Battling Liverpool struck a mighty psychological blow by holding Chelsea to a goalless draw in the all-English Champions League semifinal first leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The Reds will be happy to go into the second leg on May 3 unscathed but Chelsea will be undaunted by the task of winning 1-0 at Anfield for a second time this season.
England midfielder Frank Lampard wasted Chelsea's best chance in the 22nd minute, firing over the bar from short range with goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek motionless.
PHOTO: AP
Milan Baros forced a superb save out of his Czech Republic teammate Petr Cech shortly before half-time, the Blues stopper deflecting the striker's powerful header round the post to keep matters even.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, never short on confidence, insisted his team will be victorious in the return leg.
"Ninety-nine percent of Liverpool fans think they have one foot in the final, but they are not there yet," said Mourinho, who guided Porto to the European title last season.
PHOTO: EPA
"In the Champions League 0-0 is a good result. We have scored goals at Anfield and I am very confident. They have to score at home, it is a dangerous situation for them," he said.
Lampard admitted that he should have made the most of his first-half opportunity.
"I should have scored," he said. "I thought it was a goal before it hit the back of the net and that's a mistake. It's a shame because it would have given us a big advantage for the second leg."
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard insisted his team still have a lot of work to do next week if they are to make the final where either AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven will await.
"We defended well and 0-0 is a good result but the tie isn't over, it's just half-time," Gerrard said.
Chelsea, one win short of securing the Premiership title, started the clear favorites against Liverpool, who will be fortunate to finish better than their current fifth place, not high enough to secure a Champions League spot for next season.
The Blues notched up two 1-0 Premiership wins over Liverpool this season, then came from behind to win February's League Cup final in Cardiff 3-2 to rub salt in the wounds.
A hamstring injury ruled out Chelsea's Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff but Arjen Robben, not fit enough to replace him, started on the bench.
William Gallas came in for Robert Huth at left-back and Tiago came into central midfield.
Baros recovered from a knee injury in time to feature, much to Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's relief, as substitutes Djibril Cisse and Harry Kewell were not fit enough to last 90 minutes.
Chelsea had the better of the opening exchanges in a keenly-fought match.
Joe Cole jinked into the Liverpool penalty box 11 minutes in but his shot was straight at Dudek.
The England midfielder was finding space down the right flank against Djimi Traore, and his cross two minutes later almost resulted in an opener.
Didier Drogba jumped for the header and the ball dropped kindly for a cross shot. His effort was heading wide but Eidur Gudjohnsen, sliding in at the far post, just failed to connect and score.
Liverpool's Norway winger John Arne Riise cut into the penalty box on 19 minutes but shot straight at Cech who produced an instinctive block.
Lampard wasted a chance to score three minutes later when given a simple chance from close range.
William Gallas' cross from the left was nodded down by Cole but Lampard's shot cleared the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.
Liverpool gave the Blues a scare before the interval.
Baros forced an excellent save out of Cech on 39 minutes when his international teammate tipped a powerful header round the post following a curling Steven Gerrard pass.
Cole gave Traore further trouble five minutes after the interval, but after cutting inside the left-back, Sami Hyypia slid in to nudge the ball from his feet as he shaped to shoot.
Liverpool's Igor Biscan and Chelsea's Cole were cautioned as tempers flared before Netherlands winger Robben replaced Tiago with 31 minutes left.
Benitez responded by replacing Baros with Cisse in the lone striker role. The France forward blasted a fierce shot just wide on 68 minutes, leaving Luis Garcia bemoaning the spurned chance to cross.
Liverpool sensed the opportunity for a vital away goal and surged forward whenever possible. That tactic left defensive gaps to exploit and Blues striker Mateja Kezman came on for Cole with 13 minutes left to try and exploit them.
Liverpool's Xavi Alonso was cautioned in the last few minutes to rule himself out of the return leg.
A goalless draw seemed to suit Benitez, who sent on Vladimir Smicer for Luis Garcia in the dying seconds to run down the clock.
Cech had to charge off the goal-line in injury time to deny a Cisse effort, securing a stalemate for the trip to Merseyside next Tuesday.
AC Milan 2, PSV 0
AC Milan beat PSV Eindhoven 2-0 in their Champions League semifinal, first leg on Tuesday with a first half goal from Andriy Shevchenko and a last minute strike from substitute Jon Dahl Tomasson giving the Italians a great chance of a place in the final.
Shevchenko gave Milan the lead after 42 minutes at the San Siro when he latched on to a through ball from Kaka and outpaced Wilfred Bouma before firing past PSV's Gomes from 10 meters.
Danish striker Tomasson wrapped up the victory in the last minute after PSV seemed to have done enough to give themselves a strong chance in next Wednesday's second leg in Eindhoven.
PSV created a number of openings in their impressive performance and made it tough for Milan but Tomasson's late strike leaves Milan favorites to reach the final in Istanbul on May 25.
It was Milan's seventh successive Champions League match without conceding a goal -- a new record for the competition -- but without the suspended Alessandro Nesta their defense was uncharacteristically shaky against a pacey PSV attack.
Milan made a positive start and Shevchenko had a chance in the second minute when skipper Paolo Maldini picked him out with a diagonal, cross-field pass but the Ukrainian shot meekly at PSV's Brazilian keeper Heurelho Gomes.
Clarence Seedorf and Hernan Crespo both forced saves out of Gomes during an intense spell of opening pressure from Carlo Ancelotti's side.
But they soon got a warning of the threat that PSV pose on the break when Peruvian striker Farfan tested Dida with a low shot that the Milan keeper uncomfortably fumbled out.
The pace of South Korean Ji-Sung Park and American DaMarcus Beasley were causing Milan's defense some problems but the Italians soon got off the back foot and restored their control.
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