Chelsea beats Liverpool; Barcelona routs Bayern

LIVERPOOL, England — Chelsea and Barcelona gained commanding positions going into the second leg of the European Champions League quarterfinals.

Branislav Ivanovic scored his first goals for Chelsea and Didier Drogba added a third to lead the Blues over Liverpool 3-1 in the first leg Wednesday night.

Fernando Torres put Liverpool ahead in the sixth minute at Anfield, but Ivanovic headed corner kicks past goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the 39th and 62nd minutes, and Drogba scored in the 67th.

"We aimed to score and when you can score three, that's a luxury," Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink said. "It's halftime. If we think we can play a relaxed game, that's not what might happen because Liverpool have shown in the past they can do unthinkable things, and we have to avoid that."

It was the 23rd match in five seasons between the English powers, including 10 in the Premier League, nine in the Champions League, two in the League Cup, one in The Football Association Cup and one in the preseason Community Shield. The second leg will be played Tuesday at Stamford Bridge, where Liverpool hasn't scored more than twice in a match since May 9, 1987.

"It is difficult to stop them because they have five or six players who are good in the air," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said.

Barcelona routed visiting Bayern Munich 4-0 in Wednesday's other quarterfinal as Lionel Messi scored twice to raise his season total to 32 in all competitions, and Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry also got goals.

Messi scored in the ninth and 38th minutes, Eto'o in the 12th and Henry in the 43rd as Barcelona built a 4-0 halftime lead.

"Our midfield got out well and moved the ball around efficiently and quickly and that is the best way to defend," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. "In general, we allowed them little room to breathe."

The defeat increased the pressure on Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann, whose team lost 5-1 at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga last Saturday.

"The only way to get the team back on track is to focus on the Bundesliga now," Klinsmann said. "It shows that we've still got a lot of work to do to be in the top four in Europe."

Bayern hosts the second leg Tuesday. Chelsea and Barcelona could in the Champions League for the fourth time in five seasons.

On Tuesday, Porto tied 2-2 at Manchester United, and Arsenal drew 1-1 at Villarreal.

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AP Sports Writer Paul Logothetis in Barcelona contributed to this report.