Terry urges Chelsea to take charge

If John Terry was looking for extra motivation when he showed up at Anfield ahead of Chelsea FC's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool FC, he found it sitting proudly on display in a glass cabinet – and liked what he saw.

Longing look
The Chelsea skipper admitted he could not help but steal an envious glance at Liverpool's UEFA Champions League trophy, which has been with them permanently since their fifth tournament victory in 2005. Terry spoke of the "burning" pain that Liverpool have inflicted on Chelsea in two previous semi-final defeats in this competition, though he added: "That will never go away, but one thing that will certainly ease it is to go on and progress to the final and lift that trophy that I've just walked past outside the doors here. That's something I want to get my hands on as Chelsea captain."

'Massive chance'
However, Terry was also keen to stress that Chelsea have moved on from those bitterly disappointing losses to Liverpool in 2005 and 2007. "It's not so much putting the record straight; it's about what we can go on to achieve," the England defender said. "For the club, it's a massive chance to make history, for the players as well as the manager. We can go on to possibly win this and we need to do that. Forget what's happened in the past, it's about now and we need to take this opportunity. We don't look back because there's no point in doing that."

Home advantage
For many observers, the crucial difference between this semi-final and the past encounters is that Liverpool are playing the first leg at home, meaning Chelsea should have an opportunity to progress at Stamford Bridge on 30 April. "We've got to use that to our advantage. I think Liverpool have done that in the previous years," said Terry. "We're coming here to win the game; we're not coming here to shut up shop. We're coming here to score goals and hopefully put the pressure right on Liverpool."

Defensive strength
Terry conceded that the task ahead remains huge, but he stressed that Chelsea have got what it takes to stop Liverpool moving into their third final in four years, while he and his team-mates finally reach their first. The 27-year-old said: "Defensively they are very good and they're also very good going forward, so it's going to be tough for us in both directions, but with the away goals that we can possibly achieve, that's going to help us in the long run. It's about what we do, not what Liverpool do. We've got the players to go and win the game and hopefully progress to the next stage."