Benitez hails penalty king Reina as lacklustre Liverpool stretched to the limit by Belgian minnows

Standard Liege 0 Liverpool 0

flirted with the unthinkable of a qualifying round elimination at the hands of Champions League novices on one of their least convincing nights in recent memory, in the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.

A proud pedigree of winning the tournament for a fifth time in 2005, and reaching the final 15 months ago, should surely have been too much for a side whose domestic title success last season was their first for 25 years.

Remarkably, Rafa Benitez's seasoned campaigners were the ones who looked to be stepping out of their depth as they failed to muster a single serious threat on the home goal and saw their own survive a series of near-misses.

Shutout: Pepe Reina saves Dante Bonfim's penalty

They should still complete their objective of a place in the group stages, in the return leg at Anfield, but the scale of their embarrassment was evident enough as Standard's players stayed behind long after the final whistle to milk the acclaim of an ecstatic support.

The celebrations could have been even more frenzied but for an incredible double escape for Liverpool in the seventh minute and even more fortunate reprieve, four minutes later, when Brazilian defender Dante Bonfim fluffed a penalty.

Benitez pulled no punches as he said: 'It is clear we did not play well, and we are lucky not to have conceded. We were poor, but at least the result was good.

'It really was a very bad performance, and it surprised me, because we have been playing well in the pre-season games and with a lot of confidence. We have been talking about it in the dressing room, but you don't always have to say too much after something like that.

'We knew they would be aggressive. I warned the players about that, but we still couldn't keep the ball. We were second best to too many first and second balls, and when we did get possession, our control was poor and so was our passing.

How did I miss that? Bonfim reflects on a poor spot kick

'When that happens, it is only normally that you come under a bit of pressure. I'm just glad Pepe Reina was the one player who performed and that we kept a clean sheet. There has to be a massive difference in how we play in the return game.'

Standard felt they had made the breakthrough in the seventh minute, when centre-back Marouane Fellaini's downward hearder, from skipper Steven Defour's free-kick, bounced against the inside of a post before being clawed away by Pepe Reina's outstretched hand.

As Standard players furiously claimed it had gone in, striker Dieu Mbokani had a follow-up shot scrambled away from the line.

Liverpool's defending was no more assured when Andrea Dossena stopped a right-wing cross from Wilfried Dalmat with his left arm and, despite trying to argue he was outside the area, conceded a penalty.

Not for the first time, Reina proved his prowess in a one-on-one duel from 12 yards, though blocking Dante's mishit effort hardly ranked as the most memorable of his many penalty heroics down the years.

While Liverpool could manage nothing more than two free-kicks that curled narrowly wide, from Xabi Alonso and 67th-minute substitute Steven Gerrard, Standard continued to press and went agonisingly close again in the 66th minute.

Reina was in no-man's land as he came for Dante's cross and was beaten by an Igor De Camargo glancing header that sailed narrowly wide of a gaping net.

Standard may still pose a threat at Anfield, but as their coach Laszlo Boloni conceded, with a rueful smile: 'We caught Liverpool asleep tonight. My worry is they will have woken up by the time we go there.'