STEVEN GERRARD picked up an award for Europe’s Most Valuable Player in Monte Carlo yesterday and, once the draw had been done for the Champions League group phase, he also became its most interviewed. The pairing of Chelsea and Liverpool caused a stir far beyond the shores of England, although the Barclays Premiership and European champions will hope that, despite the fevered atmosphere around both games, they can both go through.

The clubs met five times last season, including the Carling Cup final and in the last four of the European Cup. Liverpool recorded only one victory but it was by far the most significant, as Luis García’s goal at Anfield in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final set up Rafael Benítez’s side for that unforgettable triumph in Istanbul.

Winning the European Cup helped to persuade Gerrard to stay at Liverpool despite, for the second summer running, an offer of vast riches to move to Stamford Bridge. José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, reacted to that rejection by declaring that it would be Gerrard’s loss when it came to counting his medals in ten years’ time, and the Liverpool captain will be at the heart of the story once more.

“A lot of people are going to be talking about what happened,” Gerrard said. “The most important thing is that the team play well. I have also got to make sure I am up for it. I’m sure Chelsea do want revenge but we want to beat them as well.

“The atmosphere is going to help. Our fans will make exactly the same noise, if not more noise, than at Anfield last year. Forty-five minutes before kick-off at Anfield you couldn’t hear your team-mates talking. It was one of those special nights and I am sure it will be matched again this time.”

The clubs will meet at Anfield twice in a week — in the first European tie on September 28 and the Premiership five days later — but the most intriguing clash could come at Stamford Bridge on December 6 in the last round of group G fixtures if either club needs points to qualify.

They will both expect to overcome Anderlecht, who finished behind Bruges in the Belgian league last season, but Real Betis could make the group even more interesting. The Spanish Cup holders, who boast the pacy Joaquín on the right flank and the prolific Oliveira up front, will not be easily beaten, even though this is their Champions League debut and they were ranked in the bottom group of seeds.

No two teams from the same country have met before in the group phase but Liverpool had no country protection because of their late admission into the competition by Uefa. “I don’t think we were in a position to complain, to be honest,” Gerrard said. “I think we just had to be happy to be back and defend this title.”

In contrast to many of Mourinho’s European battles last season, there was little antagonism when Chelsea met Liverpool and Gerrard spoke of a mutual respect. “The Chelsea players congratulated us when we beat them,” he said. “They were very good. Hopefully, we can both qualify for the next round.”

That feeling will be shared at Stamford Bridge, although Mourinho gave warning that they had much more to worry about than each other. “This is a very dangerous group for us,” he said. “Not because of Liverpool, as all the teams in the top group were dangerous. All of them were big teams with a big reputation. No, this group is dangerous because in the third and fourth seeds there were some smaller teams, but we got Anderlecht and Betis.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, is likely to have conceded that some draws are kinder than others. United’s opponents in group D are Villarreal, Lille and Benfica — none of them pushovers but not a trio that should pose a collective threat to his team’s place in the knockout stages, which they have reached in each of the past ten seasons.

Compared with Liverpool and Chelsea, United look to have got off lightly. Arsenal, too, may reflect that their fate could have been far worse as they are drawn against Ajax, Sparta Prague and FC Thun, of Switzerland. Bayern Munich and Juventus are paired together in group A, but that is not so bad when Bruges and Rapid Vienna seem destined just to make up the numbers.

All four English teams progressed to the knockout stages last season and United and Arsenal, who fell at the first stage thereafter, will be confident of an improved performance this time. “I think we hoped we will do better in Europe this year,” Ferguson said after his team completed a 6-0 aggregate victory over Debrecen, the Hungarian champions, on Wednesday. “We’ve got a very good squad together now and we think we can do well in the competition.”

Arsenal, too, will be confident of progress. David Dein, the London club's vice-chairman, believes that this may be the year when Arsenal finally start to punch their weight in European competition. “We’ve never been beyond the quarter-finals before, but we want to win it,” Dein said. “It’s an unfulfilled ambition for everybody at the club.”