Liverpool 'dare to believe'

Chelsea FC 0-0 Liverpool FC
Chelsea's greatest accomplishment in the Premiership this season has been their merciless extinguishing of hope in the hearts of all their title rivals. But when they travel to Anfield on Tuesday for this semi-final second leg they will encounter a stadium that crackles with anticipation and a football club that can at last dare to believe they can turn the brash new order of English football on its head. (Independent, England)

Whether requiring three second-half goals to edge out Olympiacos in the group phase or facing Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen on the back of demoralising domestic defeats, Rafael Benítez's team have encouraged the last rites on their Champions League campaign throughout their march to the semi-finals. Their place in Istanbul is far from the foregone conclusion many of their jubilant supporters and players think it is, judging by their immediate reaction to this goalless but absorbing draw. But the tie is perfectly poised for Liverpool to finally inflict a first defeat in five attempts on José Mourinho's side next week, when they will have the 12th man of Anfield, a rich European pedigree and the onus to attack to guide them. (Liverpool Daily Post, England)

If this semi-final pits money against tradition, as many Liverpool fans allege, it was tradition that had desperation in its face, a raucous yearning in its voice and a certain frisson down on the pitch, where the gap seemed much narrower than the 31 points that separate Chelsea and their guests in domestic competition. Anfield has witnessed some memorable European evenings, from the visits of St Etienne to Olympiacos, and next Tuesday promises to be another epic. (Daily Telegraph, England)

For a coach whose team have lost their three previous away matches in the Champions League, José Mourinho was oozing optimism as only he can. A few minutes after the 0-0 draw with Liverpool the bullish Chelsea coach looked straight into the ranks of TV cameras and declared: "I like the situation very much. I'm very confident." A score draw would be enough and a team with Chelsea's attacking options, and their recent record against Liverpool, will face the might of the Kop in the belief that a place in the European Cup final remains a very real prospect. (London Evening Standard, England)

After a good British-style first half, both teams were too scared of conceding a goal and decided to postpone everything to next week when they meet again at Anfield. Not a surprise considering that both sides are coached by old foxes of Latin football like Benítez and Mourinho. Chelsea were clear favourites ahead of the game, considering the 31-point difference between them in the Premiership, but Liverpool did not show any kind of inferiority complex and now have the opportunity to play the deciding game in front of their fans. (Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy)

The small prize, the League Cup, is won. The big prize, the championship, will be won this weekend. But the biggest of all, the Champions League, remains in the distance as Chelsea could do no better than draw 0-0 at home to Liverpool last night. A match heralded as the most important in the history of English club football was actually a disappointment. (De Volkskrant, Netherlands)