Gerrard: Advantage lies with Chelsea
Tuesday, 29 Apr 2008 17:39
Steven Gerrard and Liverpool hoping to reach second consecutive Champions League final
Steven Gerrard has admitted that
Liverpool are understandably the underdogs for tomorrow night's Champions League showdown with
Chelsea.
The Reds were pegged back in last week's 1-1 draw at Anfield when John Arne Riise scored an injury-time own goal at the Kop end, cancelling out Dirk Kuyt's opener.
And Gerrard, who lifted the European Cup in 2005 and led the team out in their final defeat to AC Milan last year, has admitted that the result from first leg makes the Blues favourites to reach the showpiece match in Moscow next month.
"I'll be realistic and say the advantage lies with Chelsea now," he told the Liverpool website.
"They are a very good team and they have been very strong at home for a long time.
"But we have shown over the last few years that we are a very good team away from home in Europe - and we want to go to Stamford Bridge and prove ourselves again.
"We've got to pull a big performance and result out of the bag - and if we do qualify for the final it will be as big an achievement as anything this club has ever done in Europe."
Gerrard admitted seeing Riise put through his own net left him "gutted", but vowed that the team would bounce back in west London and had every chance of reaching the final for the third time in four years at the Blues' expense.
"We were on top for most of the time [in the first leg] and Chelsea scored their equaliser without really producing anything," he continued.
"It was a real killer for us, but these things happen in football and it's now all about how we react and how we recover.
"Now we have got to back up a good performance with the right result."