Chelsea v Liverpool: A rivalry

Chelsea face Liverpool on Friday Night Football in what promises to be the latest instalment in a particularly modern rivalry.

The two teams have played each other 41 times since 2005, contesting cup finals, Champions League ties and plenty of Premier League and FA Cup encounters too. For comparison, Liverpool have faced Manchester United 29 times over the same period.

The dislike, then, is borne out of recent familiarity rather than geographical proximity. So when did it start?

2005 League Cup final

The animosity largely stems from the 2005 League Cup final, a full-throttle affair that saw Chelsea triumph 3-2 after extra-time, during which Jose Mourinho was sent off after appearing to shush Liverpool fans following Steven Gerrard’s late own-goal equaliser.

It provided Mourinho with his first piece of silverware at Chelsea, and painted him as the villain of the piece for Liverpool fans; a role he relished.

“I don’t regret it,” he said after the game. “The only thing I have to understand is I’m in England, so maybe even when I think I am not wrong, I have to adapt to your country and I have to respect that.

“I have a lot of respect for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence – ‘shut your mouth’ – was not for them, it was for the English press.”

Few Liverpool fans bought his explanation, and they didn’t have to wait long for revenge.

Champions League meetings

Three months later the two sides met in a Champions League semi-final, providing us with the infamous ‘ghost goal’, scored by Luis Garcia to send Liverpool through to the final 1-0 on aggregate.

“You can say the linesman’s scored,” Mourinho said. “It was a goal coming from the moon or from the Anfield Road stands.”

A year on, it still stung. “They didn’t score in the semi-final against us but I accept they beat us,” Mourinho added.

And when Liverpool, who finished 37 points behind champions Chelsea that season, also saw off …

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