Chelsea's recent Uefa Cup experiences suggest it would be foolish to assume they need only turn up to join the elite, but such worries can wait. They could enjoy themselves last night while Liverpool were drowning their sorrows. Gérard Houllier's team had needed a victory here to snatch fourth place from their opponents but threw away an early lead and never looked likely to recover. The Uefa Cup awaits Liverpool after a season in which they have manifestly gone backwards. Their frustration was shown near the finish in a dangerous tackle by Steven Gerrard on Graeme Le Saux which earned him a second booking and a red card.
Jon Brodkin, The Guardian
Party time at Stamford Bridge, a £20 million party, you may have heard. The gateway to the Champions League. The most valuable victory in the history of the Premiership. Or ever, depending on which hyperbole you prefer. The view of Ken Bates, the Chelsea chairman, was that this was “the real Cup Final, not next week at the Millennium Stadium.” In which case, you wonder if someone forgot to tell Liverpool. Granted the opportunity of pulling off a rescue mission on a season of woe, they have now contrived to lose their last two games, dying out quietly, barely raising their voices, never raging like giants. The impression in the build-up to this fixture was that it was less a football match and more an extended financial transaction. But put the cash on the table and dangle a ticket to Europe’s high table, and still you don’t seem to inspire Liverpool.
Owen Slot, The Times
Two images tell the tale of how Chelsea seized the Premiership's fourth Champions League place. The first - Gianfranco Zola dancing round three Liverpool players by the corner flag and then doubling back to outsmart them again. The second - a studded lunge in the 89th minute by Steven Gerrard, for which he was sent off, that might have broken Graeme Le Saux's leg. Poetry defeated prose and the prize could be tens of millions of pounds. For Liverpool, who are stuck in the backwaters of the UEFA Cup, there is no evading the need to purge those players who fall below Anfield's exalted standards. On any given Saturday there are three or four Liverpool starters who fail to reach the level established by Manchester United and Arsenal. Gerard Houllier, their manager, is unlikely to tolerate such mediocrity for another 12 months. The Worthington Cup is not big enough for the under-achievers in his squad to hide behind. Liverpool lost to Crystal Palace in the FA equivalent and failed to advance beyond the opening group stage of the Champions League. Houllier admitted before the long drive back to Merseyside: "I knew before this game that we had to draw some conclusions about our season."
Paul Heywood, The Telegraph.