Benfica dethrone comeback kings

The SL Benfica fans enjoying the attractions of a rainy Liverpool on Wednesday afternoon really had only one sight they wanted to see. Their team had never won at Anfield before last night, but the 2-0 victory that took Benfica past Liverpool FC into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals is now in those travelling supporters' scrapbooks.

Missing ingredient
In some ways, the day Liverpool's grip on the trophy ended bore similarities to the famous triumphs they have gained here in the last 18 months. Rafael Benítez had urged Liverpool fans to produce the kind of vocal backing that had seemed to shell-shock Juventus and Chelsea FC last season, and from kick-off the volume was indeed fortissimo. Meanwhile, the wave after wave of attacks, familiar from the comeback that stunned Olympiacos CFP and reproduced against AC Milan in Istanbul, were evident from the outset. Last night, though, the goals were missing as the Reds failed to score for the fourth successive match in the competition.

Premature celebrations
From the tenth minute, when Peter Crouch's shot was deflected on to the post, and then Jamie Carragher hit the net - but not the inside, as many celebrating Reds initially suspected - Liverpool threw everything at Benfica, determined to send their guests back to Lisbon defeated as they had done on all three previous occasions in the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

Gerrard will
It was clear what Liverpool possessed now that had been lacking a fortnight ago. Steven Gerrard had been badly missed in their 1-0 first-leg loss. Fit again, he and Xabi Alonso ensured the hosts had full run of central midfield. That the shot count on 20 minutes was 8-0 in their favour was telling. It went to nine with a moment that summed up the first half; Gerrard picking up possession, beating two men through sheer will and deftly flicking the ball to Peter Crouch, only for the striker to fire straight at Moretto.

Simão goal
That miss would soon prove costly. Geovanni found the woodwork himself with a looping effort, and suddenly Benfica were testing José Manuel Reina from distance. The initial chances were tame, but Simão's 36th-minute drive that bamboozled the Liverpool goalkeeper, and produced the away goal that gave Benfica a commanding position, was not. The visiting captain had been quiet up to that point, but now it was the Liverpool supporters' turn to hush, if only temporarily. After Beto's bizarre slice over his own net, and Carragher's battering of the post, dreams of the kind of Reds recovery witnessed last May were still sustaining the locals.

Chance fading
But even the arrival of Robbie Fowler, with the hope that the recently-returned hero would pick this occasion to break his UEFA Champions League duck, could not hide what was becoming all too evident. Benfica's Brazilian back line was proving all too adept at restraining Crouch and substitutes Fowler and Djibril Cissé. Gerrard, for once, was unable to turn a tie via determination alone.

Koeman delight
Benfica coach Ronald Koeman had been as serene on the touchline as Benítez had proved a live-wire presence, but once substitute Fabrizio Miccoli scored at the death with their only real second-half opening, even the Dutchman allowed himself to join the away fans in the frenzy in which they had spent much of the last hour. Their team are not favourites to emerge as European champions. But neither, a year ago, were Liverpool. At the end, the home supporters, having generously applauded their conquerors, harked back to that triumph by singing of Istanbul. Paris could be only four games away for Benfica.