Chelsea are spanked in Rome, while a sprawling Gerrard picks himself up to save a point for Rafa’s men at Anfield. Here’s the notes on Tuesday’s Champions League events…

Chelsea were well and truly humbled in Rome, guilty of some pedestrian defending for the opening goal, they were caught out by a stunning second from Vucinic just after the break. The fell three behind to a Roma counter attack that brought a second for Vucinic, before pulling one back through Terry and losing Deco, inexplicably, to a second yellow.

Chelsea dominated possession for spells of this game, with Lampard and Deco wrestling control in midfield. Up front however, Scolari’s men failed to threaten. Anelka’s place in the side, despite his goals so far this season, is surely under real threat now that Drogba is fit.

The Chelsea forward was left on the bench tonight having just returned from injury. Indeed, Scolari made just one change to his lineup and that was forced upon him. Ashley Cole missed out with his calf injury – he was replaced by Wayne Bridge at left back.

The Chelsea boss made early changes, introducing Belletti and Drogba for Cole and Malouda. Kalou also saw action late on. Having handed Drogba a second half appearance, it will be interesting to see what role he plays at Blackburn this weekend. At the very least I can see him taking some minutes off Anelka – a massively popular fantasy signing this week. Bridge will start at left back once again with Ashley Cole still sidelined. Belletti and Kalou could come into Scolari’s thoughts as he looks to freshen things up after this body blow.

Looking forward, Chelsea won’t be afforded the luxury of resting players for the remaining Champions League games and after tonight. It will be interesting to see if Scolari rotates a few prior to their next crucial tie with Bordeaux on November 26th. Chelsea take on Newcastle the weekend before that game so we will need to be on our toes for that one, just in case Scolari gets tempted to tinker with his lineup.

It was also an uncomfortable night for Liverpool at Anfield, as they relied on Gerrard, yet again, to drag them back from defeat. He earned and converted a penalty late on rob Athletico from a passage to the last sixteen.

Liverpool dominated the possession in this one but were frustrated by the Spanish side who packed the midfield and defended resolutely. Agger had the best chances on the night and his threat at set plays shouldn’t go unnoticed by fantasy managers. He still looks strong value, despite the threat of rest and rotation with Hyypia, particularly with Liverpool’s schedule of fixtures over the coming weeks. On tonight’s evidence, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the scoresheet at some point over the next 5-6 games.

Torres was conspicuous by his absence against his former club. He didn’t even make the bench tonight, so Keane started up front once again. Rafa did tweak just a little however, and it was that left back spot again: Aurellio coming in for Dossena. He was at fault for the goal tonight as the left back spot continues to be a problem area. Dossena could well be back in at the weekend then, while Torres could also make a return to action having sat out tonight.

It will be interesting to see how Rafa accommodates him when he does return. Gerrard has been unshackled in his advanced role just behind the striker. Presumably, Rafa will look to reunite Keane with Torres which would mean one of Alonso and Mascherano would likely drop to the bench.

Again, looking forward to later this month, like Chelsea, Liverpool now face a crucial meet on November 26 at home to Marseille. They take on Fulham the weekend before so again, we’ll have to be aware of the threat of rest and rotation for that game.

For now, we can at least be thankful that neither Chelsea or Liverpool came out of tonight’s games with any apparent injuries although Agger did sustain some kind of hand injury. He had treatment and returned to the action with strapping on his fingers so he may have suffered a dislocation. We’ll have to await news on that but it didn’t appear to be a serious threat to his chances of starting against West Brom at the weekend.