lampard tried to fill ballack's shoes with chelsea opting for the constant long balls to defuse the pool tactic of the whole team going back to defend carvalho's run was inspiring and Drogba was a monster today.
Finally, in all honesty i really dont see how shevchenko can possibly succeed in england. The man has no pace, in both clear countre attacks he was beaten both times by cole. I would be very surprised if Jose starts him the next leg.
In my opinion, this season's Lampard hasn't been the one of the previous couple of seasons. Also, he was better before the arrival of Essien, he always succeeded to give an impression of him being present on every part on pitch. Maybe the presence of both Makalele and Essien has comforted him a lot in terms of defending. But with the arrival of Ballack, I think that he lost his leading role in Chelsea's midfield. I think that minimising Lampard's role isn't related to Ballack being a leader himself more than being a tactical modification from Mourinho.
Back to today's match, all Chelsea's player were very motivated and they did their job perfectly. And as you said, Carvalho was stunning and Drogba was a real monster, every single attack by Chelsea were always signed by Drogba. His absence would affect Chelsea greatly, on contrary of Shevchenko, whose absence can be compensated by Kalou. I don't want to forget Obi Mikel Jones, every time I see him I try to figure out is he really just 20 years old, he is one of the best defensive midfielders compared to others of the same age. He could be a Makelele's replacement on the long run.
As for Liverpool, they succeeded to possess the ball in the second half hoping for an equaliser and they're more dangerous, despite creating a very few chances. Their apparent point of weakness was the absence of the harmony between the defenders, also they're affected by Finnan's absence (I don't know whether he was suspended or injured). Mascherano failed to convince me and I do think that Sissoko as a defensive midfielder would have been more beneficial and consistent. Xabi Alonso was a little bit slow more than his norm and the wingers weren't that effective especially Zenden, whom I reckon wasn't up to scratch. Gerrard simply was the best player in the Red's squad and one of the best in the match as a whole.
Another thing here, I applaud both goalkeepers; Reina and Cech for their classy performance today.