Chelsea Seek Revenge On Liverpool
Champions League Semi-Final at Anfield - Mourinho and Benitez
Chelsea and Liverpool are expecting another close game in the Champions League semi-final 2nd leg tie. Chelsea have a goal lead but both clubs will expect to progress.
Going into the second leg of the Champions League semi-final clash, Chelsea will be hoping to take revenge for the defeat they suffered two years ago at the same stage of the competition. Then the only goal scored in the two games went to Liverpool and Chelsea were greatly annoyed when television evidence showed that the ball had not crossed the line.
In that game the atmosphere inside Anfield got to the Chelsea players who didn’t perform on the night. Irritated by this and by the nature of the goal conceded, Chelsea will be looking to make amends and with greater experience of European football are quite capable of producing a result which would take them to the Final in Athens.
This time the London team have the advantage of a goal scored by Joe Cole at Stamford Bridge last week. Chelsea showed in the quarter-final that they can produce a result away from home when it matters. After the first leg against Valencia, they had to be satisfied with a draw and in Spain after going a goal down they turned the game round in the second half to win 2-1 and progress to this stage.
Chelsea’s Premiership form has slipped over the past two games, only managing a draw at Newcastle and at home to Bolton Wanderers, which has allowed Manchester United to open a five point gap at the top of the table. Mourinho has more or less conceded the title to United giving the Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, the opportunity to claim that Chelsea will be under pressure having missed out on the League. There is no love lost between the two managers who regularly try to score points off each other.
While Chelsea have been battling on four fronts Liverpool have had a quiet season – out of the domestic Cups, comfortably in the top four and certain of Champions League football next season they have been able to make that competition their focus this year. They sent out an under strength side last Saturday at Portsmouth in order to rest the star players for this week’s game against Chelsea.
Liverpool who defeated Chelsea at Anfield in the league earlier in the year, are convinced that they will be able to overturn the one goal advantage that the visitors hold. Backed by the support for which Anfield is famous they expect to make the Final. However, this season Liverpool have done much of their best work in European competitions away from home. They beat Barcelona in the Nou Camp but lost at home and they trounced newly crowned Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven, in Holland but could only add one goal to their total at Anfield.
Chelsea will be without Michael Ballack who returned to Germany and has undergone an operation on the ankle injury he sustained in the game against Newcastle United. Richardo Carvalho will probably not be available having left the field injured during the first half against Bolton Wanderers,but Essien will return having missed the first game through suspension. Liverpool don’t appear to have any problems with injuries so Benitez will be able to put out his strongest side.
Chelsea are one team who can set themselves up to get a result – they will keep it tight, smother every Liverpool attack to wear them down and then hit on the break and as they have shown so often this season they have players who can rise to the occasion and are very capable of scoring crucial, spectacular goals. Liverpool might just find that the home support isn’t quite enough and that they have met their match this time.
Looking towards the Final, there are a number of players who are within a yellow card of missing the biggest club game of their careers. For Liverpool, Javier Mascherano, their controversial mid-season from West Ham United, and Jermaine Pennant have that problem while five Chelsea players are in a similar situation although two are injured – Ballack and Robben. The others who will have to be very careful are Joe Cole, Lassana Diarra and Didier Drogba.
