There was the most cursory of handshakes at the final whistle, with the look of satisfaction sitting on the face of the victor. José Mourinho finally has a Champions League victory to savour over Rafael Benítez, but, as he headed back to his Kensington apartment for his ritual all-night debriefing session, the self-styled Special One may have wondered whether his decision to stick, rather than twist, was entirely the right one.

A 1-0 lead is not to be sniffed at halfway through a Champions League semi-final, particularly for a team of such defensive fortitude, but Chelsea should have had more than one goal to show for their domination of an utterly one-sided first half. Liverpool were awful during that opening period, on the ropes and ripe for a good old-fashioned pummelling, but, as soon as Joe Cole opened the scoring in the 29th minute, Chelsea relented, retreating under the tactical security blanket that remains their greatest asset and yet also — at least on the rare occasions they fail — one of their few flaws.

Mourinho laughed afterwards about how sleep is off the agenda for him after an evening match, so what was going through his mind last night? It was far less likely the lack of a penalty for Álvaro Arbeloa’s handball, which was outside the box, than the two shots that Frank Lampard put too close to José Manuel Reina, or the failure of Didier Drogba to pick out an unmarked Joe Cole in the fourteenth minute. Most obviously, he may have wondered whether his team had let Liverpool off the hook and thus back into a tie that could have been over by half-time last night. Liverpool’s supporters, bellowing “We shall not be moved” as they were kept in the ground afterwards, certainly seemed to recognise that their team had been reprieved, as did Benítez.

They will have a part to play next Tuesday, just as they did when the two teams met at the same stage two years ago, and, while Mourinho will scoff at the suggestion that even the most partisan crowd can turn a match, he will also be aware that it takes only one Liverpool goal — perhaps even a “ghost goal”, controversially awarded in front of a baying Kop — to cancel out Chelsea’s slender advantage.

Chelsea, though, must remain strong favourites, particularly with Michael Essien to return from suspension, and, as Benítez pointed out ruefully, it will suit Mourinho’s team to play on the counter-attack at Anfield. The gulf between the teams last night, certainly in the first half, reflected that in the Barclays Premiership table, with Drogba far too strong for a nervous Daniel Agger, Joe Cole a constant menace and Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel leaving Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso ruffled in the Liverpool midfield.

The first half had been Benítez’s worst nightmare, his best-laid plans exposed by a Chelsea team lusting for revenge for the perceived injustice of two years ago. Steven Gerrard was as poor as anyone, repeatedly incurring his manager’s wrath as he strayed from his post on the right-hand side of midfield in search of action in the middle, but, while several of his team-mates struggled all night, he at least improved after the interval, coming closest to an equaliser as his left-foot volley was well saved by Petr Cech in the 53rd minute.

By then, Chelsea could have been out of sight. Lampard missed the first of their opportunities in the fifth minute, frustrated by the reflexes of Reina as he stole the ball off the foot of Andriy Shevchenko. John Arne Riise then hit a poor pass straight to Drogba, who had the opportunity to give Joe Cole a clear run on goal, but the striker, to his disgust, misplaced the pass. Shevchenko got behind Jamie Carragher in a crowded penalty area, sending in a cross that narrowly eluded the incoming Joe Cole. Lampard struck a free kick narrowly wide from 30 yards, the referee failing to spot a deflection off Riise. It was one-way traffic.

Chelsea’s pressure finally told. As another uninspired Liverpool move broke down, Ricardo Carvalho strode out of defence and released Drogba in space down the inside-right channel. Agger came across to tackle him, but Drogba was too quick and too strong and this time found his team-mate with the perfect pass, leaving Cole to beat Reina after a clever run that took him on the blind side of Arbeloa.

Mourinho’s players were buoyant, but their opponents came back into the game when the inevitable improvement occurred. Liverpool were the better team in the second half, but their reaction — “a reaction with only one chance”, according to Mourinho — petered out, with Boudewijn Zenden, for all his willingness on the left wing, lacking the pace or the trickery to exploit Chelsea’s own weak link, the rusty Paulo Ferreira.

By this time, Benítez had replaced the ineffective Craig Bellamy with Peter Crouch, a move designed to punish Chelsea’s growing unease at the back, but the moment passed, with both managers appearing to settle for 1-0. That is testament to the conservatism of both, not to mention supreme confidence in their abilities as tacticians. By 10pm on Tuesday — or later in the event of extra time — one of them will be out of the Champions League. It is advantage Mourinho, but Benítez knows it could have been much worse.

By the numbers

1 Joe Cole also scored the only goal of the match in each of the first two meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool after the arrivals of José Mourinho and Rafael Benítez as managers in 2004

6 The six meetings between Mourinho and Benítez at Stamford Bridge have produced only five goals — all scored by Chelsea

9 Nine different players have scored for Chelsea in their past six matches

5 On the past five occasions that the home team has won 1-0 in the first leg of a semi-final in Europe’s premier club competition, they have gone on to win the tie. They include Arsenal against Villarreal last season and Liverpool against Dynamo Bucharest in 1984

Words by Bill Edgar