Liverpool v Chelsea and AC Milan v Man Utd are live on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie (RoI only; 450k) on 01/02 May from 7pm.
I wonder what effect, if any, Chelsea’s draw against Bolton will have on them ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Liverpool on Tuesday. The race for the league title is far from over but their hopes of retaining it did suffer a blow at Stamford Bridge.
It may not bother them at all as over the last few months they have shown incredible resilience when up against it. They are not up against it on Tuesday as they are in the “box seat” and are more than capable of getting the draw they need to go through. The pressure is growing on Chelsea all the time as they continue their quest for the quadruple. Their manager has been talking it up and you could say that Saturday was the first sign of a crack but with Chelsea and Mourinho you just never know what will happen next.
It is up to Liverpool to go after Chelsea but they will also have to try to figure out how to handle Didier Drogba. The striker was the best player on the pitch in the first leg and his power unsettled Liverpool all through the match. He made the goal for Joe Cole but he gave Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger a torrid evening.
The Liverpool back four will need more protection on Tuesday than they got last week and I would argue that Momo Sissoko should get the nod ahead of Javier Mascherano for this match. He is a very physical player and the fact that the Argentine is on a yellow card may mean Sissoko will get back into the team. I do not think that Bolo Zenden will start either as he was poor in the first game. Peter Crouch should also start as he brings the best out of either Dirk Kuyt or Craig Bellamy in the Liverpool attack.
The problem for Liverpool is that they need to have a real go at their opponents but they also have to be wary of Chelsea’s attacking threat. I believe that Chelsea will score in this match but if they get the first goal it would surely be curtains for Liverpool who would then need three to go through. There are not too many teams who score three against Petr Cech and company at any stage of the season, never mind with a place in Athens at stake.
Liverpool will have incredible support on the night. The atmosphere will be electric but that will only take them so far. Chelsea managed to silence the crowd in Valencia in the second half of their quarter-final and they will aim to quieten the Anfield crowd as quickly as possible.
The sparring between the two managers will be great fun at the press conferences today (Monday). Mourinho will again use the attention to take the focus off his players while Benitez will react to each and every statement made by his opponent. Their exchanges were amazing to watch and I look forward to more of that today. They really do not like each other but that is really immaterial.
That is only the side-show to the main event and what a night it will be. It is very hard to call again but Chelsea do have the advantage even if it is only a slender one.
History is against Liverpool as not too many teams manage to overcome a first leg deficit and go through over two legs but Liverpool don't need to be told about breaking history and bucking the trend!
I have had the feeling that this will go to extra-time and penalties and I am not going to leave that now. So Liverpool to win 1-0 in the 90 and then it’s extra-time. Who knows?
