Champions League: Expectation has been drained from Liverpool's continental campaign. Where a mesmerising victory over Monaco had pepped enthusiasm, a defeat far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests in Greece has provided a painful reality check.
Rafael Benitez regularly pleads for time; on this evidence, he will need it.
Olympiakos dismissed the Merseysiders with ease, making light of the late loss of their full-back Anastasios Pantos for a pair of bookings. The Greeks, inspired by Rivaldo's presence, subjected Liverpool to a torrid night. Liverpool improved marginally after the interval, but they were still helpless as Ieroklis Stoltidis thumped a second-half header against the bar.
There was something alarmingly lacklustre about Liverpool's display throughout, their zip still elusive when necessity demanded a more urgent approach.
This was always likely to prove a daunting task, as Liverpool's away form under Benitez has been insipid. The raucous din greeting them here did little for their nerves, though even the fluorescence of their shirts failed to guide them in possession as swathes of acrid flare smoke rolled across the turf.
Even Xabi Alonso, normally so imperious, was forced into mediocrity by the early onslaught, Liverpool gasping for breath amid a series of rampant Greek attacks. Only when the home players opted to crumple to the turf under the vaguest hint of a challenge - something they did shamelessly and regularly - did Liverpool find brief respite, though it was through a set-piece that Olympiakos scored.
Inevitably, it was Rivaldo who prompted the panic, as from set-plays his class still shines through. There was a reverse flick at the kick-off to set the tone, a blistering volley from distance which burst beyond Jerzy Dudek but wide, before he ambled up for a succession of free-kicks around Liverpool's penalty area.
From the fourth, after Stephen Warnock had obstructed Dimitrios Mavrogenidis, Rivaldo's centre flicked off Milan Baros, barely 10 yards from the Brazilian, to veer awkwardly into the area. Dudek and his defenders were too static and Stoltidis, leaping around the penalty spot, flicked the loose ball home.
Benitez, who watched his side concede twice from set-pieces at Manchester United last week, was apoplectic on the bench.
In truth, Liverpool should have drawn encouragement of sorts to trail so narrowly by the break. Ioannis Okkas and Mavrogenidis cut through their left flank at will with Stoltidis, freed by Okkas early on, forcing Dudek to touch a shot on to his near post.
The locals might have considered there to be a makeshift air about Liverpool's line-up, with Harry Kewell on the bench and Djibril Cisse dropped, though that did not excuse the shoddiness of their display.
OLYMPIAKOS: Nikopolidis, Mavrogenidis (Georgiadis 71), Anatolakis, Schurrer, Pantos, Rivaldo, Stoltidis, Kafes, Georgatos (Vallas 84), Giovanni (Venetidis 71), Okkas. Subs Not Used: Giannou, Castillo, Maric, Kostoulas. Sent Off: Pantos (82). Booked: Anatolakis, Pantos, Mavrogenidis, Schurrer. Goals: Stoltidis 17.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Josemi (Cisse 73), Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Finnan, Alonso, Hamann (Diao 82), Warnock (Kewell 46), Luis Garcia, Baros. Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Traore, Sinama Pongolle, Biscan. Booked: Warnock, Finnan.
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy).
Guardian Service
