Group A Liverpool 2 AS Monaco 0It is almost two years since Liverpool last played in the Champions League, though any fears that they had fallen behind Europe's elite have been speedily allayed. Monaco, the club who embarrassed Real Madrid and Chelsea en route to last season's final, were dismantled last night, and while the scoreline suggests a squeeze, the reality was emphatic.
Djibril Cisse's first-half goal should have been improved upon well before Milan Baros collected Josemi's pass six minutes from time and cut back from the touchline before waiting for Flavio Roma to commit and then thumping in a deserved second.
This was a fitting way for the home side to celebrate a centenary of fixtures in this competition.
There was a vibrancy to Liverpool here which, after Saturday's waltz past West Bromwich, suggested Rafael Benitez's influence is beginning to be felt. The transformation in Steve Finnan and, occasionally, Harry Kewell is remarkable.
The exuberance of Luis Garcia, integral whenever the home side went forward, has also offered creation and menace to a side who stagnated too often last term. The Spaniard spun and skimmed an early shot marginally wide to set an upbeat tone, then latched on to Kewell's back-header and forced Roma to turn away a low shot. Yet it was in midfield where Liverpool boasted rare authority.
Dietmar Hamann's omission offered Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard their first opportunity as a central pairing. They duly purred, the Spaniard rarely misplacing a pass and the captain as dominant as ever. It was Gerrard's vision and execution which split Monaco's defence in first-half stoppage time, his cross reaching Garcia at the far post only for the header to be stifled behind. Yet, by then, Liverpool led.
What Benitez's side had lacked most during the season's early weeks is a consistent threat from Cisse, with the Frenchman apparently struggling to settle and live up to a £14 million club record transfer fee. Those fears were allayed midway through the first half. Alonso touched a short free-kick to Gerrard who exchanged passes with Garcia then slid Cisse beyond Monaco's back-line.
The Frenchman tore into open space and ripped his first Anfield goal beyond Roma.
Monaco were floundering, struggling to cope with Gerrard's effervescence and Alonso's class.
This was a virtually unrecognisable side sent from the principality. Only five of the team who began started last season's final, such has been the summer of upheaval endured by Didier Deschamps.
Add to that the suspension to Javier Saviola, loaned from Barcelona in the summer, and his French side's lack of bite was more excusable. Pontus Farnerud bludgeoned one awkward shot over the bar but, for all their neat passing deep inside their own territory, Monaco were anaemic and Deschamps needed to direct a second-half revival.
To that end, the coach's introduction of the forward Souleymane Camara for Patrice Evra, a France full back, at the interval represented a bold move, even if the visitors continued to labour.
Kewell was thriving, buzzing on to possession, and he side-footed Cisse through on goal for what should have been a decisive second. The striker composed himself and drilled a low shot, but Roma blocked it.
There were vague hints that the profligacy might cost Liverpool. Occasional nervousness crept into their defence on the rare occasions they were tested, confusion reigning too often between Jamie Carragher and Jerzy Dudek.
Mohamed Kallon's resultant corner after one such mix-up saw Emmanuel Adebayor head their only attempt on target, though Dudek was alert enough to claim.
Garcia should have scored near the end, Roma first suffocating a close-range shot then watching helpless as the Spaniard panicked on the edge of the six-yard box and battered wide. That prompted anxiety; Baros's goal brought relief.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Josemi, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Finnan, Gerrard, Alonso, Kewell (Warnock 76), Luis Garcia (Biscan 87), Cisse (Baros 69). Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Diao, Hamann, Traore. Booked: Gerrard. Goals: Cisse 22, Baros 84.
AS MONACO: Roma, Givet (El Fakiri 80), Squillaci, Rodriguez, Anjreas Zikos, Maicon, Perez (Juan 89), Farnerud, Evra (Camara 45), Kallon, Adebayor. Subs Not Used: Audard, Modesto, Lacombe, Lescure. Booked: Anjreas Zikos, Givet.
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway).
