Much as expected, the third best team in Bucharest was no real match for the fourth best team in the Premiership. Had Liverpool accepted perhaps a quarter of the chances they fashioned, the tie's second leg at Anfield in a fortnight's time would be a fixture of such irrelevance that they would not be able to give the tickets away.

It was the sort of untroubled stroll so beloved of past, more illustrious, Liverpool teams and long, long before the end Rapid Bucharest had come to accept that enthusiasm alone will carry you only so far when the opposition is both gifted and competent.

From a romantic perspective the Rapid Stadium could, at a push, be described as quaint, a rather shabby reminder of those not too far distant days when the lumpen proletariat of a suppressed nation had little option but to compliantly embrace mediocrity.

Liverpool remain as popular as ever behind the now parted Iron Curtain but not popular enough to draw out a full house into the steaming tail end of a savagely hot day.

An impoverished club's decision to quadruple the normal admission price came to represent, predictably, an act of foolish avarice.

The Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier resisted, comfortably he was to later insist, the temptation to use just one forward; the objective was to win and win they did.

In such circumstances if you can hold firm in the opening quarter you will always have hope. This Liverpool did but en route to dampening Rapid's ardour, there was much to concern Houllier.

Initially at least, the Liverpool defence creaked like a barn door - an open one. The main cause for concern was the wanderlust which enveloped Christian Ziege on his first start since his arrival from Middlesbrough.

Seemingly only prepared to play at leftback when his team was in possession, the German's lack of discipline was constantly exploited - if not fully punished - by Marius Maldarasanu.

Nick Barmby had already struck the face of a post before, in the 29th minute, he benefitted handsomely from the speed, skill and awareness of Michael Owen. He was not the first to so do and he will not be the last.

Owen laid waste to the entire Rapid defence by sprinting clear down the left and cutting inside the penalty area. Fleetingly, he shaped as if to shoot but then, instead, dipped a shoulder before rolling the ball into the path of Barmby who marked his first ever appearance in a European tie with the sweetest of rising shots.

The goal sucked the wind from Romanian sails and with Didier Hamann and Bernard Diomede dominant in midfield, Liverpool began to punch holes in a tiring defence.

Westerveld's perceived weakness in the air was never truly examined by Rapid and only in a brief period midway through a rather pedestrian second half did they even hint at a meaningful recovery.

Even then the better of the openings continued to fall to the feet of Houllier's men and Owen will have been disappointed to strike only the body of goalkeeper Razuan Lucescu after nice work by Barmby.

Substitute Danny Murphy and Owen, again, went close to underscoring Liverpool's superiority but the gulf in class between the sides was so evident throughout that their profligacy was annoying rather than crucial.

Brave Hearts weathered a storm in Stuttgart to offer themselves a chance to cause a major UEFA Cup upset. The German side will take a one-goal lead to Tynecastle in a fortnight after Bulgarian international Krassimir Balakov scored the only goal of the game from a 20-yard freekick in the 35th minute.

But resolute defending by Hearts prevented Stuttgart, who had beaten Bayern Munich at the weekend, from running riot.

But there was a heavy price to pay for Hearts with Colin Cameron carried from the field in the final minute of the game.

Hearts knew they were in for a rough evening's work when Jochen Seitz headed just wide after just three minutes.

And Gary Naysmith almost made his team's chances harder when his sliced clearance drifted goalwards only for Niemi to gratefully watch the ball sail wide.

German dominance eventually paid off in the 35th minute after Petric had appeared to foul Meissner 20 yards from goal. Krassimir Balakov lined up the free-kick and floated the ball over the Hearts wall to leave Niemi stranded.

Unsurprisingly, Severin did not re-appear for the second half and was replaced by Lee Makel in midfield.

The home side continued their dominance at the start of the second half and Grant Murray was almost punished by Seitz when he seized on a woeful back pass.

RAPID BUCHAREST (3-5-2): Lucescu; Mutica, Stanciu, Iencsi; Buta (Schumacher, 45min), Maldarasanu, Isaila, Iftodi (Buga, 73), Frasineanu; Pancu, Constantin (Radu, 60).

LIVERPOOL (4-4-2): Westerveld; Song, Babbel, Henchoz, Ziege (Traore, 85); Barmby, Carragher, Hamann, Diomede; Heskey (Murphy, 35), Owen (Fowler, 80).

Referee: N Volquartz (Denmark).