Jose the tactical master of two-leg races

Given a little bit of mutually beneficial throat-cutting by Tottenham in the north London derby tomorrow, a Chelsea crowd will be able on Wednesday night to acclaim their club as champions of England for the first time in half a century.

Given a little bit of mutually beneficial throat-cutting by Tottenham in the north London derby tomorrow, a Chelsea crowd will be able on Wednesday night to acclaim their club as champions of England for the first time in half a century.

Should celebrations be in order as the team take the pitch, Liverpool would do well to play up to the occasion as well: never mind Champions' League protocol, form a guard of honour, hand over congratulatory pennants and do everything possible short of joining in a chorus of "It's A Blue Day" to distract their opponents from the business at hand.

Unfortunately, Jose Mourinho is a wily enough old bird to be wise to any such tricks, and to have a few in his own nest as well. A good one would be to ensure that the traditional pre-match player's speech in the dressing room is delivered by one of the survivors from last season's shattering defeat in the semi-final against Monaco. There are half-a-dozen candidates, and each could doubtless issue a harrowing reminder of how it felt to have thrown the tie away not once but twice.

Mourinho, of course, has very different memories of that stage of last year's competition, which could prove equally instructive. His message, in the words of the less cerebral Corporal Jones, would be: "Don't panic." Three seasons of successful two-leg football with Porto (Uefa Cup and Champions' League winners) and then Chelsea have made him an expert in the finer points of the art.

He ensured, for instance, that there was no alarm in previous semi-finals when Porto against Deportivo La Coruña and Chelsea against Man-chester United in the Carling Cup managed nothing more encouraging than a goalless draw from their home leg. Each time, he and his staff merely increased their detailed planning for the away game, covering all eventualities of scores, substitutions and tactical changes - and won each match on a set-piece.

So while the task, ideally, will be to secure a wide enough lead to make Liverpool come out and attack at Anfield, failure to do so should not trouble Stamford Bridge any more than last Wednesday's goalless draw with Arsenal.

That Liverpool are capable of matching the resolution and occasional inspiration of that performance by the outgoing champions cannot be denied by anyone who witnessed their efforts in the matches against Juventus. It is the element of unpredictability characterising even the Euro-pean element of an erratic season that lends this English affair much of its charm. Liverpool win away in Graz, then lose at home; overwhelm Bayer Leverkusen in the first knockout round by 3-1, then go to Germany in such unexpectedly adventurous mood that they end up repeating the same scoreline.

Equally positive at Ports-mouth in midweek, but with Fernando Morientes now ineligible, the visitors will presumably revert to the 4-5-1 formation employed away to Juventus. Steven Gerrard can return alongside the impressive Igor Biscan and Xabi Alonso to beef up a midfield area that promises spectacular confrontation. Or could it be mere stalemate?

Then there is Chelsea's psychological advantage gleaned from those three single-goal victories this season - as long as it does not provoke a drift into complacency. As Frank Lampard said: "We have beaten Liverpool three times this year and they won't want to end up on the losing side again. When you get this far and you are playing a team that you know so well, the stakes are extremely high.

"You look at the way they played against Juventus in the first half and you know they are going to give anyone a good game in that sort of form. That in itself is very, very tough. Last year we played Arsenal in the Champions' League quarter-final and that was massive, and this will be similar." Even if, Mourinho will emphasise, the first leg does not have the desired outcome, just like last time.

There was a neat symmetry to the two Premiership meetings, Joe Cole coming on as substitute to score the only goal each time, before the less predictable turn of events gave Mourinho his first trophy, and first sending-off, in the Carling Cup final.

On that occasion, it may be remembered, Liverpool were able to hold on to their early lead for a long period, despite being outplayed, until Gerrard headed an own goal supremely unfortunate in view of the persistent rumours that Roman Abramovich will be his paymaster next season.

The view from the Chelsea players who earned the first medal of their senior careers that day is that the experience served to whet the appetite. Take Cole: "The Carling Cup was brilliant, a nice little taster for the boys just to be there. We know it's not the same as the Champions' League, but just to be out there with all your mates and lifting a trophy was brilliant."

Similarly, he feels that the bitter experience of last year's semi-final can be put to good use: "Of course that's going to be part of it, but the carrot's there for us, the final of the Champions' League. For some of our players it's what dreams are made of, and if we can keep up the form we're showing at the moment, we'll be all right. We are better than last year, there's no doubt about that. We have come on as a team and a club, we have taken a step forward, had more experience, we know what it's about and we're looking forward to the game. It'll be a great spectacle and great for English football."

Team player or not these days, Cole could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about the return to fitness of Arjen Robben, who now threatens his place. It will be interesting to see how much faith is placed in Cole by Mourinho, who said of Robben's availability: "It's very important because he's a special player. And because of the system we play, Damien Duff and Joe Cole have had to play every game, while I try to rest them in the last 15 or 20 minutes. We have had people playing 49 or 50 matches, plus internationals."

Eyes on the ball, for just a little longer. As Cole puts it, in words he could never have imagined using in his West Ham days: "We can make history and that's the carrot for us now."

As Mourinho says, and will doubtless repeat in the dressing room, whether he is addressing the crowned champions or not: "We've shown stability and very strong mentality. Now we are in what I call the countdown. The last push can give us something special." Or even give Liverpool something extraordinary.