Liverpool, April 21:

The stakes are huge for Rafa Benitez and Avram Grant.

A spot in the Champions League final is the prize for the victor of the Liverpool-Chelsea doubleheader. For the loser, there’s the real chance of being out of a job. Despite both managers being under pressure from their owners to win the European title, they have praised each other ahead of Tuesday’s first semi-final leg at Liverpool. “When you analyse Chelsea’s season then you must agree that Avram Grant has done a good job,” said Benitez, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.

“They were in the final of the Carling Cup, they are in the race for (league) title still and in the Champions League semi-final, so he must be doing a good job. He has good players and he is doing his job really well. I understand why he is under pressure, but that is nothing unusual for a top side. Everybody wants you to win every game and every trophy. That is not easy, but the statistics show he is doing a good job.”

Grant is hoping to succeed against Liverpool where his predecessor Jose Mourinho, still idolized by Chelsea fans, failed in the 2005 and 2007 semi-finals. The difference this time is that Chelsea has home advantage in the second leg and visit the intimidating Anfield first.

Without the Portuguese’s famed mind games, the ties will lack the animosity of the previous meetings, but Grant knows he faces a tough tactical battle against Benitez, the master of European play.

“I think results show it. He beat Chelsea twice when he was 20 points behind (in the Premier League) and in the semi-final of the FA Cup (in 2006),” Grant said. “I know he knows how to play against big teams and I like him as a person and a manager, but we will give him a battle this time.”

“At the end of the day the key players can be a massive difference in games like Tuesday’s game but also the whole team has to work very hard,” Benitez said. Grant has pinpointed captain Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s biggest threat. “Gerrard is a great player and a great person,” the Israeli said.

But the 27-year-old England midfielder faces a wait to find out if he has recovered from the neck injury which ruled him out of Saturday’s 2-0 win at Fulham. Gerrard trained with Liverpool on Monday morning.

Liverpool’s Premier League ambitions ended long ago and Benitez was able to rest star striker Fernando Torres on Saturday. Grant is fighting on two fronts and still forecasts domestic glory. That would realistically require beating league leader Manchester United on Saturday to draw level on points with two games remaining. The Red Devils have a far superior goal difference.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will return on Tuesday after spending the last week with his ill mother, while Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack have recovered from injuries.