Benitez revives Euro glory nights for Liverpool

Next Wednesday in Istanbul, Liverpool will contest their 10th final in UEFA club competitions and their sixth in the European Cup. Their opponents are Milan.

If you suggested to the Liverpool die-hards at the start of the season that their team will be in the final of the Champions League in May, they would have told you to go and check your wits.

This demonstrates the size of the task new coach Rafael Benitez has plotted out for Liverpool in his first season at Anfield. He has elevated his own reputation by climbing an Everest in football terms and putting the red flag atop.

In Benitez, Liverpool appear to have a manager capable of repeating the feats of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish.

After the win over Chelsea, Benitez remarked that it was simply great for English football to have a club reaching the Champions League final.

The Spaniard has always praised the fans but after Liverpool made sure of a trip to Istanbul, he said that their passion and the glorious tradition of the club, gave the team the push needed to reach their goal.

The 'Pool will wear their traditional red kit next week, raising hopes among their fans that it will bring them the glory they attained in their four previous European Cup honours when they donned the red colours and the opposition wore white. Much will depend on the performance of captain Steven Gerrard - his driving force and leadership will be vital.

Jamie Carragher has grown into a colossus in the heart of the defence since Benitez arrived at Anfield.

Road to Istanbul

To reach their sixth European Cup final the Reds followed this path:

Third qualifying round - Grazer AK (Austria): Away 2-0 (Gerrard 2); Home 0-1.

Group matches - Home vs Monaco 2-0 (Cisse, Baros); Away vs Olympiakos 0-1; Home vs Deportivo 0-0; Away vs Deportivo 1-0 (Andrade o.g.); Away vs Monaco 0-1; Home vs Olympiakos 3-1 (Sinama-Pongolle, Mellor, Gerrard).

Last 16: Bayer Leverkusen: Home 3-1 (Garcia, Riise, Hamann), Away 3-1 (Garcia 2, Baros).

Quarter-final: Juventus: Home 2-1 (Hyypia, Garcia); Away 0-0.

Semi-final: Chelsea: Away 0-0, Home 1-0 (Garcia).

Heysel tragedy

In season 1984-85 Liverpool met Juventus in the European Cup final. The match was played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, a venue that proved inadequate for a showdown between two of the greatest sides in Europe.

The match turned into tragedy as 38 people, mostly supporters of the Turin club, died when a wall collapsed after riots in the stadium.

English clubs were subsequently banned from all European competitions for five years, and Liverpool for six. For the record the Italians won through a dubious penalty for a foul on Boniek which seemed to have occurred well outside the area. Platini netted from the spot.

Formation: Grobbelaar, Neal, Beglin, Lawrenson (Gillespie), Nicol, Hansen, Dalglish, Whelan, Rush, Walsh (Johnston), Wark.

Scorers: 5 - Rush, Wark; 3 - Walsh; 2 - Nicol; 1 - Beglin, Lawrenson.

Fall of Rome

To claim their fourth honour in the renowned competition, Liverpool had to defeat Roma at their own den. Liverpool, who had enjoyed glorious moments at such venue in 1976-77, returned eight years later (1984) to emerge triumphant once more.

Joe Fagan's Reds went ahead after 14 minutes through a Phil Neal netting, yet Roma bounced back to equalise via Pruzzo and the score remained 1-1 after extra-time.

In the penalty shoot-out, eccentric goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar became the Liverpool hero as they won 4-2 on the night.

Formation: Grobbelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Lawrenson, Whelan, Hansen, Dalglish (Robinson), Lee, Rush, Johnston (Nicol), Souness.

Scorers: 5 - Rush; 3 - Dalglish; 2 - Robinson, Whelan; 1 - Neal, Johnston, Lee.

Madrilenos beaten

Liverpool had made it a hat-trick of honours in the European Cup in season 1980-81 after a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the final at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris.

That season, the Reds finished fifth in the championship and had to lift the trophy to compete in the tournament the following season.

Defender Alan Kennedy scored the goal that mattered five minutes from time with a firm shot.

Formation: Clemence, Neal, Kennedy A., Thompson, Kennedy R., Hansen, Dalglish (Case), Lee, Johnson, McDermott, Souness.

Scorers: 6 - McDermott, Souness; 2 - Lee, Fairclough, Kennedy R; 1 - Dalglish, Johnson, Neal, Hansen, Kennedy A.

Reds retain honour

In season 1977-78 Liverpool retained the European Cup in London, toppling FC Brugge - their previous Uefa Cup victims - at Wembley.

Kenny Dalglish, signed from Celtic as a replacement for Kevin Keegan, capped a magnificent season by scoring the goal in the 1-0 win over the Belgians.

The 92,000 crowd watched FC Brugge adopting the offside game but Dalglish escaped the 'trap' to net the winner in the 65th minute.

Formation: Clemence, Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Kennedy, Hughes, Dalglish, Case (Heighway), Fairclough, McDermott, Souness.

Scorers: 4 - Case; 3 - Dalglish; 2 - Neal, Kennedy; 1 - Callaghan, Hansen, Heighway, Hughes, Johnson, McDermott.

Munching of Gladbach

In 1976-77, Liverpool clinched their first European Cup by defeating B. Moenchengladbach once more in the final (after their UEFA Cup success), this time in Rome.

Bob Paisley's Reds wrote a new chapter in their glorious history at the Olympic Stadium where they were crowned kings of Europe for the first time with a 3-1 triumph over the Germans.

After leading through a Terry McDermott goal, the Germans replied through Allan Simonsen early in the second half.

Yet the Reds were not to be denied and made their superiority count with goals from Tommy Smith and a Phil Neal penalty. Keegan left for SV Hamburg after this encounter.

Formation: Clemence, Neal, Jones, Smith, Kennedy, Hughes, Heighway, Callaghan, McDermott, Keegan, Case.

Scorers: 4 - Keegan, Neal; 3 - Heighway, Johnson; 2 - Case, McDe-rmott; 1 - Fairclough, Kennedy, Toshack.