Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0:THE COMPREHENSIVE victory here made Anfield glow as it had not done since the defeat of Manchester United. This display will make the opposition in the quarter-finals dread coming here and they should be wary of Liverpool at their ground.

Liverpool opened as if there were no dilemma whatsoever. Rather than protecting the advantage gained in Madrid, they behaved as if the result there had made them certain of finishing off a team they knew to be vulnerable.

This was an assertiveness not normally associated with Rafael Benitez. The manager had been correct in his diagnosis of frailty in the Real ranks. Early as the opener from Torres was, it still felt overdue. The striker showed no sign of the twisted ankle that had made him a doubt for the match.

All the aches were experienced by the Real centre-backs Pepe and Fabio Cannavaro. Both looked despondent by the time Jamie Carragher hoisted the ball downfield in the 16th minute for Torres to assume control, found Dirk Kuyt on the right and hit the return pass beyond Iker Casillas.

Benitez’s insistence this week that he should be given more credit for the team’s achievements in this competition had proved to be judiciously timed. It would have taken a committed curmudgeon to bemoan the collapse in Premier League form while a heady occasion such as this was being staged.

The initial ineptness of the visitors reflected more than just the intimidatory effect of the crowd. In each of the past four seasons they had been knocked out at this stage of the competition. Juande Ramos must have looked for comfort on the Champions League after faltering in their domestic championship. That revival was beyond Real’s reach.

Liverpool’s 2-0 lead at half-time was fully deserved, but the second goal had been an injustice. The referee’s assistant had indicated a penalty when Xabi Alonso’s pass bounced off the chest of Alvaro Arbeloa and on to the shoulder of Gabriel Heinze, even if the left-back had stretched out an arm. The rightful indignation of the Argentinian brought a caution and merely delayed the penalty Steven Gerrard converted by sending Casillas the wrong way in the 28th minute.

There had been several openings for Liverpool before that. As early as the fourth minute Torres had dragged the ball away from Pepe as he turned to glide through and test Casillas. Soon there was even a drive from the defensive midfielder Mascherano that had to be tipped over the bar.

There was an eventual response from Real and Reina saved Wesley Sneijder’s effort from a Heinze cut-back.

Liverpool, then, were ruffled by a decision from referee Franck de Bleeckere. He cautioned Mascherano for a foul on Pepe that had been committed by Xabi Alonso. Barring a successful appeal for mistaken identity, he will miss the first leg of the quarter-final.

Everything seemed designed to please the crowd, including Real’s replacement of the former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben.

Gerrard grew uncontainable and, in the 47th minute, he half-volleyed a third goal after Ryan Babel had turned the Real defence on the left. The Liverpool captain was soon testing Casillas with a drive set up by Kuyt’s flick.

The impact Benitez’s side has enjoyed in this competition has lasting benefits in the assurance that settles upon them on evenings such as this. Real’s centre-backs had been utterly baffled here and Cannavaro was replaced by an attacker in Rafael van der Vaart.

Any spirit was belated. By switching to 3-4-3 Real did no more than give token encouragement to their supporters, who were huddled in the Anfield Road end the visitors were then attacking. The slackening in tempo was to the side’s benefit but it had still been surprising to witness their distress at the vigour shown by Liverpool when the game was at its formative stage.

Benitez could well afford to rest Gerrard by bringing on the 20-year-old Jay Spearing. Real ought to wince at being deemed suitable opponents against whom a youngster can further his education.

Madrid were numb by the time substitute Andrea Dossena converted Mascherano’s low cross in the 88th minute.

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio, Alonso (Lucas 60), Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard (Spearing 74), Babel, Torres (Dossena 83). Subs not used: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Ngog, Kelly. Booked: Gerrard, Mascherano, Dossena.

REAL MADRID: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro (Van der Vaart 64), Pepe, Heinze, Robben (Marcelo 46), Lassana Diarra, Gago (Guti 77), Sneijder, Raul, Higuain.

Subs not used: Dudek, Saviola, Metzelder, Miguel Torres. Booked: Pepe, Heinze, Marcelo.

Refere: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).