Chelsea U19 2-2 Dinamo Zagreb U19 (4-2 pens): Blues set up UEFA Youth League semi-final vs Barcelona

Chelsea kept their dreams of a third UEFA Youth League triumph alive in stirring fashion with a fightback from two goals down to beat Dinamo Zagreb on penalties.

The 2015 and 2016 champions had been comprehensively second-best to the Croatians for three-quarters of this quarter-final contest and trailed by two Antonio Marin goals either side of the break.

But, from nowhere, they set up a semi-final with reigning champions Barcelona in Nyon, Switzerland at the end of the month thanks to two late goals by Luke McCormick.

Credit must go to George McEachran, who changed the game when introduced just before the hour mark, as he set up McCormick for his first and played a small part in the 87th-minute equaliser.

Chelsea then produced four flawless penalties – by McCormick, Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi and Jospeh Colley – while Karlo Ziger saved two spot-kicks to leave Dinamo floored and book another trip to Switzerland.

It was hard for Dinamo to take. Well-organised in defence and clinical when chances came their way, they lived up to the prestigious reputation as an academy of talents.

But it will be Chelsea who will return to the familiar territory of the Youth League Finals, though a vast improvement will be required to get the better of Barcelona, the team who beat them 3-0 in last year’s final.

The opening half-hour was played at the kind of languid pace befitting an early Spring afternoon in the Surrey commuter belt.

Chelsea, a couple of corners and a few nice cross-field passes aside, completely failed to treat this contest like the quarter-final it was, lacking drive and intensity.

The Blues produced a thrilling comeback from two goals down at Cobham during the week

Indeed, the hosts didn’t register an effort on goal until two minutes before half-time, which is most unlike them at this level. That came when a frustrated Gallagher decided to force the issue, dribbling to the edge of the area before seeing his shot turned aside by keeper Dinko Horkas.

But plenty of that was down to Dinamo, a club who may lack lustre when it comes to European competition, but whose academy has been responsible for some of the greatest Croatian footballers.

Luka Modric, Dejan Lovren, Robert Prosinecki, Niko Kranjcar, Andrej Kramaric and Chelsea’s own Mateo Kovacic have all emerged from their ranks over the years.

Their team was much taller than Chelsea’s, enabling a more direct approach and they had the lion’s share of what first-half chances there were.

Marin wriggled clear of a couple of blue shirts to fire across the face of goal, while Marijo Cuze twisted and turned beyond Ian Maatsen before firing off a tame shot.

They undoubtedly had the potential to cause problems for Chelsea’s three-man defence and so their breakthrough when it came on 41 minutes was merited.

Chelsea surrendered possession playing the ball out from the back and Tin Hrvoj cross from the right to Marin at the back post and he controlled before ramming a shot underneath Chelsea’s Croatian keeper Ziger.

Chelsea needed to react to save their European season, but things went from bad to worse shortly after the restart.

Dinamo broke and Edin Julardzija slipped a pass through to Marin inside the box. Despite the presence of four Chelsea defenders, including Tariq Lamptey, who was nearest and failed to close him down, Marin managed to score.

Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Dinko Horkas celebrates his side’s opening goal on Wednesday

Now they really needed a reaction and Guehi did head against the post from a George McEachran corner, though Horkas had it covered.

It took a well-worked free-kick routine to get Chelsea on the scoresheet 13 minutes from time.

Substitute McEachran rolled the dead ball to McCormick on the edge of the box and his shot found its way into the bottom corner through a forest of legs.

Now there was belated Chelsea pressure and Horkas got down to save from Conor Gallagher before Juan Castillo fired over.

All Dinamo’s shape and structure seemed to disintegrate and Chelsea snatched an equaliser three minutes from time. Gallagher chipped in a cross from the right and McCormick seemed to hang in the air for an age before planting his header past Horkas.