Fabio Capello had to walk through a storm because he left the match early but the England manager should not have been criticised for being less compelled than others by Liverpool and Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final second leg. To Capello the occasion must have lacked the element of suspense. He would have looked at the opposition dugout and known exactly what was coming for poor Arsène Wenger. Capello is among the many big men of football to be belittled on one of Anfield’s vivid European nights.

Twice in club management the Italian brought teams in front of the Kop and saw hope turn to dust. In 2005 his Juventus were Champions League favourites until losing two goals from which they never recovered in a giddying opening to a quarter-final. In 2002, Anfield was even more disorientating. Capello’s Roma had only to avoid defeat to progress but on the evening Gerard Houllier returned following a heart attack, emotion swept Liverpool to a 2-0 win. Even Rune Pedersen, the match official, seemed affected, appearing to give the away team a penalty and then, before a baying Kop, signalling a goal kick instead. “There is something unique about that atmosphere, and that anthem, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. When they start singing that, it’s special,” a rueful Capello said. “I remember the night very well when I was there with Roma and the Norwegian referee even whistled for a penalty and then changed his mind...”

Any team has an advantage by playing in their own stadium but Anfield and Liverpool have a special symbiosis in European competition. It may tire supporters of other clubs to read about the noise, the swaying scarves, and songs and banners of this Scouse coliseum but its part in Liverpool’s success is impossible to avoid. Anfield’s spell is not unique: Manchester United’s European record at Old Trafford is every bit as magical as Liverpool’s at home and Barcelona, Real Madrid, and the Milan, Istanbul and Glasgow clubs would never wish to swap their stadiums for elsewhere. But the sheer number of raucously dramatic matches Anfield has hosted cannot be beaten. “It is the nearest thing football has to a cathedral,” said the former Liverpool player Michael Robinson.

“Standing there as a fan or being there as a player is football’s nearest thing to a religious experience.”

Robinson’s paeans to Anfield are a regular feature of his Champions League punditry on Spanish television, and the desire to perform there was one reason Fernando Torres signed for Liverpool. He has not been disappointed. The striker’s majestic goal in front of the Kop versus Arsenal had some of its denizens nearly crying, and Torres was just as moved by what the faithful gave him back. “The emotion I felt after the Arsenal game was very, very strong. I have never felt like this before,” the striker said. “I was almost in tears at the end when the crowd were singing and we were all hugging each other. If that was a quarter-final, I can’t imagine what it will be like playing Chelsea in the semi-final.”

He will find out on Tuesday and Chelsea will see whether repeat exposure is building them immunity to the Anfield effect. They thought its power supernatural in 2005 when Luis Garcia scored a “ghost goal”, according to Jose Mourinho, and Jamie Carragher “seemed to clone himself”, said Eidur Gudjohnsen, as Liverpool prevailed in an astonishing semi-final. When last year’s semi-final came down to a penalty shoot-out, amid the Anfield cacophony, Chelsea’s minds scrambled once again. By now they know what to expect. They also hope the different ordering of the legs will temper the venue’s influence. “Always it’s a tough game at Anfield but, you know, it’s only the first leg and the second one is at Stamford Bridge. That can be crucial for us,” said Ricardo Carvalho. “Everyone speaks about the atmosphere and the last two times it was difficult going there for the second leg. I hope not doing that this time can make the difference.”

Rafael Benitez agrees the draw is less favourable this time. “It could be different to last year. The key to us was Anfield then and in the last game, against Arsenal, you could see a big difference,” he said. He called Chelsea “favourites” but the Spaniard likes to claim underdog status for his team. What he declined to point out, perhaps for that reason, is that Liverpool are just as able to use Anfield to their advantage in first legs as second legs – in fact the only two-legged tie they have lost in his reign, against Benfica, was when they played at Anfield second. In this year’s round of 16, Internazionale were killed off in an Anfield first leg and in 2004-05, as well as Capello’s Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen perished that way. “Against Chelsea, we will try and do something important in the first game and the second one will be easier,” Benitez said.

The Arsenal second leg was a slugfest. Both teams forgot about keeping their guards up and tried to rain goals on each other. Benitez was uncharacteristically open in his tactical set-up, playing twin strikers, wide men high up the pitch and only two in central midfield – a gamble he so nearly paid for against opponents who get more bodies in that area, and use midfield play to greater creative effect than perhaps any in football. It will be back to normal versus Chelsea, three against three in central midfield, lone strikers, set-pieces, rugged back fours. “We knew Arsenal would score away so we needed to score. Also I knew Peter Crouch was a big problem for them, a massive problem in every game,” Benitez said. “If you talk about Chelsea, you need to score some goals and don’t concede. They have a better balance and are not as offensive as Arsenal but stronger in defence.”

It could come down to how well John Terry and Carvalho – who was in magisterial form against Everton on Thursday – handle Torres running behind them and Steven Gerrard towards them. Carvalho said Chelsea will prepare by watching videos of Torres, who scored a coruscating goal against them at Anfield in August. “It was my first important goal and helped me settle, it showed the fans what I could do and gave me confidence I could score in the big matches,” Torres said. “Terry organises their defence very well. They will try and stop the move that I did to score.”

He was talking about the stop-go double shuffle with the ball that left Tal Ben Haim reeling. Opponents can get in a spin in L4, it is part of the Anfield effect.

Anfield: Liverpool’s 12th man

Fernando Torres was so moved by the Anfield atmosphere during Liverpool’s dramatic quarterfinal, second leg victory over Arsenal, he said he almost cried. The backing of their supporters has played a huge part in Liverpool’s European success and provides the club with an advantage over other English rivals except for Manchester United, whose Old Trafford record in the European Cup is just as good