Liverpool are a great football club in search of a team to match the tradition. The quest has been long. ‘‘Make us Dream’’, implored a banner in the Kop, that red anthill of unbending devotion to the cause. Last night, Rafael Benitez’s team obliged.

The vision awakened by two unanswered first-half goals and a third in added time was suddenly vivid and consuming. Liverpool’s supporters have learned not to trust the odd flourish on a big European night. The League Championship has not been won for 15 years. The club’s last European Cup was in 1984.

But on nights like this you can feel the intensity of Anfield’s love for game’s grandest stage. You can feel the potential for a renaissance, which, despite the daunting power of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, never seems to go away.

They empty their pockets for Djibril Cisse and he breaks his leg, violently, horribly. They import a midfield star in Xabi Alonso and he fractures an ankle on New Year’s day. Suddenly, no more Xabi Alonso.

They prepare to launch one of the country’s best young goalkeepers, Chris Kirkland, into the England team and it all goes wrong through injuries and a loss of form. They start the knock-out stage of the Champions League with their best player and captain, Steven Gerrard, serving a suspension.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, the club’s former assassin-in-chief, Michael Owen, is kicking his heels most of the time on a substitutes’ bench. With Cisse crocked, the spectacle of Owen wrapped up in a coat behind the ejector seat of the latest Real Madrid manager induces regret across the Kop.

No Champions League contender can feel invincible knowing that only one of the senior strikers (Milan Baros) is available for selection. Behind Baros the fragile and infuriating Harry Kewell made his first Liverpool appearance for two months.

Elsewhere, Luis Garcia, Djimi Traore, Luis Garcia and Igor Biscan are not names that always draw the full confidence of this knowledgeable crowd. And yet this was a night for the unsung, the questionable foreign signing, as Biscan threaded a delicate pass through to Garcia to put Liverpool in front after 15 minutes.

Soon after the half-hour mark, John Arne Riise was drilling home a free-kick from outside Bayer Leverkusen’s penalty area, and we were struck again by Liverpool’s good fortune in avoiding all the real giants of the first knock-out phase.

But it was about time the gods cut Benitez some slack. After this feisty, spirited performance, his Anglo-Spanish creation will head into Sunday’s Carling Cup final against Chelsea feeling less like underdogs waiting to be whipped by the Premiership’s champions-elect.

With only fourth place to aim at again in the domestic league, and their FA Cup campaign over, Sunday’s final in Cardiff and the tough hunting grounds of Europe still have the potential to leave Benitez feeling he made a wise move in abandoning Valencia to come to Anfield.

The only valid criticism of him so far is that he has imported one or two sub-standard fellow Spaniards, just as Gerard Houllier was sometimes guilty of excessive faith in everything French.

But the effect on morale of last night’s victory will be substantial, because it stemmed from a performance that was a galaxy away from some of Liverpool’s feeble recent performances in the Premiership.

THE BIG MATCHES  

BAYERN 3 ARSENAL 1 SCORERS: Pizarro (4, 58), Salihamidzic (65); Toure (89) YELLOW CARDS: Demichelis, Kovacs; Vieira, Lauren BLOOMERS: Frings, with open goal in 70th minute, hits side netting SURPRISE STAR: Peruvian Pizarro, not a first-team regular for Bayern MISSING IN INACTION: Arsenal’s creative trinity: Pires, Henry, Reyes OFF-FIELD FACTOR: The snow, piled several feet high on the sidelines, and the freezing cold WHAT SECOND LEG HOLDS: Arsenal have Cole and Bergkamp back for home leg, and Toure’s away goal in the bank REAL MADRID 1 JUVENTUS 0 SCORER: Helguera (32) YELLOW CARDS: Roberto Carlos, Gravesen, Samuel; Thuram, Olivera, Blasi, Del Piero, Tacchinardi BLOOMERS: Raul missing two clear chances, one with an open goal SURPRISE STARS: Real’s centre-halves, one of whom scored and the other denied a goal by the referee MISSING IN INACTION: Ronaldo. At least he turned up for the match OFF-FIELD FACTOR: Two fading stars raging against the dying light WHAT SECOND LEG HOLDS: Bank on Real to score once; Juve have to score three. Not easy for them

WHAT THEY SAID • It’s frustrating to concede too many goals and we need to work on that as a team. We need to defend better if we want to progress — Patrick Vieira • We were very, very disappointed with the quality of our performance — Arsene Wenger • The only recipe for beating Real in Turin is to produce a perfect performance. It will be vital to close down space and attack their defence. But we can do it — Alessandro Del Piero • Zizou had one of those Zizou nights. Along with Roberto Carlos he was their main threat — Fabio Capello

(The Daily Telegraph)