It was a strange booking.  Xabi Alonso stuck out a leg and caught Real Madrid’s onrushing defender, Pepe, but Javier Mascherano took the booking. This may have been for kicking the ball away, but the Argentinian seemed to be clearing it in case play didn’t stop. It didn’t look a bookable offense.

As Liverpool’s midfield janitor, Mascherano is no stranger to the yellow card. He’s so often the one in charge of breaking up mounting attacks, he’s become one of Liverpool’s most prolific tacklers. He occasionally gets the timing wrong, but refs don’t always believe him when he gets it right. Sometimes he’s booked for the perfect tackle just because his skill at dispossessing is, in a word, unbelievable.

So Mascherano had easily amassed four yellows in the Champions League by the time Frank de Bleekere booked him after Xabi’s challenge.

Now, Liverpool will have to face Chelsea on Wednesday without their janitor. They’ve beaten the Blues twice already, once without the help of Fernando Torres. But both victories over the London giants relied heavily on intense midfield pressure. Without Mascherano there to both reinforce the attackers and act as the first wave of defense, Liverpool’s job in the home leg of the quarter finals could be tougher than Chelsea’s visit to Anfield in February when the Reds won 2-0.

The likely cover for the suspended Argentinian will be Lucas Leiva.  The young Brazilian midfielder has not had the most convincing of seasons and his inexperience was painfully obvious when he gave up pivotal spot kicks in matches against Wigan and Everton, yet Rafael Benitez clearly has plenty of confidence in Lucas and feels the kid will step into his own.

We saw this faith in Lucas pay some dividends when Liverpool faced Manchester United without Xabi Alonso.  Alonso has been one of the Reds’ most influential players all season and taking on Man U at Old Trafford without him would seem a tall task indeed. But Lucas played one of his most convincing matches ever. Keeping his head well and orchastrating the short, crisp passes his is known for with consistency and vision. Liverpool won with Lucas covering for Alonso. But can Lucas offer anything like the solidity Javier Mascherano imposes on the midfield?

Chelsea boast a lot of power in their midfielders and attackers. When Mascherano returns for the second leg, they’ll have many frustrations trying to build chances out of the middle of the pitch, but they may think they can overpower the diminutive Lucas on Wednesday. Cleverness and short distribution are Lucas’s strengths when he plays well. But he’s small and can be bullied of the ball by players like Drogba and Lampard.

Chelsea will be eager to put away an away goal or two. Lucas will need to stand up to the pressure and help Liverpool’s defenders maintain a wall to make Chelsea’s attacks crumble. If Liverpool can keep a clean sheet at Anfield, they’ll feel confident they can cause another upset at Stamford Bridge on the 14th.

The task is a daunting one for the 21-year-old. But he called up the right mentality when asked to against United. Surely, if he’s going to raise his level of play further, a European quarter-final will be just the arena to inspire him.

This summer should be a restructuring time for Chelsea, when new faces are brought in everywhere.

Manager:  If Guus Hiddink stays, this would be a great boon for Chelsea as so far, he seems to have instilled belief, or at least provided results, Tottenham game aside.  If he does leave, and the wily Dutchman has stated repeatedly that he will, Chelsea should look for a coach with a proven winning mentality and success in Europe – Frank Rijkaard or Carlo Ancelotti, or possibly Dick Advocaat or Ottmar Hitzfeld.

Defense:  This area really is not Chelsea’s problem, despite the disaster it was under Scolari.  Losses like 3-0 against Manchester United, 3-1 against Roma, and poor home form in general never happened under Mourinho, and coached correctly, shouldn’t under a world-class manager, given the talent on hand.  Cole and Bosingwa are excellent attacking backs, and Alex has started to partner well with Terry.  The only question is whether to keep the injury-prone Carvalho around, or to sell him (probably to Inter) and let Ivanovic be the first-choice substitute.

Midfield:  The center is the strength and the problem, and how this problem is resolved will dictate the sort of game Chelsea will play.
•    Essien must stay, and must play in every game in the center of the pitch, not being used merely as a Makelele-style holding midfielder, but by pushing Chelsea forward and scoring goals.

The rest of the midfield – Ballack, Deco, Lampard, Mikel, Malouda, Quaresma – must be examined closely.
•    Mikel needs time to develop, and if the coach decides to abandon the Makelele position as staple of Chelsea’s midfield, a loan to another EPL side might be the best choice next year.
•    Malouda should be sold, as should Deco.  The Frenchman has been poor for two seasons, the Portuguese for a little more than a half.  If Deco were in his early 20s I would say keep him, but by the start of next season he’ll be 32 and will only play a more and more withdrawn game.
•    Quaresma hasn’t been awe-inspiring but I would like to see him play a little more, particularly with a healthy Joe Cole to see if they can be a Premiership-winning wing duo.
•    Ballack and Lampard have the quality to start in every game, and as much as I’d like to say they are growing old, I’m not convinced there are readily available replacements.  This is where Chelsea should try to bring in a youth player and set him up in the mold of these two greats, ultimately phasing them out over the next few years.

Chelsea need width.  Once EPL teams figured out that locking down Cole and Bosingwa did wonders to stop Chelsea, the 4-3-3 has looked very narrow.  Signing a true winger, especially if Quaresma does not prove his worth, should be a priority for the Blues.

Forwards:  Here is the big problem area for Chelsea.  Anelka scored 14 goals by the end of November; it is now the end of August and, admittedly played out of position, has scored a total of 15.  Drogba has started to look deadly again, but the lack of goals from what should be a scary partnership is scarily frustrating.  Franco di Santo and Miroslav Stoch don’t look like finishers, but the truth is they need to develop quite a bit before anything else is said.

Chelsea need to sign a true number 10 – a forward who can create for the greedy finisher up top and bag a few himself.  Kalou impresses in flashes and then looks like a youth player making his debut.  Tevez might be up for sale in June, and has proven he can play this role at the highest level in the Premiership, so why not snap him up?  If the 32 million pounds requested seems a high price, offload Malouda, Deco, and one of the strikers – Drogba or Anelka – to cushion transfer fee.

Finally, a long-term 20 goal a season striker must be found, especially as the prolific goal scoring midfielders age.  Huntelaar was my favorite before Real Madrid snapped him up, and so now I would opt for Karim Benzema of Lyon or Mario Gomez of Stuttgart.