Barcelona advances to European Champions League final against Manchester United

Barcelona advances to Champions League final

LONDON — Barcelona advanced to the European Champions League final against Manchester United in dramatic fashion, tying Chelsea 1-1 Wednesday night when Andres Iniesta scored in the third minute of second-half injury time.

Michael Essien scored on a 20-yard shot in the ninth minute for Chelsea, which lost last year’s final to Manchester United on penalty kicks.

But Iniesta beat goalkeeper Petr Cech after collecting a ball from Lionel Messi and tied the aggregate 1-1 in the home-and-home, total-goals series. Barcelona, which finished a man short following Eric Abidal’s ejection in the 66th minute, advanced because of a 1-0 advantage in away goals.

Manchester United will try to win the title for the fourth time when it meets Chelsea on May 27 at Rome, following victories in 1968, 1999 and last year. Barcelona won Europe’s top club soccer crown in 1992 and 2006.

Chelsea players surrounded Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge, angry they weren’t awarded at least two penalty kicks — one for a free kick he gave outside the penalty area after a foul that was within, the other for a hand ball that wasn’t called against Samuel Eto’o.