As players who have been described as the heart and the soul of their clubs, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are accustomed to putting the greater interest ahead of their own, but at Stamford Bridge this evening they will be urged to go even farther by inspiring their team to the Champions League final even if it means picking up the yellow card that would force them to miss out through suspension in Moscow on May 21.

Cautioned twice earlier in the tournament, Terry, the Chelsea captain, and Gerrard and Carragher, respectively the captain and vice-captain of Liverpool, will be the three players with most to fear from Roberto Rossetti, the Italian referee, this evening as they are one booking away from the cruellest of all suspensions.

Nevertheless, Avram Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, said that Terry “will play to win, like he always does” while Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has urged Gerrard and Carragher to sacrifice themselves for the team if they have to. “In these situations it is not easy,” Benítez said. “But they have some experience and they know the key is to be in the final. So if they can control every tackle, it will be good. But if they cannot, they still must tackle. We need to be in the final.”

Benítez remains supremely confident that Liverpool will reach the final at Chelsea's expense for a third time in four seasons. “When I look in my players' eyes at this moment, I see confidence,” he said. “We were clearly better than Chelsea in the first leg and we are playing well. The majority of the players know what it means to get to a final, but for some of the players who were in Istanbul [in the 2005 final] and Athens [last season], it is even more important. The players will be mentally ready for the achievement.”