Group A/Deportivo La Coruna - 0 Liverpool - 1:  Where the omens had appeared so grim, the reality is giddy. Liverpool were without three of their most potent performers last night, but Rafael Benitez's return to his home country yielded the Merseysiders' first victory in Spain for 21 years. Joint top of a group where defeat would have anchored them bottom, the prospects appear rosy.

Victory was gleaned thanks to an own goal and secured to a joyous chorus of "Igor, Igor" hollered from the visiting support, their adulation aimed at their usually maligned midfielder Igor Biscan. The Croatian was immense, with some stout late defending snuffing out a brief flurry of Spanish half chances near the end.

Luis Garcia, bursting on to Milan Baros's pass, should have made the scoreline more emphatic and Liverpool's unflustered dominance deserved more reward. Not that Benitez will be overly concerned; a potentially awkward encounter has been safely negotiated. Victory at Monaco in three weeks' time will see them into the knock-out stages.

Liverpool could ill-afford to stutter in Galicia, this group having closed in around them since their swashbuckling opening success over the French was negated by an inability to puncture either Olympiakos or Deportivo in the games since.

Xabi Alonso, the Basque midfielder so impressive since his £10.7 million arrival in the summer, had a calf strain that confined him to the bench and four injury-time minutes on the pitch. The 22-year-old cut a frustrated figure watching the warm-up, leaning against a hoarding as his team-mates pinged passes in drilled routines.

Yet, as ridiculous as it might once have seemed, Biscan proved an imposing replacement. The Croatian has become something of a figure of fun, his club career long since stalled and his dozy expression often suited to his ponderous displays in the first-team.

But Biscan is reborn these days. A fine goal at Fulham last month set the tone, and those high standards have been maintained. Rugged tackling is now combined with genuine finesse.

On his first European start since he was sent off in Marseille during March, Biscan suddenly looked the £5 million player Liverpool thought they were buying from Croatia Zagreb four years ago.

The magnificence of his battering run through the centre of Deportivo's disbelieving midfield 14 minutes in was matched by the weight of the pass which sent John-Arne Riise free down the left. The Norwegian's fizzed cross duly prompted panic in the six-yard box, the hapless Jorge Andrade inadvertently deflecting the loose ball beyond Jose Molina as Milan Baros hovered menacingly.

Liverpool deserved their lead, the incisiveness of their passing cutting swathes through a side who had proved impregnable at the Riazor in this competition in 10 of their previous 12 matches.

That defensive surety had been eroded after only 27 seconds, Garcia lofting the ball over Andrade for Baros to gather only to then delay his shot and fail adequately to swerve away from the advancing Molina. The goalkeeper smothered, the chance bouncing away, but the locals had been warned.

Had Baros shown more awareness and Harry Kewell more confidence then the visitors would have had further reward before the interval, their rapid breaks too often running aground at the edge of the area. Kewell's unwillingness to seize the initiative was evident again three minutes from half-time, his sprint at the retreating centre halves culminating in a wild slice. The Australian then fed Riise, who hammered his first shot at Molina and saw his follow-up scrambled from the line by Andrade.

The Galicians were restless. Deportivo have endured a worryingly inconsistent first third to their season and, for all their possession, they appeared weighed down by the knowledge they have only managed to prise apart one side - the Irish part-timers Shelbourne - in seven fixtures in this competition stretching back to last season's semi-finals.

Sergio, nominally a defensive midfielder, belted their best first-half opportunity wide. There was more urgency thereafter, Pablo Amo narrowly failing to convert Alberto Luque's whipped free-kick and the full back Hector pummelling a shot over the bar.

Yet it took the introduction of Diego Tristan to imbue the locals with belief. The Spanish international was soon wriggling away from Sami Hyypia far more effectively than Walter Pandiani ever had, though the team's lack of bite remained.

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA: Molina, Romero, Cesar (Pablo Amo 45), Andrade, Hector (Scaloni 65), Sergio, Valeron, Duscher, Victor, Pandiani (Tristan 59), Luque. Subs not used: Munua, Fran, Munitis, Capdevila. Booked: Cesar, Andrade.

LIVERPOOL: Kirkland, Josemi, Hyypia, Carragher, Traore, Riise, Luis Garcia (Alonso 91), Hamann, Biscan, Kewell (Finnan 58), Baros (Sinama Pongolle 84). Subs not used: Dudek, Henchoz, Diao, Warnock. Booked: Carragher, Biscan, Hyypia. Goal: Andrade 14 og.

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany).