Carlo Ancelotti: We Showed A Good Mentality At Anfield.

Carlo Ancelotti has warned his Chelsea players they must control their emotions against Wigan on Sunday if they are to avoid handing the championship to Manchester United.

Goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard ensured Ancelotti's side eased past Liverpool on Sunday and go into the final game of the campaign knowing a win will see them crowned champions for the first time in four years.

Ancelotti, though, is well aware of the danger of such a situation and, despite his obvious pleasure at finishing his Anfield debut victorious, was at pains to point out that Chelsea must retain all of their focus if they are to see off Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

"This game was the key in the fight for the title," said Ancelotti. "It is never easy to play here, because they have very good players and a very good atmosphere, but I thought we played very well and we deserved to win.

"There was a lot of pressure on us in this game and I think we had good control of our emotions. The team is in good condition physically and we showed a good mentality at Anfield.

"All we can do is train well this week and wait. I always said the title will be decided on the last day of the season and now that is the case."

There is no doubt, though, that his players are confident they can see off Roberto Martinez's team, who face Hull on Monday, on the last day of the season to secure the title after recovering from a lapse in form earlier in the year.

"We hit a low point a couple of months ago," said Lampard. "You have to give credit to everyone – the players, the management, the staff. We dug ourselves out and we are now on the brink of doing the double. It would be nice to win it in front of our own fans next week."

That Chelsea are in a position to do so is at least partially down to Steven Gerrard's error in judgment – his 25-yard back-pass to Pepe Reina was cut out by Drogba to hand the visitors the lead – but the goalscorer, like his manager, was quick to dismiss any conspiracy theories.

"He made a big mistake," said Drogba. "But you do not do things like that on purpose. I was just lucky to be there and score. It was good for us because it gave us a lot of confidence to go on and play."

Ancelotti's counterpart, Rafael Benítez, admitted that, although his team had never recovered from that self-inflicted blow, he believed Chelsea would be deserving champions.

"They are a very good team," said the Liverpool manager. "And Carlo is a very good manager. If they are in this position at the top, it is because they are such a good side."

Lampard Eyes Bridge Celebrations

Frank Lampard is delighted Chelsea have the chance to win the Premier League title at Stamford Bridge.

After both Chelsea and second-placed Manchester United won at the weekend, the Blues remain in pole position to lift the trophy.

With one game remaining, Carlo Ancelotti's side knows they will be champions if they beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season.

And following their 2-0 victory at Liverpool, Lampard admits having the chance to regain the title at their own ground will be special.

"It would be nice to do it in front of our own fans," he said.

"Obviously Manchester United have a tough game but we'll never go that far (thinking they have already won). We have a big game next week.

"But we knew the Liverpool game was huge for us. We knew if we had dropped points we would have given the momentum to United."

Chelsea have the chance to do the Double for the first time in their history as they also face Portsmouth in the FA Cup final and Lampard admits that adds come extra incentive.

"We've got an FA Cup final after next week so we're very determined," he added.

"We were at a bit of a low point a couple of months ago so credit goes to the players, management and staff.

"We dug ourselves out of that and have pushed on to the brink of doing the double."

Frank Lampard Confident Chelsea Will Get The Job Done And Beat Manchester United To The Premier League Title

Basking in the glow of Chelsea's comfortable 2-0 win against Liverpool, Frank Lampard believes nothing can now stop the Blues winning the Premier League title.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have been front-runners for much of the campaign, but have had their slip-ups on occasions and needed to avoid another one at Anfield on Sunday to prevent Manchester United going into the final weekend of the season with the advantage.

Achieving that aim thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and Lampard, the midfielder is looking forward to next weekend's final clash with Wigan Athletic.

"We have had a couple of moments in the season when we have not been at our best and the momentum went back to United," Lampard told reporters.

"But in the last ten games or so our performances have been fantastic, so has the attitude of the lads.

"We have got a head of steam up. There is still another game to go but we are in a good position. If you are going to win titles you are going to have these moments.

"Whether it is a crunch moment like yesterday, when we played Liverpool with United playing Sunderland after us, or whether it be a game at home which you should win comfortably. You have to do the job right."

Drogba, the other goalscorer, echoed Lampard's sentiment — but warned that the Blues still have a professional job to do in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful before the celebrations can begin.

"Now we have another game we need to win," Drogba pointed out.

"We have waited for this moment for such a long time but it is not done yet.

"We just need to concentrate on this next game."

Chelsea Target Franck Ribery Snubs England As He Admits A Move To Barcelona Or Real Madrid Is His Dream'

Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribery has confirmed that he sees his future with either Barcelona or Real Madrid, rather than Chelsea.

The French international, who has a year left on his current deal at the Allianz Arena, is wanted by some of the biggest clubs in the world in a transfer saga that has run for over a year, but despite Chelsea's long term interest, the 27-year-old admits that the quality of players at the Nou Camp in particular are a major attraction.

"Lionel Messi, without hesitation! I'd love to play with him and Xavi," Ribery said according to FIFA's official website when asked which player he would most like to play with.

"Someone who knows how to organize and conduct the game of his team and has an exceptional quality of passes. Currently, he is in stunning condition.

"Obviously, there are many clubs that make me dream, like Real Madrid or Barcelona."

Ribery's failure to mention the English club will be taken as something of a snub, although he did have some encouraging words for the country's hopes at this summer's World Cup.

"I expect us to be very efficient because it is a competition that really counts for us," Ribery said of France's hopes, despite a troubled qualification process that saw Les Bleus needing to beat Ireland in extra-time of a play-off to book their place in South Africa.

"Our first objective will be to qualify from the group stage. There will be time then to think of the final. I hope it is France that will lift the trophy in July.

"We have very good players and I truly believe that we have the means to go after.

"Obviously, other teams also have the necessary talent. The English and the Spaniards seem to me particularly strong."

Drogba: Confidence And Concentration

Didier Drogba now stands one goal away from his best total in a season for Chelsea.

By pouncing on Steven Gerrard's howler of a backpass and finding the net in front of the Kop, the striker reached 33 goals for the campaign, level with his total in 2006/07 when he helped the team to a domestic cup double.

Now it is the even more prestigious League and FA Cup double in his sights. In 2007 he won the Premier League Golden Boot for 20 goals. He now has 26 league goals this season, level with Wayne Rooney in the race to succeed Nicolas Anelka as the competition's top scorer.

Following Sunday's victory, Drogba appreciated fortune had been on his side in making the breakthrough.

'Steven Gerrard did a big mistake but he didn't do it on purpose and I was lucky enough to be there to score,' the Ivorian said. 'It was good because this goal gave us a lot of confidence to play and it is a very good result winning at Liverpool.'

The opening goal came in the 32nd minute and Frank Lampard's 52nd minute conversion of Nicolas Anelka's cross made the game safe, but Drogba believes Lampard should have been given an earlier chance to score - from the penalty spot when Lucas appeared to trip Salomon Kalou in front of goal.

'This was an important game and it is not easy to make decisions like this but when it is a penalty you have to give it,' he said.

'Now we have another game we need to win. We have waited for this moment for such a long time but it is not done yet. We just need to concentrate on this next game.'

Edwin Van Der Sar Refuses To Blame Liverpool For Fading Title Chances After Chelsea Defeat

Edwin van der Sar refused to blame an under-performing Liverpool side after Chelsea easily defeated the Reds at Anfield.

With the win Chelsea maintain their hold at the top of the Premier League table with one game to go for each side.

Van der Sar knows United must keep going if they are to claim their fourth consecutive Premier League title even though Chelsea control their own destiny.

The Dutch goalkeeper refused to blame Rafa Benitez's men for failing to give Chelsea more of a match.

"You hope [Liverpool could beat Chelsea], but you don't really expect anything," Edwin told the club's official website.

"Even if they had tried really hard I think they had a gruesome two weeks, played a lot of games and they picked up a couple of injuries.

"I don't think that's the cause of us maybe not winning the league, that happened over the course of the year and some breaks we didn't get and Chelsea got, especially in the last couple of weeks."

Van der sar fully anticipated United would take care of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, and hopes Wigan to pull off a surprise at Stamford Bridge next weekend to give United a shot at lifting the Premier League trophy.

"I think we expected it," he said. "The Gaffer had a couple of words before the game and the way we played and created the chances, we knew what to do.

"You want to grab every little chance there is. You never know in football, of course, but it's going to be hard, difficult and not likely, but never mind, we have to make sure we work till the end.

"It would've been nice if we were a point ahead. We're not in charge and it's difficult, but we have to keep going, see what we can do this week on the training ground, see if everybody has recovered from this match and hopefully have a nice game for our supporters on Sunday. We're still hanging in there!"

Chelsea's Young Blue Bloods Are Ready For Changing Of The Old Guard

Amid the strangest atmosphere Anfield has known for many years, Chelsea took a tentative step into the future today. As the match ended with the London club on the brink of a third title in the Abramovich era, finally it became possible for the club to look beyond the achievements and aura of José Mourinho.

Most of the players in the line-up were part of Mourinho's side, and some of them go back as far as Claudio Ranieri's tenure, but what happens next at Stamford Bridge appears likely to become firmly identified with Carlo Ancelotti. During the summer, certain changes and additions to the squad may cement that association.

Joe Cole, unable to agree a new deal, looks likely to depart, along with Juliano Belletti and possibly Deco. Gossip suggests that if Mourinho takes over at Real Madrid in the summer, he will come calling for Frank Lampard and perhaps Ricardo Carvalho. But the presence of Frank Arnesen, the club's somewhat shadowy director of football, in the directors' box provided a reminder that finally Chelsea are ready to see some tangible reward from their expensive academy programme.

At the bottom of their lengthy first‑team squad list are the unfamiliar names of 10 young players, including the Italian forward Fabio Borini, the Dutch defender Jeffrey Bruma, the French midfielder Gael Kakuta and the extremely gifted 17-year-old Joshua McEachran, an English playmaker, who are considered ready for gradual assimiliation into the senior line-up. Their presence will reduce the average age of a group currently heavily weighted towards players in their late 20s and early 30s – although the club's medical and physiotherapy team have successfully prolonged the youth of so many of them.

If Ancelotti is clever, he will not find himself having to explain to his employer that next season is a necessary period of transition. From what we have seen, Abramovich is not much interested in such a phenomenon. He wants results. He is likely to fund at least one major purchase in the close season, possibly Sergio Agüero, Atlético Madrid's Argentinian striker, but he would like the team to reflect his investment in Arnesen's project. This will be a new challenge for Ancelotti, whose successful seven-year spell with Milan was marked by a strong preference for extending the careers of older players (such as Filippo Inzaghi and David Beckham) rather than introducing promising youngsters.

It was the old faithfuls who were entrusted with an important job yesterday, although you would never have known that the match taking place on the sacred turf of Anfield was a potential title-decider. How could it have been otherwise, given the ambivalent attitude of Liverpool's fans to the notion that a victory for their side would improve the prospects of a 19th title for Manchester United?

In a national newspaper yesterday morning one of their number wrote that anyone who wanted Liverpool to win today had no right to call himself a fan of the club. What strange times these are. Would the blessed Shankly have been willing to forfeit a home success in order to prevent the deadly rivals from overtaking his club's total of championships? The heart says that he would have gone for the victory, regardless of the cost; the head, however, has the odd doubt.

For the first half-hour the mood inside Anfield, on the pitch and in the grandstands, was that of a pre‑season friendly. The match was riddled with careless errors from players normally noted for their efficiency, in front of a near-silent crowd. Nor were the mistakes all coming from Liverpool players. Michael Ballack, playing in the holding midfield position, took 20 minutes to get his eye in and spent that time playing the sort of inaccurate short passes that would have given Claude Makelele nightmares.

The crowd was so quiet that even the biggest Liverpool mistake provoked nothing more than a sigh. It came, of course, from Steven Gerrard, that living embodiment of Liverpool's values and Shankly's legacy. Didier Drogba took full advantage, and Gerrard's blushes were only slightly spared when Lampard doubled Chelsea's lead early in the second half, this time with no obvious assistance from the home side.

And so Chelsea completed their record of success this season over their fellow members of the quartet that can no longer be called the big four: victories by 1-0 and 2-1 over Manchester United, by 3-0 and 2-0 over Arsenal, and by 2-0 twice over Liverpool. Twelve goals scored, one conceded: a remarkable achievement in this informal mini-league, although its membership will be modified next season through the relegation of a club who, as today's performance indicated, have badly lost their way. For Chelsea, by contrast, the way ahead looks like a sunlit boulevard.

Rafa Benitez Tips Chelsea To Finish The Job

Rafa Benitez has backed Chelsea to clear the final fence against Wigan next Sunday in their gallop home to a first title since 2006.

Sunday's 2-0 win at Liverpool has left the Blues in pole position for the final weekend of the season and a win will guarantee top spot, no matter what Man United do against Stoke.

The beaten Reds boss, putting his own disappointments aside after drawing a blank this season, said: “Chelsea are a very good team, with good players, good experience and a great manager – [who is] also a nice person.

“They are in the best position and normally, if they play like they have been playing, especially at home, they will be there [next week].”

Carlo Ancelotti said: “I always said the title would not be decided until the end of the season.

“I am very happy because it [Liverpool away] was the key game in the fight for the title and we played very well. We deserved to win.

“We had it a little bit difficult in the first half, but the second half was better. Defensively, we did a fantastic job and we had a lot of opportunities to counter attack.

“There was pressure in this game on us and we had good control of our emotions. The team is showing good physical condition, good mentality and good personality.”

The Blues boss added: “Our first goal was important because it changed the game. We had more confidence after that and I think Liverpool lost some strength that they showed in the first 30 minutes.

“It was the first time for me here and I will have good memories about this day at Anfield.”