Deportivo 0 Porto 1
(Porto win 1-0 on aggregate)
Porto beat Deportivo Coruna 1-0 to reach the Champions League final tonight, Brazilian striker Derlei Silva's second-half penalty proving to be the only goal of the two-legged semi-final.
The Portuguese champions will play Monaco or Chelsea in the final in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on May 26th. The French side take a 3-1 lead into the second leg of their semi-final tomorrow night in London.
Derlei, returning to the team after four months out with a knee injury, kept his nerve on the hour to convert a spot-kick after the Spanish side's defender Cesar fouled Deco Souza just inside the area.
Deportivo defender Noureddine Naybet was sent off 20 minutes from time after receiving his second yellow card.
The best chance of a dull first half fell to Deportivo midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron but he shot wide from eight metres with the goal gaping.
Porto nearly scored at the start of the second when Derlei headed Deco's curling cross against the far post. The visitors did not have long to wait for their breakthrough, however.
The lively Deco broke free down the left and Cesar was tricked into a desperate lunge that left referee Pierluigi Collina with no choice but to point to the spot.
Derlei showed no signs of rustiness, firing the ball low into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of goalkeeper Jose Molina.
It was the first goal Deportivo had conceded at home in the Champions League since November 2002, a record total of 723 minutes.
Needing two goals to reach the final, the Spaniards poured forward but failed to find the attacking inspiration that helped them beat European Champions AC Milan 4-0 in the quarter-final second leg to overcome a 4-1 deficit from the first game in Italy.
They failed to test goalkeeper Vitor Baia and Porto looked the more likely team to score in the dying minutes.
Porto were crowned European champions in 1987 and won the UEFA Cup last season beating Celtic in the final.