Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has made major improvements to the side that reached the Champions League final last season before losing to AC Milan.
Rafael Benitez said Liverpool's net outlay on players is not as high as that spent by England's biggest clubs.
In leading Real Madrid to their 11th European Cup less than five months after inheriting an unhappy team from Rafael Benitez, Zinedine Zidane has cemented his heroic status at the Bernabeu and appears to have assured his immediate future.
Liverpool won the Champions League under Benitez in 2005 and were runners-up last year, but they have struggled in England.
Liverpool are the remarkable comeback in the 2005 Champions League final to keep themselves focused.
Real Madrid completed their pre-season tour of Australia with a crushing 4-1 friendly win over a depleted Manchester City in front of a record soccer crowd of 99,382 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Wednesday's Champions league first leg semi-final will be the 14th meeting between the two teams. Chelsea won six of those meetings and Liverpool four. Three were drawn.
Senad Lulic scored a late goal to give Lazio a 1-0 win at Napoli which sent them into the Coppa Italia final and added to Rafael Benitez's problems on Wednesday.
The verbal salvo that Frank Rijkaard aimed at Rafa Benitez will add to the highly-charged atmosphere surrounding Barcelona's visit to Liverpool on Tuesday.
A round-up of Wednesday's Champions League first knockout round, first leg ties.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and missed another as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane shrugged off his first setback since taking over from the sacked Rafa Benitez after his new team could only manage a 1-1 draw at Real Betis in La Liga.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has praised Zinedine Zidane for changing the "recent history" of the club as a player and a coach. Promoted from his position as head coach of the club's reserve team to be Rafa Benitez's replacement in January, three-times world player of the year Zidane steered Real to a runners-up finish in La Liga and to their 11th European Cup. "The key element is Zidane," Perez told Marca on Tuesday. "He has changed the recent history of Real Madrid. Since 2001 he has created a way to understand football that has helped us win these European Cups." Zidane was signed as a player in Perez's first term as president and his spectacular volley in the final in Glasgow in 2002 gave Real their ninth European title. The Frenchman was an assistant to head coach Carlo Ancelotti when Real beat Atletico in Lisbon in the 2014 final.
Ecuador have been blessed with the form of striker Enner Valencia since he took on the goal-scoring mantle from the late Christian Benitez last year, coach Reinaldo Rueda said on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Liverpool have been put off by Real Madrid's insistence on a transfer fee for the Portuguese midfielder.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said it was a "special feeling" and an extra motivation knowing he is poised to become the first man to coach six different clubs in the Champions League.
Reactions to Liverpool's Premier League triumph, their first league title since 1990:
Jose Mourinho's return for a second spell as manager has brought a new feeling of unity at Chelsea, according to club stalwarts Frank Lampard and John Terry.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
Newcastle United thrashed Queens Park Rangers 6-0 away to move into second place in the Championship (second tier) on Tuesday with former Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey scoring twice.
DeAndre Yedlin has joined Championship (second tier) side Newcastle United on a five-year deal from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee, the clubs have announced.
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard will miss Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica with a hamstring strain while John Terry's ankle problem is still being assessed, interim manager Rafa Benitez said.
ManchesterCity moved up to third in the Premier League on Saturday while Newcastle United boosted their hopes of survival by coming back from two goals down at Liverpool to draw 2-2 and secure a precious point.
Napoli booked a clash with AS Roma in the Italian Cup semi-finals after a late instinctive Gonzalo Higuain backheel lifted Rafael Benitez's side to a 1-0 win over Lazio on Wednesday.
Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid this summer, after reportedly being miffed over club president Florentino Perez's growing closeness with teammate Gareth Bale.
Chelsea, galvanised by the second-half introduction of Fernando Torres, capped a successful week by coming from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into third place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho wants to be judged as a new Chelsea manager rather than for his achievements in his previous stint at Stamford Bridge, and says his first aim is to unite the club's fans after last season's turmoil.
Less than seven months after celebrating a first Champions League triumph to satisfy owner Roman Abramovich's thirst for continental dominance, Chelsea became European chumps on Wednesday despite a rip-roaring but irrelevant finale.
Claudio Ranieri's Tinkerman days may be over after he again named an unchanged team but his cautious talk remained, refusing to contemplate the title after Leicester City beat Newcastle United on Monday.
Fernando Torres scored twice as third-placed Chelsea won 3-1 at Sunderland to record their first English Premier League victory under interim manager Rafael Benitez.
Chelsea's players must shoulder the blame for the Londoners becoming the first holders to leave the Champions League at the group stage, goalkeeper Petr Cech said after Wednesday's exit.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says the race for the Premier League title is not just a battle between themselves and local rivals Manchester United.
Rumours and speculations abound that Cristiano Ronaldo will be heading to Old Trafford soon.
Guardiola says City's points record may last years
Fresh from propelling Barcelona to their fifth trophy of 2015, their prolific strikes are now seeking to break the Spanish record of goals in a calendar year when they play Real Betis on Wednesday.
European champions Chelsea will be without England defenders Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill for their gruelling programme of five matches in 13 days.
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