Avram Grant, who wore a black armband in remembrance of 'Holocaust Day' back in Israel, admitted his success was tinged with the sadness.
But 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.
Grant: "It has not been an easy day for me. 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.
"I think he (Frank Lampard) is a brave man. 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."