Duff injury gives Robben return

While Chelsea bounced back against Barcelona and bombarded Bayern Munich, Robben sat on the sidelines, nursing foot injuries.

The Holland international has played for just 171 minutes in this season's Champions League, the entire away game against CSKA Moscow and bit-parts in the group stages against Paris Saint Germain and Porto. Mourinho said: "Robben will help. He played a good game in Moscow, gave us three points and took us into the knockout stages.

"He has not played many games in the Champions League this season because of the two bad injuries he had, but his contribution has been very, very good for us.

"In the last match, against Fulham, one or two actions in 45 minutes had a participation in the three points we got. He still has time. He has two matches to play against Liverpool and hopefully the final. He can still leave his stamp on the competition."

Those who witnessed his Champions League debut for Chelsea in Moscow would argue that he has already made a mark. On only his fourth appearance for his new club, Robben revealed the shape of things with a wonderful solo goal.

It was Robben who turned boring Chelsea into scoring Chelsea. Mourinho's side play a different style of football with him in the side, with less reliance on the physical strength of Didier Drogba, more patient buildup and a fluid formation. It is no coincidence that Chelsea's most prolific period of the season was from October to February, when they scored 48 goals in 24 matches.

Mourinho said: "We've played without Robben and got results. He's a special player, a special talent and we need him a lot but our team is much more than Robben.

Robben is likely to start alongside Joe Cole, who has scored the winner in two of Chelsea's three wins over Liverpool this season. Cole said: "There are a lot of players coming back to fitness but the most important thing is to keep winning. We've got lots of talented players and whoever gets the nod will do a great job."