The sun went down in Mallorca's holiday paradise on Chelsea's two-year love affair with the Cup Winners' Cup and ended the English dream of having two clubs in major European finals in the same year for the first time since 1985.

A single strike of the head by Real Mallorca's Argentinian Leo Biagini after only 15 minutes of the semi-final second leg at the Luis Sitjar Stadium produced defeat for Gianluca Vialli's battling Blues despite giving their all to try to complete a Euro double next month when Manchester United meet Bayern Munich for the Champions' Cup in Barcelona.

Chelsea just could not give any more than they offered in a pulsating 90 minutes.

The final anguish as they fought tooth and claw to retrieve their early deficit was provided by a familiar foe, Real Mallorca's Carlos Roa who confirmed the loosening of Chelsea's grip on the trophy they won so gloriously in Stockholm over Stuttgart last year, with a pair of stunning saves right at the death.

Roa, the Argentinian keeper who broke England's hearts in a dramatic World Cup penalty shoot-out last summer when he saved spot-kicks from Paul Ince and David Batty, plunged to touch Robert di Matteo's 25-yard blast against the bar when an equaliser looked certain 18 minutes from the end.

And Roa repeated his heroics when somehow turning away Tore Andre Flo's edge-of-the-box drive five minutes from time.

Chelsea had to choke back the tears again just five days after Leicester's fightback for a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge put a mighty dent in their Premiership title ambitions.

The least they deserved was extra time and it looked like they would get it when, with German referee Helmut Krug looking at his watch and ready to signal the end, Dennis Wise bounced a header downwards and wide of a post as he leapt unmarked for Gianfranco Zola's pinpoint cross.

The biggest shame of all was that Chelsea decided to try to find their finishing touch when it was far too late.

They knew they needed something special to break down a Mallorca defence which looked armour plated in a 1-1 draw at the Bridge just two weeks ago.

And just as in that match Chelsea had a mountain of possession but could not convert it into a cutting edge.

Player-manager Luca Vialli decided to drop out of the action for only the second time in Europe this season. He did not even name himself among the substitutes as Norwegian beanpole Flo and Vialli's tiny compatriot Zola were given the responsibility up front.

But as it turned out Chelsea's most lethal weapon was Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet who monopolised almost all their efforts on goal in the first half when they had precious little to show in terms of hitting the target from their neat, passing build-up.

Poyet hooked it just over when turning on a Graeme Le Saux cross and also just failed to finish when he surged into the box to meet Flo's intelligent lay off.

Flo was also near to glory with a clever clip just over the bar from Zola's pass while di Matteo could have done better with more awareness after he snapped onto a perfect through pass after Zola produced his magic to wrong foot the Real rearguard.

It was no surprise when midfielder Poyet was pushed right up front alongside the two strikers in the second half and twice more he tested Roa who was equal to anything Chelsea could throw at him.

Once more Real's back line looked iron clad and they were content, once in front, to play on the break.

Marvellous tackles by Frank Leboeuf twice prevented Biagini and the much admired Dani bursting through to finish the contest.

But Leboeuf's french sidekick Marcel Desailly collected a second yellow card in the tournament for a foul on Biagini and would have been ruled out of the final in any case.

Desailly, though, showed he's still a class act with a magnificent clearance off the line in stoppage time as Real looked for the second goal that would underline their amazing feat of reaching the final in their first ever European campaign.

It was no consolation for Chelsea, however, and they had to swallow their disappointment along with the possibility that a potentially glorious season now looks likely to finish with their trophy cabinet empty.

At least their 2,000-plus travelling fans seemed to accept the defeat with reasonably good grace.

They were penned inside the stadium for a long time by local police who provided a huge presence to prevent the visitors clashing with the vociferous home fans who turned the stadium into a red and black sea of animation and roared their approval at the relief and triumph which accompanied the final whistle.

Real Mallorca: Roa, M. Soler, Siviero (Carreras 45), Marcelino, Dani, Stankovic (Arpon 79), Lauren, Olaizola, Paunovic, Biagini (F. Soler 68), Engonga.

Subs Not Used: Galvez, Ibagaza, Alberto, Lopez.

Booked: Lauren, Paunovic, Olaizola.

Goals: Biagini 15.

Chelsea: De Goey, Ferrer, Leboeuf, Desailly, Le Saux (Babayaro 45), Petrescu (Morris 78), Di Matteo, Wise, Poyet, Zola, Flo.

Subs Not Used: Duberry, Lambourde, Nicholls, Newton, Hitchcock.

Booked: Desailly.

Att: 18,800

Ref: Hellmut Krug (Germany).