Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole believes winning the Champions League would be a perfect present for club owner Roman Abramovich.

He told The Sun: "Mr Abramovich getting the trophy in Russia . . . it's got a dream ending written all over it.

"I'm a great believer in fate and some things in football are just meant to be. The Champions League is definitely the big one for Chelsea and we need to win it next year. It's the one everyone wants. Losing in the semi-finals again to Liverpool was sickening, especially as there is such an intense rivalry between the clubs.

"Not too many people would say Liverpool have been a better side than Chelsea over the past few years but they've done it on the big nights and got their tactics right. We should have wrapped it up in the first leg at Stamford Bridge and though they were the better side at Anfield, they were definitely helped in the build-up.

"Chelsea were still involved in the title race at the time so we had to play a full-strength team for our game against Bolton in between the two legs of the semi.

"Liverpool virtually rested their entire side for their League game against Portsmouth and were able to focus all their energy on the Champions League."