Lederkugel

The German side had dominated much of the clash, finally breaking the deadlock through a Thomas Müller header after 83 minutes, but Didier Drogba equalised five minutes later from a Juan Mata corner.

Former Chelsea star Arjen Robben had a penalty saved by Petr Čech five minutes into extra time, ultimately ensuring that a series of spot-kicks would decide the final.

Mata saw his penalty saved by Manuel Neuer, but Čech subsequently kept out Ivica Olić’s effort and touched Bastian Schweinsteiger's attempt onto a post, allowing Didier Drogba to secure Chelsea’s first Champions League success by sending Neuer the wrong way.

Bayern had started the evening brightly as Schweinsteiger, who had already picked up a yellow card for a deliberate handball, saw a strike blocked well by Gary Cahill.

The German outfit continued to dominate, with Robben firing high and wide after running at Ashley Cole, before Mario Gómez headed narrowly too high from a pinpoint Franck Ribery centre.

Soon afterwards, Gómez passed up the chance to shoot, choosing instead to attempt to fool the stricken Chelsea defence with a turn but allowing the ball to get away from him.

Robben forced his way into the Chelsea box at the midpoint of the first half, his low shot through the legs of Gary Cahill forcing Čech into a save, as the keeper diverted the effort onto the angle of post and crossbar.

At the other end, Chelsea had half a chance when Mata fed the ball wide for Ryan Bertrand with Bayern stretched, but the youngster lost possession, before Mata failed to threaten the Munich goal with a free-kick a few minutes later.

Chelsea were fortunate to go in level the break, as Bayern wasted a trio of fine chances in the lead up to the interval. Müller was unable to direct a volley on target from Diego Contento’s cross, Gómez failed to control the ball when a mishit strike from Ribery fell to him at the far post, and the big centre-forward then fired over after dummying Cahill in the Chelsea area.

Bayern began the second half with intent and had the ball in the net early in the period, as Ribery tapped home after Cole had deflected Robben’s strike from the edge of the box into the Frenchman’s path. The goal was ruled out for offside, however.

Cole put in a fine block just before the hour to deny Robben, and Ribery dragged a shot wide to begin a period of sustained Bayern pressure, but at the other end, Chelsea kept the German defence on alert with crosses into the box. From one of the centres, Drogba was presented with a half-chance following a spill by Neuer, but could not get any decent purchase on his shot.

Bayern immediately regained the initiative and hit the front with seven minutes of normal time remaining. Müller was found at the far post by a cross by Toni Kroos and the frontman’s header into the ground found the roof of the net.

However, five minutes after the opener, Drogba powered home a header at the near post from Mata’s corner to send the clash into extra time.

Robben was handed a glorious chance to put Bayern back ahead after Drogba had tripped Ribery, but Čech brilliantly kept out the Dutchman’s strong drive from 12 yards.

Substitute Olić was found unmarked at the far post by Philip Lahm as extra time drew towards a close, but the striker seemed unsure whether to go for goal or set-up Daniel van Buyten, and eventually did neither.

Bayern continued to press but penalties would decide the outcome, Drogba proving the hero by securing a 4-3 victory in the spot-kicks for caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo, who may now be in line to be handed the Chelsea job on a full-time basis.

Thomas Ince's fine effort had cancelled out Carlton Cole's first-half opener, but Ricardo Vaz Te struck from close range late on to book the Hammers a spot in the top tier next season.

Blackpool had threatened several times early on. Stephen Dobbie's low shot was kept out by Rob Green with the help of a post, while Matt Phillips got the ball caught under his feet and applied a weak finish when clean through, before Phillips then showed fine composure in the West Ham box but curled his effort narrowly wide.

Thereafter, the Hammers took control of the first half and broke the deadlock 10 minutes from the break. Matt Taylor had a pass fortunately returned to him by Blackpool's Angel Martinez's and played a superb diagonal ball into the box for Cole to control and apply a neat finish.

The Seasiders levelled three minutes into the second period, as Ince beat Green with a fine angled drive after being found by an excellent ball by Phillips over the West Ham backline.

Immediately afterwards, Taylor had to hook away off his own line as Blackpool threatened to hit the front, before the Hammers went back on the offensive, with Jack Collison failing to connect properly with Vaz Te's pull-back.

The Hammers went extremely close to regaining the lead with 10 minutes remaining, when Kevin Nolan's volley from George McCartney's cross was brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar and over by Matt Gilks.

Seven minutes later, however, Vaz Te netted the goal that sent West Ham back into the Premier League, striking into the roof of the net when Gilks could not prevent Cole from forcing the ball sideways after the striker had bundled his way to the edge of the six-yard box.

The Tottenham midfielder picked up an Achilles injury at the end of April and missed his club's last four matches of the Premier League season, putting his place in the summer tournament in doubt.

Parker was named in Roy Hodgson's 23-man party for the European Championship but looks set to be checked by the medical team.

Redknapp is happy to let the 31-year-old decide on his own fitness, although he does not want the midfielder to take a risk if not fully recovered.

The Spurs boss said the injection Parker has had will hopefully resolve the issue, but that it normally takes "one week to settle down" before they will know whether it has worked.

Redknapp says he has massive sympathy for Kyle Walker, who will miss the European Championships through injury, but that he has told the defender that he should be an England player "for the next 10 years".

The Nigerian striker had been one of the bright sparks for Rovers last season, scoring 17 goals as he helped keep the club's fight for survival alive up until the penultimate game of the season.

However, having been relegated to the Championship, Yakubu is thought to be keen on leaving Ewood Park and secure a move to a Premier League club.

Reports indicate the striker has a relegation release clause in his contract and could be allowed to leave the club for around £2 million.

Newly promoted duo Reading and Southampton, along with QPR, are all thought to be monitoring Yakubu's situation and could be encouraged to make a bid for him, given his desire to leave.

The former Everton forward is likely to be joined by Junior Hoilett in leaving Blackburn this summer, Rovers' Canadian starlet having all but confirmed he will not be staying at Ewood Park.

Reports in the press have suggested City had been in contact with the Swedish striker's agent to discuss the possibility of a move to the Etihad Stadium.

With Carlos Tevez poised to leave this summer and Mario Balotelli's future uncertain, City boss Roberto Mancini is understood to be looking for a new striker.

Arsenal's Robin Van Persie is one target the club are courting but they are also thought to have an interest in Ibrahimovic, who was reportedly frustrated by a trophy-less season at the San Siro.

Galliani has been quick to pour cold water on the possibility of Ibrahimovic leaving the club and says he will be a European champion with AC Milan next season.

"It is not true that Manchester City asked for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He will win the Champions League with the Milan shirt," Gillianai said.