Chelsea must win it to stay in it. Champions League qualification was always a distant hope for Roberto Di Matteo through the Premier League but, as if the first European Cup in Chelsea's history was not incentive enough, there is now no option but to beat Bayern Munich in their own backyard after the lowest league finish of the Roman Abramovich era was confirmed at Anfield.
Fourth place was removed from the equation for Chelsea as Liverpool, a little too late to change the complexion of their season, produced a rampant display to record their biggest league win of a trying campaign. The only route into European football's elite competition now for Chelsea is as European champions and this ramshackle display will damage several players' prospects of appearing at the Allianz Arena on Saturday week.
The night was not without incentive for Liverpool, however demoralised the club may have been by Saturday's defeat and performance against the same opponent in the FA Cup final. Victory was required to avoid equalling the lowest return of home wins in a top flight campaign at Anfield – the five of 1948-49 – to retain hope of finishing above Everton in the table and to restore some optimism ahead of Dalglish's end-of-season review with the club's owners. Against another team Liverpool might have struggled to rouse themselves. But not Chelsea, and not a side containing Fernando Torres, back on Anfield soil for the first time since his acrimonious £50m exit 16 months ago.
The obligatory boos reverberated around Anfield every time the Spain international touched the ball. Torres must have been tempted to join in, such was the paucity of the performance around him and particularly of a visiting defence destroyed by the channelled aggression of Andy Carroll and skill of Luis Suárez.
Di Matteo made eight changes to the team that began at Wembley but the rotation policy that has served Chelsea's interim manager so well of late failed him here. Even so, he had every right to expect more from John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic in central defence although, in mitigation to the established pair, they were exposed frequently by those around them and Ross Turnbull in goal.
The visitors were not exactly anonymous in attack. Indeed Chelsea started strongly and should have opened the scoring when Florent Malouda, having seen a shot deflected wide of the rooted José Reina off Martin Skrtel, found Ivanovic at the resulting corner. Terry skittled three Liverpool players out of the way to present the Serbian with a free header but he planted the effort against a post.
Unlike the FA Cup final, however, Liverpool showed up from the first whistle in this meeting with Chelsea and did so with a belief that Dalglish lamented was lacking on Saturday. Out of the ashes of cup final misery, the Liverpool manager urged his players to find confidence in their rousing finale at Wembley and they stunned Di Matteo's makeshift team with three goals in nine remarkable minutes. From a Chelsea perspective, all three were easily avoidable.
Suárez had squandered one good opening having evaded Terry's challenge when he embarked on a mesmerising run down the right touchline. Holding off the weak presence of Oriol Romeu, the Liverpool striker nutmegged Chelsea's captain as he entered the area and pulled the ball back from the byline where it struck the unfortunate Michael Essien and trickled over the goalline. Six minutes later another mistake by Terry enabled Liverpool to double their advantage. Carroll, starting as he finished at Wembley, found Maxi Rodríguez and his pass infield was going nowhere until the former England captain slipped. Jordan Henderson seized on the mishap and sprinted through on goal before beating Turnbull with a cool finish into the bottom corner.
The yellow cards for Chelsea were totting up and so were the goals for Liverpool. Turnbull was all over the place when Jonjo Shelvey's corner floated to his far post. Carroll headed back across goal and Daniel Agger stooped to nod into the unguarded side of the Chelsea goal. It could and should have been a far more convincing scoreline in Liverpool's favour by half-time.
Torres's personal battle with the recalled Jamie Carragher simmered nicely, a bit of needle evidently remained between the pair, and the Chelsea forward was denied another goal in front of the Kop when his angled drive cannoned off the underside of the crossbar. At the other, busier end, Carroll was thwarted by Turnbull as he cut into the area and Stewart Downing struck the bar with a delightful volley from Suárez's knock-down.
The moment for Downing to break his Premier League duck for Liverpool arrived on the stroke of half-time when Ivanovic conceded a ludicrous penalty for elbowing Carroll in the chest as they awaited Henderson's cross.
Ivanovic was only booked but, from 12 yards and having sent Turnbull the wrong way, Downing's spot-kick smacked against the post and out. Liverpool's seventh penalty miss of the season set an unwanted club record.
Chelsea were being embarrassed and responded accordingly at the start of the second half when Ramires unwittingly bundled Malouda's inviting free-kick beyond José Reina. But any thoughts of a convincing recovery where ended by more defensive carelessness when Turnbull scuffed a hopeless clearance into the path of Shelvey and the Liverpool midfielder drilled the return high into his empty net. Read More
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