late goals from substitutes Paolo Guerrero and Mehmet Scholl meant that the German's went out with a win, but crucially a 6-5 defeat on aggregate.

Manager Mourinho had done his best to overshadow the early stages of this clash with his decision to abandon his allotted seat and return to the team hotel - but again his side did not appear to miss his presence until the latter stages.

Drogba, playing as a lone striker, was handed an early chance by Lamaprd's fine pass - but Oliver Kahn just did enough to clear - whilst at the other end Michael Ballack was dismayed when his goal-bound shot was blocked superbly.

Pizarro should have handed the German hosts the lead soon after when the impressive Ze Roberto left a rather pedestrian Robert Huth in his wake and cut back perfectly, only for the Peruvian to fire far too close to Petr Cech.

Huth was looking distinctly uncomfortable in an unfamiliar right back role and, after just doing enough to shackle Ze Roberto one minute, was fortunate to not give away a penalty soon after, when he got the wrong side of Pizarro and appeared to hold onto the striker.

In between, Bastian Schweinsteiger should have scored when he nutmegged Gallas, raced into the box, but curled his shot away from the far post when well placed.

Just as at Stamford Bridge, it was a deflected shot that broke the deadlock in favour of the English side.

Both William Gallas and Joe Cole did superbly down the left and the latter cut inside before laying the ball back for Lampard to strike.

Lucio had deflected Cole's shot in the first leg to break the deadlock, and the Brazilian was again the man that diverted the ball beyond Kahn's despairing dive.

Schweinsteiger's speculative shot brought a decent tip wide from Cech and Ballack picked the wrong option when he cut back rather than shoot after yet more good work from Ze Roberto.

Ballack was gifted the perfect chance to make amends when Huth headed into his path late in the half, but after sidestepping neatly into space, the Bayern captain smashed his shot high and wide to widespread disbelief.

Drogba's ternacity earned him a chance soon after the break but, as Bayern threw everything forward, Chelsea retreated and attempted to create the solid lines that had marked the early days of the Mourinho era.

Cole, creator of the first, typified their resilience, making three fine tackles in quick succession, the second denying Ze Roberto what looked like a great shooting chance.

Chelsea could well have added a second out of the blue, but for a wonderful save from Kahn - denying Duff from point blank range in a timely echo of his form of old.

Ballack blazed well wide, but then played a huge part in Bayern's equaliser when he powered a header that Cech could only palm onto a post, and watched in delight as the ball fell kindly to Pizarro to tap home and give hope to the hosts.

Huth's torrid night nearly took a huge turn for the worse, but with the stadium holding its collective breath Bixente Lizrarzu's cross was only turned onto his own bar by the big German defender.

From the resultant corner, Eidur Gudjohnsen cleared off the line with Cech beaten by yet another Ballack header, as the Bundesliga giants threw everything forward in the hope of prolonging the soon to be abandoned Olympic Stadium's European Cup history for another game.

If ever Chelsea needed the calming presence of the usually unshakeable Mourinho, it was now, but instead it was Drogba who all but ended the chances of a comeback.

Cole was again the architect, picking out the big Ivorian with a fine cross, but Drogba's header was as emphatic as they come - leaving Kahn grasping at thin air and the crowd heading for the exits.

The final stages were livened by Schweinsteiger, firing in three shots from range before handing Ballack a deserved goal.

The young Germany international smashed his shot in, and substitute Guerrero was perfectly placed to deflect home from close range.

Incredibly, there was time for a third; Mehmet Scholl giving the dwindling home fans a lift with a fine finish past Cech.

A semi-final beckons, with Liverpool or Juventus the next to test themselves against this impressive Chelsea side - but, lest we forget, they will have a familiar man back on the bench, and Mourinho will be keen to show that he can instil even greater things from this side when he is present.