Jose Mourinho feels his Chelsea side beat "a new Liverpool" this evening after they claimed a 1-0 victory, 2-1 on aggregate, over the Reds in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final.
Liverpool started brightly at Stamford Bridge, putting Chelsea under pressure and looking dangerous. However, the Blues were at the centre of the highlight of the first half when Diego Costa appeared to be brought down by Martin Skrtel in the penalty box.
However, Costa saw his appeal waved away, with no penalty given.
The match was tense and fiercely contested as neither side looked to give an inch in the second half, the match finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes, mostly down to some superb goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois, who stopped Alberto Moreno and Philippe Coutinho efforts.
Chelsea were to get the breakthrough when Branislav Ivanovic headed home from a free kick in the 94th minute, with Liverpool having no answer.
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The Blues were through and Mourinho was delighted, all the more so since he feels Liverpool have now stepped up their performances a notch.
"This is a new Liverpool team and a very difficult opponent. So I'm even happier because we beat a very good team over two legs", he told Sky Sports.
"The difference was the goal that should have happened before in the 90 minutes. In the second half we had a lot of football."
Mourinho also had warm words for Ramires, who was brought on off the bench to replace Cesc Fabregas.
"Also, my Ramires is back, that's the second best news of the day. The first to be in the final, but to have our Ramires back after weeks of work and sacrifice."
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