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Do-or-die for Liverpool vs Chelsea, AC Milan vs PSV

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said his players would still be "heroes" regardless of the result of their Champions League semifinal against Liverpool at Anfield yesterday [2:30am Taipei time today] after capturing the Premiership and the League Cup in the Portuguese coach's first season in charge.

Neverthless Mourinho, who hinted that wingers Damien Duff and Arjen Robben might miss the game because of injury, insisted that his side would not lack any motivation for a tie which is balanced at 0-0 after a goalless first leg at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea wrapped up their first top-flight title in 50 years with a 2-0 win away to Bolton on Saturday but Mourinho stressed it had been business as usual for his star-studded squad, financed by the wealth of the London club's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

"The group deserved to celebrate the Premiership in a different way to what we did. It was just one hour and after that no families, no wives, no kids, no dinners, no champagne, nothing to enjoy just stay in the hotel for three days and prepare for this game," Mourinho told a news conference.

"I think the pressure is on them [Liverpool]. We will go back to London as heroes. I think my players, independent of the result tomorrow (yesterday), when they go to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to play against Charlton they will go for a big celebration and be received by the fans like heroes because they gave them a championship."

The Anfield crowd has inspired Liverpool to many a famous European victory but Mourinho said his squad too would be inspired by it as well.

"They will be affected in a positive way. In my first year in England I saw some fantastic atmospheres. For me Portsmouth, Anfield and Old Trafford are special places to play. The atmosphere is against you because of the home team but you have to play football. "They [the crowd] don't play. It's 11 players each side."

AC Milan vs PSV Eindhoven

AC Milan wingback Marcos Cafu believes only complacency can prevent his team from reaching their second Champions League final in three seasons.

The 2003 European champions face Dutch side PSV Eindhoven today in the second leg of their semifinal, which the Italians lead 2-0.

Cafu is very aware of the dangers of sitting back on a first-leg advantage having played in the Milan side that led Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 in the first leg in the quarterfinals last season, only to lose 4-0 in Spain.

PSV were unfortunate not to score at the San Siro and Cafu is bracing himself for an all-out Dutch assault as PSV look to turn the tie around.

PSV's South Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung insisted the recently crowned Dutch champions could pull off a major shock.

"Nothing's impossible -- we have to believe in ourselves," said Park, who missed a golden opportunity to score in the first-half in Milan.
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