Grant, who wore a black armband in remembrance of 'Holocaust Day' back in Israel, admitted his success was tinged with the sadness.

The 52-year-old Israeli watched his side beat Liverpool 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate in a pulsating semi-final laced with drama and high on emotion.

"It has not been an easy day for me," said Grant. "I don't know if you know but it is 'Holocaust Day' in my country. My father buried my grandfather with his own hands.

"I owe a lot to my parents. I don't like to speak about it but my mother came from Iraq and my father is a survivor of the Holocaust.

"He is the most optimistic and strong man I have ever seen. He buried his mother, father and sister with his own hands. But he never looked to the past only to the future even though he suffered a lot. It has not been an easy day for me, but now it is a happy day.

"I am proud about what we did but it is a little bit emotional for me. To create history in this in the first year as a manager, with all the difficulties we've had this year, we stayed together and did everything in a positive way, it means a lot to me.

"This is the time to say a good word to everyone in the club. Without the owner Chelsea would not be the club Chelsea is now. All my staff did a very good job and I am very proud of them."

And Grant put aside his own emotion to pay tribute to England midfielder Frank Lampard, whose mother died last week.

Lampard showed great strength of character to despatch an extra-time penalty and give Chelsea a 2-1 advantage on the night.

Didier Drogba, who opened the scoring in the first half, added a second in the 105th minute but Grant was full of praise for Lampard's bravery.

"I think he is a brave man," said Grant. "He was very close to his mother and what happened in the last days has not been easy. He played well and he is a little bit happy now.

"Frank is the penalty taker. The only reason he didn't take a penalty against Manchester United on Saturday is because he was not playing.

"I took the decision to play him yesterday after training. We spoke about it and today I named the team."

But Grant would not be drawn on re-igniting the pre-match feud over Drogba's antics.

The striker, who scored twice, was annoyed Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez believes he 'goes to ground too easily'.

"First I must say that Rafa is a great manager," Grant added. "He knows the tactical side. It was very difficult tactically to play against him. I had to think all the time.

"They are very organised and clever in their movement. I understand now why we lost twice in semi-finals. This year they are a better team."

But Grant insisted he had now done enough to prove himself as manager at the club since taking over from Jose Mourinho last September.

"I understand the criticism I had at the beginning," said Grant. "In these days I needed to prove more than others that my team knows how to play football and handle difficult days.

"We have created history and it is very important for this club."

Grant is now convinced his side can beat Manchester United in the final in Moscow on May 21 because the momentum is with his side.

Grant added: "It will be a great final. I respect the past but I work for the future. We are playing good football at the right time. It has not been easy to play three games in eight days and Liverpool rested most of their players at the weekend.

"We need to go to the final and fight for the title and then we will be happy."