But with Leverkusen a tactical shambles, often leaving Garcia free on the right flank, the Liverpool keeper's first-leg fumble mattered less and less as the opening 45 minutes unfolded.True, Leverkusen had endured a spate of injuries and suspensions. Yet the coach, Klaus Augenthaler, still felt confident enough to leave out Andriy Voronin, who played a leading role in the rout of Real Madrid, Roma and Dynamo Kiev last autumn. Franca, the Brazilian who scored at Anfield, took his place, but it was his lone equivalent in Liverpool's ranks, Baros, who featured more prominently as the visitors exploited the space left by Leverkusen's eagerness to pile forward.After only three minutes, Baros was unmarked as he took Garcia's pass and shot from 18 yards, Hans-Jorg Butt putting his right hand on the ball to stop it dead. Luis Garcia proved toxic for the 2002 finalists, the former Barcelona winger striking twice in five minutes during the first half before Milan Baros completed the rout midway through the second period. Jacek Krzynowek finally pulled a goal back for Leverkusen with an 87th-minute shot.

Nevertheless, the margin did not flatter a Liverpool team who were brilliantly led by Steven Gerrard. The four-time winners will fear no one when the draw for the quarter-finals is made a week tomorrowForty years had passed since Liverpool last relinquished a two-goal lead from the first leg of a European tie, and it was clear there was to be no repeat of the defeat by Internazionale in Milan after Garcia's first-half double. It had been said that their task would have been easier had Jerzy Dudek's error not allowed Leverkusen the away goal which turned their second-leg requirement from a 4-0 win to a 2-0 one in the last seconds. Against a backdrop of chemical plants belching fumes into the Rhine Valley, Liverpool ensured that Bayer Leverkusen's hopes of reaching another Champions' League final went up in smoke last night. We had done all the hard work but they got two goals back and we threw it away really."Terry was too busy celebrating in the centre of the pitch with Jose Mourinho and his team-mates to get involved in the scuffle between the Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard, his players and Chelsea stewards at the end of the game.That incident may be subject to a Uefa investigation - though a spokesman played down the possibility yesterday - but Terry was not at all concerned.He added: "We heard a little bit of it but it had all finished by the time we walked off the pitch.".

At 3-0 I was trying to tell the rest of the lads to keep pressing but we eased off a little bit and dropped too deep. "But I am sure there will be a few teams watching out there who are now afraid of us. Our ground is a lot tighter than the Nou Camp and we knew if we put pressure on [Barcelona], they would not like it and that was our team talk beforehand. They didn't like it at all."The belief was always there from the start We believed we could beat this lot. After going three goals up it was a bit disappointing to give two goals away, but the belief was still there and that was drummed into us again at half-time by the manager."He said that we were still the better side and we could open them up again at the back He was sure of that. They said we were not a good side but now they know we are."Terry believes his team's performance has registered with the other sides in the competition and that, despite throwing away a two-goal aggregate lead, they never lost the belief that they could unlock Barcelona's defence in the second half."There's such a long way to go and there are some great teams still left in the competition," he said. It sent Chelsea into the quarter-finals after a pulsating return leg."It was disappointing to read a couple of things their players said," Terry said.