Glaken
1
Liverpool and Chelsea set for round two
Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:35 PM BST
By Trevor Huggins
LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea will be itching for revenge over Champions League holders Liverpool when the two sides meet on Wednesday for a re-match of last season's two-leg semi final.
In last season's match at Anfield, the deafening support which lasted all 90 minutes helped Liverpool to a decisive 1-0 victory over the future Premier League champions after a goalless draw in the first leg in London.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has already caused a stir before Wednesday's game with his pre-match comments.
"Liverpool weren't the best team in Europe," Mourinho said on the eve of Chelsea's Group G match against Liverpool at Anfield in this season's Champions League.
"We weren't the best team when I won the competition with Porto two seasons ago. Last season, the team that played the most beautiful football was Barcelona. They played fantastic football."
Mourinho is still disputing the validity of Luis Garcia's controversial winner that sent Liverpool through.
"Liverpool also deserve credit for what they did in the final, but they beat Chelsea without scoring a goal."
Liverpool came from three goals down to draw 3-3 with AC Milan after extra time in the May final in Istanbul and win the trophy on penalties.
They won their semi-final tie against Chelsea 1-0 on aggregate, after a 0-0 draw in London, thanks to Garcia's goal in the second leg at Anfield that Mourinho insists was cleared by William Gallas before it crossed the line.
"I have to accept they beat us, but they didn't score a goal," Mourinho said.
The re-match is bound to be another passionate affair at Anfield and Liverpool's England defender Jamie Carragher is hoping this will be to their advantage.
"There was a big gap last year but it was bridged that night because of how much we wanted to win it and how much the crowd was on our side," Carragher told the club's website.
"I'm sure Chelsea did turn up believing they couldn't lose but after hearing the crowd that night I knew we wouldn't lose."
Chelsea, who beat Liverpool in February's League Cup final, take a fearsome record to Merseyide this season, having won all nine games they have played in all competitions.
LYON'S SURPRISE
In other Champions League matches, Olympique Lyon will look to continue their dream start in the competition after hammering Real Madrid 3-0 in the group stage's opening matches two weeks ago.
However, they were chastened by a distinctly below-par showing in last weekend's 1-0 win at Nantes, secured only by a string of superb saves from keeper Gregory Coupet, and now face a tough physical battle at Rosenborg Trondheim in Group F.
Assistant coach Patrice Bergues said: "It's good preparation - but we'll have to be better in the Champions League...and the players know they will have to raise their game."
Coupet said: "We need to take a long hard look at ourselves. We were very lucky. We were dominated in the 50/50 balls and it mustn't be like that on Wednesday."
Real, buoyed by two consecutive wins in the Primera Liga, should put their earlier upset behind them against an Olympiakos side who will look to the experience of Brazilian forward Rivaldo.
Real will be without their own Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who completes a two-match ban, and injured playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
Second in Serie A, Inter's good news before hosting Rangers in Group H at the San Siro is that Brazil striker Adriano has signed a new contract until 2010.
City rivals AC Milan have injury doubts over Dutch defender Jaap Stam and midfielder Massimo Ambrosini before their game in Germany.
Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:35 PM BST
By Trevor Huggins
LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea will be itching for revenge over Champions League holders Liverpool when the two sides meet on Wednesday for a re-match of last season's two-leg semi final.
In last season's match at Anfield, the deafening support which lasted all 90 minutes helped Liverpool to a decisive 1-0 victory over the future Premier League champions after a goalless draw in the first leg in London.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has already caused a stir before Wednesday's game with his pre-match comments.
"Liverpool weren't the best team in Europe," Mourinho said on the eve of Chelsea's Group G match against Liverpool at Anfield in this season's Champions League.
"We weren't the best team when I won the competition with Porto two seasons ago. Last season, the team that played the most beautiful football was Barcelona. They played fantastic football."
Mourinho is still disputing the validity of Luis Garcia's controversial winner that sent Liverpool through.
"Liverpool also deserve credit for what they did in the final, but they beat Chelsea without scoring a goal."
Liverpool came from three goals down to draw 3-3 with AC Milan after extra time in the May final in Istanbul and win the trophy on penalties.
They won their semi-final tie against Chelsea 1-0 on aggregate, after a 0-0 draw in London, thanks to Garcia's goal in the second leg at Anfield that Mourinho insists was cleared by William Gallas before it crossed the line.
"I have to accept they beat us, but they didn't score a goal," Mourinho said.
The re-match is bound to be another passionate affair at Anfield and Liverpool's England defender Jamie Carragher is hoping this will be to their advantage.
"There was a big gap last year but it was bridged that night because of how much we wanted to win it and how much the crowd was on our side," Carragher told the club's website.
"I'm sure Chelsea did turn up believing they couldn't lose but after hearing the crowd that night I knew we wouldn't lose."
Chelsea, who beat Liverpool in February's League Cup final, take a fearsome record to Merseyide this season, having won all nine games they have played in all competitions.
LYON'S SURPRISE
In other Champions League matches, Olympique Lyon will look to continue their dream start in the competition after hammering Real Madrid 3-0 in the group stage's opening matches two weeks ago.
However, they were chastened by a distinctly below-par showing in last weekend's 1-0 win at Nantes, secured only by a string of superb saves from keeper Gregory Coupet, and now face a tough physical battle at Rosenborg Trondheim in Group F.
Assistant coach Patrice Bergues said: "It's good preparation - but we'll have to be better in the Champions League...and the players know they will have to raise their game."
Coupet said: "We need to take a long hard look at ourselves. We were very lucky. We were dominated in the 50/50 balls and it mustn't be like that on Wednesday."
Real, buoyed by two consecutive wins in the Primera Liga, should put their earlier upset behind them against an Olympiakos side who will look to the experience of Brazilian forward Rivaldo.
Real will be without their own Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who completes a two-match ban, and injured playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
Second in Serie A, Inter's good news before hosting Rangers in Group H at the San Siro is that Brazil striker Adriano has signed a new contract until 2010.
City rivals AC Milan have injury doubts over Dutch defender Jaap Stam and midfielder Massimo Ambrosini before their game in Germany.