Soccer-Hiddink lost temper with Chelsea players

By Mike Collett

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink said he lost his temper with his players when they trailed Liverpool 2-0 at halftime in their Champions League quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Chelsea recovered to draw a remarkable quarter-final 4-4 and go through to a semi-final against Barcelona 7-5 on aggregate after a superb second-half fightback.

"We lost our tempers but the players themselves were not happy either with the way we had played," Hiddink told reporters.

"We didn't start as we planned and we know playing against a team as skilful and tactically aware as Liverpool you cannot give them a lot of space and we gave them to much but the focus was on duels we lost too many in the first half which is another reason tactically we did not pay well."

Hiddink unusually made a first-half substitution when he replaced forward Salomon Kalou with Nicolas Anelka and the move paid off handsomely in the second half when the Frenchman set up Didier Drogba to score Chelsea's first goal.

"I have been involved in some (dramatic games) but this was one of these games where everyone has made a lot of errors and that's why it was so attractive it was going from one end to the other," Hiddink said.

"It is very dramatic when you think you are down and then you come up then your down again you are in the game and then you are out of it."

Chelsea reached the semi-finals for the fifth time in six seasons and were playing Liverpool for the fifth consecutive year in the Champions League.