Last year the song that presaged Chelsea's Champions League downfall was "Choke" by the Cardigans. This year the writing was even clearer. One hour before i left work to watch the climactic second leg of our Champions League duel with Liverpool, my iTunes leapt into "Going Down to Liverpool" by the Bangles. No ambiguity there.

The match ... can be summarized fairly quickly. In the 4th minute Milan Baros flicked a ball over Petr Cech. While he had a decent case for a penalty on Cech, Luis Garcia ran onto the arcing ball and punched it towards goal. John Terry had misjudged the ball to give Garcia space, but deflected his shot. However, by the time William Gallas arrived to clear the ball had clearly crossed the goal line. The rest of the game? Chelsea dominated possession but just couldn't click with each other in the final third. Eidur Gudjohnsen missed a tight angle shot in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time, game over. We can't really claim injustice when we had only one shot on goal, a low Frank Lampard free kick that forced Jerzy Dudek into his only save of the match.

Over the two legs neither team really distinguished themselves, so Liverpool certainly deserve to head to Istanbul for the final. They got lucky early on today and then sat back and soaked up Chelsea's pressure. They've done that quite well in this year's competition, earlier frustrating Juventus in the quarterfinals. Can they unlock AC Milan's stingy defense while keeping their playmakers Kaka, Shevchenko, and Crespo at bay? We'll see.

Chelsea on the other hand looked like a team that had simply run out of gas. After the emotion of our Premiership-clinching win at Bolton on Saturday, the bruised and battered Terry, Lampard, and co. just couldn't put it all together. When Arjen Robben came on as a sub he looked out of sorts, his control lacking and his pace slowed by his recent injuries. Also missing Damien Duff, our attack was reduced to lofting balls in to Didier Drogba, hoping the massive striker could lead our assault from the air. No dice.

With the domestic title won, our season effectively comes to a close. The loss to Liverpool quickly fades with thoughts of our first English title in 50 years. Where do we go from here? Abramovich and Mourinho have hinted that we will make only three purchases this summer, but that all three will be big names. Odds are one will be the long-discussed prising of Steven Gerrard away from Liverpool. However what we really need is a striker. Drogba and Gudjohnsen have their moments but as yet have failed to emerge as truly clinical finishers. We need a Shevchenko or an Henry to give us that absolutely feared hitman up front. The leaders of Chelsea have also hinted that we will begin to trim down our sizeable squad. Let me offer some suggestions there ... Tiago is not good enough to be starting for us. As a substitute defensive midfielder he'll manage, but he looked way out of his league today. I've given Mateja Kezman the benefit of the doubt so far, but he has been a complete waste this season. He does nothing for the attack and must go. In addition to those two, i wouldn't be surprised (although i certainly am not out for their blood) if Geremi and Scott Parker exit because of a lack of first team football. Rereading my comments, it seems we can actually remain at the top with a minimum of shuffling. That would give the squad a much needed summer to gel and strengthen our challenge in 2005/2006.

Now i'll return to somberly munching my linguiça (in tribute to the Chelsea Portuguese contigent). Congrats boys, don't let this setback get you down. Remember you get to kiss the Premiership trophy on Saturday!