Two goals from defender Branislav Ivanovic and a third from
Didier Drogba gave Chelsea an emphatic victory, after Liverpool's
Fernando Torres had put the Reds in front in the sixth minute.
Chelsea are favourites to reach the semi-finals of the
competition, and Lampard was buoyed by the performance and result.
Midfielder Lampard was at his influential best against Liverpool,
who will go to Stamford Bridge next Tuesday requiring at least
three goals to have any chance of turning the tie in their
favour.
Lampard is not ready, though, to focus solely on winning the
Champions League this season."This result sets the tone really," he
said. "Who knows what can happen in the league and the FA Cup?
"Everything is still up for grabs, even though we are behind in the
league. It is important that we keep to the standard we played
against Liverpool. When we look at the strength of our team
throughout the pitch, we are as good as anybody.
Chelsea's advantage should make the return leg at home a mere
formality, but the ever-cautious Lampard is taking nothing for
granted. "We were disappointed we didn't score more, especially
towards the end of the game when they opened up and we had two or
three chances to make it four or five," he added.
"That would have put the game out of sight. At the moment, it is
not out of sight. Liverpool are a strong team - they beat
Manchester United 4-1 - and we have to be on our game next week and
make sure we don't slip up. "But it is a fantastic first result. We
were very organised, played good football and were very dangerous
on the break. We changed ourselves tactically a little bit, and
they found it hard to deal with."
One low point for Chelsea was captain John Terry's booking for a
challenge on goalkeeper Jose Reina. Terry is now suspended for the
return leg, but Lampard believes they have enough in reserve to
deal with his absence - and he also criticised Liverpool's players
for urging the referee to show the defender a yellow card.
"We hope we'll have enough in the squad," he said. "Ricardo
Carvalho looks as though he will be fit - and if we can go through
then John will be on a clean bill going into the semi-final. It was
unfortunate that the Liverpool players ran round to make sure he
did get booked."
