By Jojo Doria

London, United Kingdom

Frank Lampard and Raul Meireles netted a goal each as Chelsea secured a seat in the semifinals with a 2-1 victory against Belfica in the second leg of their UEFA Champions league quarterfinals match at Stamford Bridge.

After winning the first leg by a goal, Chelsea started the match a little bit sluggish but the trio of Lampard, Branislav Ivanovic, and Fernando Torres kept the Blues offensive attack deadly.

Chelsea finally seized its first clear chance at scoring as referee Damir Skomina awarded a penalty kick to Lampard, who calmly slotted the goal into the net for a 1-0 lead (2-0 aggregate) in the 21st minute of the quarterfinals showdown.

Despite playing a man down after Maxi Pereira was slapped with a red card, Belfica fought hard and even tied the score following a beautiful goal by Javi Garcia in the 85th minute.

However, there's just no stopping Chelsea from booking their fourth UEFA Champions league semis appearance in six seasons after Meireles broke free and blasted the killer goal in the 90th minute.

The victory put Chelsea in a semifinals duel with a Spanish football power Barcelona, which blasted A.C Milan, 3-1, in the second leg of their quarterfinals contest.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid also marched on to the semifinal round after beating Apoel Nicosia, 5-2 (8-2), in Wednesday's high-scoring semis game at Santiago Bernabéu.

After routing the Cyprus-based ballclub 3-0 in the first leg, the Spanish powerhouse remained aggressive in the offense and consistently applied pressure on Apoel's brittle defense.

In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Kaka nailed another as Real Madrid moved a step closer towards claiming their 9th UEFA Champions League title.

Real Madrid will next face Bayern Munich, which came off a 2-0 (4-0 aggregate) win over French ballclub Marseille in the quarterfinals.

UEFA Champions League: Chelsea Tops Belfica; Real Madrid Pummels Apoel