Bayern Munich fans will have had horrible flashbacks watching the dramatic denouement of the Europa League final in Amsterdam, as central defender Branislav Ivanovic echoed Didier Drogba's last gasp equalizer against the Germans to break Benfica hearts.

In the last minute of injury time, Ivanovic leant backwards to nod a brilliant looping header back across the goal and seal the 2-1 victory over the storied Portuguese club.

Chelsea, aiming to become the first club to hold both top European trophies at the same time - albeit only for ten days - were immediately put on the defensive from the kick-off, as the Portuguese team began the game in a feisty mood - passing the ball at speed and persistently troubling the London side down the right.

They played imaginatively through Chelsea's sluggish midfield and caused a series of scrambles in the opposition penalty area in the first 20 minutes. But the Londoners initially kept Benfica at bay - sometimes with more luck than judgment, since the Portuguese missed too many opportunities to shoot in promising positions.

But then the game settled a little, with Chelsea at least finding a way to slow Benfica down - particularly the marauding runs from Nicolas Gaitan and Eduardo Salvio - though they provided precious little attacking threat of their own.

Their only notable chance of the first half came in the 38th minute, when veteran midfielder Frank Lampard unleashed a vicious swerving effort that wrongfooted Benfica's goalkeeper Artur, who had to produce a brilliant twisting save to flip the ball over the bar with his palm.

At the other end Benfica provided a consistent threat, passing the ball brilliantly but displaying the same maddening reluctance to shoot.

Frantic second half

Benfica began the second half as they did the first - at a hectic pace - and were very unlucky when star striker Oscar Cardozo was a sliver offside as he nodded a free header into the net in the 50th minute.

But then, in the 60th minute, Chelsea provided the perfect aesthetic riposte to Benfica's over-intricacy. Goalkeeper Petr Cech booted the ball half the length of the pitch, where Spanish striker Fernando Torres latched onto it, powerfully shrugged off the challenge of last defender Luisao, rounded Artur, and finished brilliantly from a tightish angle.

The lead lasted all of eight minutes, thanks to a moment of madness from Chelsea right-back Cesar Azpilicueta, who blocked a Benfica header with a flailing arm at the edge of the area. Cardozo dispatched the ensuing penalty with little fuss, only to immediately go down with cramp.

With the scores level again, the game also became more even - and more open. A suddenly lively Torres had a decent enough penalty claim turned down when he tumbled under a challenge from Luisao. Meanwhile, Cech kept the Londoners in the game with a brilliant tip over the bar to deny a dipping Cardozo volley in the 82nd minute.

In a frenetic closing phase of the 90 minutes, Lampard struck the Benfica crossbar in the 88th minute, with a fantastic curling shot from distance. But it was Ivanovic who became the hero of the night.