When these two English giants were drawn against each other in this year's European Cup quarter final, there were groans from many people.
After all, Liverpool and Chelsea have played each other in the latter stages of this competition every year since 2005, with goals in many of the games as rare as the dodo.
So most people assumed the two matches of this two-legged quarter final tie would be equally tedious.
How wrong they were - football decided to show us why it's known as The Beautiful Game. With Chelsea thrashing Liverpool 3-1 in the first leg at Anfield, Liverpool - playing on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster - travelled to Stamford Bridge for last night's second leg knowing they had to score at least three goals to have any chance of making it to the semi finals (despite being behind by only two goals, a 2-0 win - and therefore a 3-3 aggregate scoreline - would not have been enough for Liverpool as Chelsea would have prevailed having scored more away goals).
It seemed like mission impossible - but, as we all know, you never write Liverpool off in the European Cup, as AC Milan well know.
When Liverpool played AC Milan in the 2005 European Cup Final in Istanbul, AC Milan led 3-0 at half time and the victory seemed all but secured But Liverpool came storming back in the second half to be crowned European Champions for the fifth time.
And last night, Liverpool TWICE looked as though they were going to do it again. Two goals in the first half-hour gave them a two goal lead, and it was level, 3-3, on aggregate, but Chelsea still lead on away goals.
Liverpool looked likely to get the one more goal that they needed, until the West London team stormed back into to it and take a 3-2 lead (to lead 6-3 on aggregate).
So, as at the start of the game, Liverpool AGAIN needed three more goals to go through to the semi final.
And AGAIN they almost pulled it off, scoring another two goals to take a 4-3 lead, and again they only needed one more goal.
But the West Londoners scored a 4th in the dying minutes to finally finish off Liverpool, winning 7-5 on aggregate.
Chelsea play Barcelona (who drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich to win 5-1 on aggregate) in the semi-final, and Liverpool did their fans proud on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
And if Manchester United and Arsenal both win tonight, then three of the four semi finalists will be English teams and the other semi final will be Manchester United VS Arsenal.
European Cup.
VS
Quarter Final, second leg (At Stamford Bridge. Att: 38,286)
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool (Chelsea win 7-5 on aggregate)
Drogba 52...................Aurelio 19
Alex 57.......................Alonso 28 (pen)
Lampard 76, 89...............Lucas 81
...................................Kuyt 82
Chelsea to play Barcelona in semi final.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Kalou (Anelka 36), Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Drogba (Di Santo 90).
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Mikel, Deco, Belletti, Mancienne.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa (Babel 85), Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Lucas, Mascherano (Riera 69), Alonso, Kuyt, Torres (Ngog 80), Benayoun.
Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, Agger.
Lampard scored twice to help set up a semi-final showdown with Barcelona
Chelsea survived a huge scare before drawing one of the most entertaining Champions League games of recent times to seal a 7-5 aggregate win over Liverpool and book a semi-final against Barcelona.
Guus Hidd ink's team led 3-1 after the first leg at Anfield but Fabio Aurelio's free-kick after an awful misjudgement from Petr Cech and Xabi Alonso's penalty put Liverpool in control at the break.
Jose Reina fumbled Didier Drogba's deft touch into his own net and Alex's thunderbolt free-kick levelled the scores on the night with two goals in six dramatic second-half minutes.
The inspirational Frank Lampard put the Blues 3-2 ahead, slotting home Drogba's intelligent cross.
The tie looked finished but Liverpool were not done yet and Lucas Leiva's deflected strike was quickly followed by Dirk Kuyt's near-post header.
It was 4-3 to Liverpool with seven minutes of normal time remaining and Stamford Bridge was stunned, while the Reds required just one more goal to complete a sensational victory on away goals.
But Lampard converted Nicolas Anelka's pass to level at 4-4 in the final dramatic action of a truly memorable game of football.
Liverpool were without their skipper Steven Gerrard because of an injury but came close to pulling off a memorable victory without their inspirational leader.
Liverpool gave the hosts an early warning when a delightful touch from Yossi Benayoun after 13 minutes created a clear opening for Fernando Torres, who failed to hit the target with his left-foot strike.
It was a poor miss and Liverpool's slim hopes were almost completely extinguished a minute later but Lampard narrowly missed the target with a free-kick.
Then came the moment that embarrassed Cech and handed Liverpool a lifeline, as Aurelio smashed his free-kick into the bottom corner.
Alex celebrates with Michael Ballack after scoring Chelsea's second
Chelsea had only bothered to put one man in the wall and Cech was so focused on dealing with a floated ball into the congested area that he neglected the possibility of a low shot at goal.
Even so, it was a terrible error as the Czech keeper was caught completely out of position and scrambled across goal in vain.
Buoyed by their goal, Liverpool suddenly found an incisiveness and rhythm to their play, while Chelsea, with suspended skipper John Terry watching from the stands, looked uncharacteristically brittle.
Terry will be back for the semi-final first leg tie against 2006 champions Barcelona at the Nou Camp in two weeks, but left-back Ashley Cole will be absent after picking up a yellow card for a foul on Alvaro Arbeloa.
The Blues defensive unit struggled to cope with the passing and movement of an attacking line that had struggled so manifestly at Anfield eight days earlier.
And the Reds doubled their lead through Alonso's unstoppable penalty after the Spaniard had been fouled by Chelsea's first-leg hero Branislav Ivanovic.
Chelsea boss Hidd ink withdrew Salomon Kalou and brought on Anelka after 35 minutes.
And his bold decision was vindicated when the Frenchman's low cross from the right shortly after the restart was deflected by Drogba past Liverpool keeper Reina, who could only parry the ball into his own net.
Drogba was inches away with a free-kick as Chelsea found the attacking menace that had almost completely eluded them in the first-half and it came as no huge surprise when they did draw level, Alex drilling home his long-range free-kick.
Kuyt's goal gave Liverpool renewed hope of a famous result
Liverpool now needed to score twice more but Michael Ballack should have put the result beyond doubt after Drogba broke down the right and picked out the unmarked German with a precise low cross. Ballack, however, shot tamely and Reina dived to his left to save.
Torres, an increasingly marginal figure, went close from distance but it was Chelsea who were in control now and Lampard put his team ahead with a close-range finish from Drogba's cross.
The tie seemed to be dead and buried before Lucas' deflected strike after 81 minutes was quickly followed by Kuyt's bullet header from substitute Albert Riera's cross.
Suddenly it was only the visiting supporters who could be heard but the final goal of a pulsating match fell to Lampard, whose strike went in off both posts.
There was hardly any time remaining but the fragile Cech still managed to fumble a cross that David N'Gog drilled towards goal, forcing a superb headed clearance from Michael Essien.
Chelsea v Liverpool: The Blues start with a seemingly insurmountable lead to Stamford Bridge following their 3-1 first-leg win at Anfield
The Reds will miss injured captain Steven Gerrard but will be buoyed by Bolton's recent heroics, putting three past Chelsea at the Bridge
The visitors bring the tie to life as a Fabio Aurelio free-kick flies in at the near post when everybody else expects a cross
A second Aurelio free-kick brings trouble as Xavi Alonso is pulled down in the box but steps up to score the resulting penalty
Another incredible Liverpool Champions League comeback looks on by half-time given Chelsea's nervous defending without John Terry
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech looks especially nervous - at fault for the goal and making several slips either side of the break
Six minutes later and Chelsea are back in control of the tie through Alex's unstoppable dead-ball strike
Alex's goal means Liverpool will need two goals to tie the scores on aggregate and go through on away goals
With 14 minutes left Liverpool give away the ball, Chelsea break and Frank Lampard pounces to surely sink the Reds
If anything, Chelsea taking the lead on the night reawakens the Reds, with Lucas Leiva's deflected shot squirming past the hapless Cech
Moments later Dirk Kuyt's heads in Albert Riera's cross, meaning for the second time Liverpool need just one more goal to win the tie
For all Liverpool's efforts Lampard ends the goal-crazy night with his second, the ball ricocheting off both posts, in the 89th minute
Chelsea progress to face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final after 90 minutes and eight goals that swung the tie either way
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
After all, Liverpool and Chelsea have played each other in the latter stages of this competition every year since 2005, with goals in many of the games as rare as the dodo.
So most people assumed the two matches of this two-legged quarter final tie would be equally tedious.
How wrong they were - football decided to show us why it's known as The Beautiful Game. With Chelsea thrashing Liverpool 3-1 in the first leg at Anfield, Liverpool - playing on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster - travelled to Stamford Bridge for last night's second leg knowing they had to score at least three goals to have any chance of making it to the semi finals (despite being behind by only two goals, a 2-0 win - and therefore a 3-3 aggregate scoreline - would not have been enough for Liverpool as Chelsea would have prevailed having scored more away goals).
It seemed like mission impossible - but, as we all know, you never write Liverpool off in the European Cup, as AC Milan well know.
When Liverpool played AC Milan in the 2005 European Cup Final in Istanbul, AC Milan led 3-0 at half time and the victory seemed all but secured But Liverpool came storming back in the second half to be crowned European Champions for the fifth time.
And last night, Liverpool TWICE looked as though they were going to do it again. Two goals in the first half-hour gave them a two goal lead, and it was level, 3-3, on aggregate, but Chelsea still lead on away goals.
Liverpool looked likely to get the one more goal that they needed, until the West London team stormed back into to it and take a 3-2 lead (to lead 6-3 on aggregate).
So, as at the start of the game, Liverpool AGAIN needed three more goals to go through to the semi final.
And AGAIN they almost pulled it off, scoring another two goals to take a 4-3 lead, and again they only needed one more goal.
But the West Londoners scored a 4th in the dying minutes to finally finish off Liverpool, winning 7-5 on aggregate.
Chelsea play Barcelona (who drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich to win 5-1 on aggregate) in the semi-final, and Liverpool did their fans proud on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
And if Manchester United and Arsenal both win tonight, then three of the four semi finalists will be English teams and the other semi final will be Manchester United VS Arsenal.
European Cup.
Quarter Final, second leg (At Stamford Bridge. Att: 38,286)
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool (Chelsea win 7-5 on aggregate)
Drogba 52...................Aurelio 19
Alex 57.......................Alonso 28 (pen)
Lampard 76, 89...............Lucas 81
...................................Kuyt 82
Chelsea to play Barcelona in semi final.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Kalou (Anelka 36), Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Drogba (Di Santo 90).
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Mikel, Deco, Belletti, Mancienne.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa (Babel 85), Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Lucas, Mascherano (Riera 69), Alonso, Kuyt, Torres (Ngog 80), Benayoun.
Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, Agger.
Chelsea survived a huge scare before drawing one of the most entertaining Champions League games of recent times to seal a 7-5 aggregate win over Liverpool and book a semi-final against Barcelona.
Guus Hidd ink's team led 3-1 after the first leg at Anfield but Fabio Aurelio's free-kick after an awful misjudgement from Petr Cech and Xabi Alonso's penalty put Liverpool in control at the break.
Jose Reina fumbled Didier Drogba's deft touch into his own net and Alex's thunderbolt free-kick levelled the scores on the night with two goals in six dramatic second-half minutes.
The inspirational Frank Lampard put the Blues 3-2 ahead, slotting home Drogba's intelligent cross.
The tie looked finished but Liverpool were not done yet and Lucas Leiva's deflected strike was quickly followed by Dirk Kuyt's near-post header.
It was 4-3 to Liverpool with seven minutes of normal time remaining and Stamford Bridge was stunned, while the Reds required just one more goal to complete a sensational victory on away goals.
But Lampard converted Nicolas Anelka's pass to level at 4-4 in the final dramatic action of a truly memorable game of football.
Liverpool were without their skipper Steven Gerrard because of an injury but came close to pulling off a memorable victory without their inspirational leader.
Liverpool gave the hosts an early warning when a delightful touch from Yossi Benayoun after 13 minutes created a clear opening for Fernando Torres, who failed to hit the target with his left-foot strike.
It was a poor miss and Liverpool's slim hopes were almost completely extinguished a minute later but Lampard narrowly missed the target with a free-kick.
Then came the moment that embarrassed Cech and handed Liverpool a lifeline, as Aurelio smashed his free-kick into the bottom corner.
Alex celebrates with Michael Ballack after scoring Chelsea's second
Chelsea had only bothered to put one man in the wall and Cech was so focused on dealing with a floated ball into the congested area that he neglected the possibility of a low shot at goal.
Even so, it was a terrible error as the Czech keeper was caught completely out of position and scrambled across goal in vain.
Buoyed by their goal, Liverpool suddenly found an incisiveness and rhythm to their play, while Chelsea, with suspended skipper John Terry watching from the stands, looked uncharacteristically brittle.
Terry will be back for the semi-final first leg tie against 2006 champions Barcelona at the Nou Camp in two weeks, but left-back Ashley Cole will be absent after picking up a yellow card for a foul on Alvaro Arbeloa.
The Blues defensive unit struggled to cope with the passing and movement of an attacking line that had struggled so manifestly at Anfield eight days earlier.
And the Reds doubled their lead through Alonso's unstoppable penalty after the Spaniard had been fouled by Chelsea's first-leg hero Branislav Ivanovic.
Chelsea boss Hidd ink withdrew Salomon Kalou and brought on Anelka after 35 minutes.
And his bold decision was vindicated when the Frenchman's low cross from the right shortly after the restart was deflected by Drogba past Liverpool keeper Reina, who could only parry the ball into his own net.
Drogba was inches away with a free-kick as Chelsea found the attacking menace that had almost completely eluded them in the first-half and it came as no huge surprise when they did draw level, Alex drilling home his long-range free-kick.
Kuyt's goal gave Liverpool renewed hope of a famous result
Liverpool now needed to score twice more but Michael Ballack should have put the result beyond doubt after Drogba broke down the right and picked out the unmarked German with a precise low cross. Ballack, however, shot tamely and Reina dived to his left to save.
Torres, an increasingly marginal figure, went close from distance but it was Chelsea who were in control now and Lampard put his team ahead with a close-range finish from Drogba's cross.
The tie seemed to be dead and buried before Lucas' deflected strike after 81 minutes was quickly followed by Kuyt's bullet header from substitute Albert Riera's cross.
Suddenly it was only the visiting supporters who could be heard but the final goal of a pulsating match fell to Lampard, whose strike went in off both posts.
There was hardly any time remaining but the fragile Cech still managed to fumble a cross that David N'Gog drilled towards goal, forcing a superb headed clearance from Michael Essien.
Chelsea v Liverpool: The Blues start with a seemingly insurmountable lead to Stamford Bridge following their 3-1 first-leg win at Anfield
The Reds will miss injured captain Steven Gerrard but will be buoyed by Bolton's recent heroics, putting three past Chelsea at the Bridge
The visitors bring the tie to life as a Fabio Aurelio free-kick flies in at the near post when everybody else expects a cross
A second Aurelio free-kick brings trouble as Xavi Alonso is pulled down in the box but steps up to score the resulting penalty
Another incredible Liverpool Champions League comeback looks on by half-time given Chelsea's nervous defending without John Terry
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech looks especially nervous - at fault for the goal and making several slips either side of the break
Six minutes later and Chelsea are back in control of the tie through Alex's unstoppable dead-ball strike
Alex's goal means Liverpool will need two goals to tie the scores on aggregate and go through on away goals
With 14 minutes left Liverpool give away the ball, Chelsea break and Frank Lampard pounces to surely sink the Reds
If anything, Chelsea taking the lead on the night reawakens the Reds, with Lucas Leiva's deflected shot squirming past the hapless Cech
Moments later Dirk Kuyt's heads in Albert Riera's cross, meaning for the second time Liverpool need just one more goal to win the tie
For all Liverpool's efforts Lampard ends the goal-crazy night with his second, the ball ricocheting off both posts, in the 89th minute
Chelsea progress to face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final after 90 minutes and eight goals that swung the tie either way
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
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