Jose: I am not a selfish person

It was intriguing to compare Mourinho and his combatant. When asked directly if Liverpool would win, Benitez cautiously offered that "we can win". When the same question about Chelsea was put to Mourinho, he said "we will win". Again, you just wondered exactly how this certainty must infect his players.

Tonight, Chelsea will need to feed off all this unquenchable self-belief because Liverpool - at least the red half - is almost breathless with anticipationand expectation here. They're still agog at Steven Gerrard's miraculous goal on Saturday and talking about tonight as if it were about to replace the fabled comeback victory over St Etienne in 1977 as the greatest of all Anfield's Euro adventures. The Kop, tradition, Stevie G, passion, intimidation, history . . . they're portrayed as an irresistible brew.

Yet asked about whether he'd relish the hostility which would inevitably be directed at him tonight, Mourinho responded deadpan: "Yes. The crowd don't play." Indeed, even if standing with finger to lips to shush the whole of Anfield might not be advisable, you could almost imagine him reprising the moment when he once stood in the centre of his opponents' pitch before a big Portuguese derby just to soak up all the hate on behalf of his players.

For someone who can't help being the centre of attention, Mourinho's recent efforts to let those players hog all the glory have been worth applauding. He sounded genuine enough when, asked about the personal satisfaction of winning a duel with an Iberian neighbour, he protested: "I'm not so selfish you know. I'm not a man people think I am. I think only my players know really what I am and who I am. I would love to do it more for them than for myself."

He has told them that, even if they got beaten tonight, they would go home from their northern jaunt to a "heroes' welcome" at Stamford Bridge on Saturday-while Liverpool's players had nothing-to look forward to but misery if they lost. Amid the competing claims about which team faced most pressure - "they have more to lose than us," insisted Benitez - Mourinho's assertion somehow had the more convincing ring.

Chelsea's drive and motivation remained in tact, he said. Ambition saw to that. "The players want to keep on winning. They have the Carling Cup and the Premiership in the pockets, but they want more for their lives, they want more for their careers," said Mourinho.

Him too. Only once was there a moment when Mourinho hinted at the unthinkable. "Maybe after the game, you'll say to me 'Hey, you were saying you'd win and go to the final but you lost'. Maybe I'll come here very quiet and you'll laugh, saying 'that's a big mistake you did'."

This was followed by chuckles all round, as if the very thought seemed as outlandish to his audience as it did to him. Mourinho losing one that really counts? Of course, it must happen sooner or later. How about even tonight at the hands of the skilful tactician who's stirred a sleeping giant?

Yet the infallible one is clearly still thinking "later". Like perhaps when he's finally satisfied the football world that there's actually no point in even bothering to ask Benitez or anyone else "Who's the best in the world?"