The dust had settled after Steven Gerrard’s famous goal against Olympiacos FC booked Liverpool FC their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, but domestically Rafa Benítez faced some reality checks before a round-of-16 tie with Germany’s Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Reds were struggling in the Premier League.

Benítez looked to add to his arsenal in the January transfer window, welcoming three new arrivals. After his summer shopping spree in Spain, the LFC boss followed suit in January with Argentine centre-back Mauricio Pellegrino joining the Reds on a free transfer from Rafa’s former side Valencia CF and striker Fernando Morientes signing from Real Madrid CF.

His final signing of the season was Leeds United FC’s teenage goalkeeper Scott Carson, who was added to provide competition to Jerzy Dudek for the no.1 spot between the sticks.

The Reds had come very close to signing Bulgarian international striker Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, but a proposed deal was shelved when the two sides were drawn to play each other in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

“We knew about Berbatov before we played them in 2005,” explained Benítez. “I'd been aware of him since I was in Valencia. He was a player we were looking at closely. Everybody can see the quality he has and we wanted him, but then the draw with Leverkusen came along and we couldn't get him. It was a shame, but we had to move on.”

On New Year's Day, the Reds suffered a major blow when Xabi Alonso broke his ankle after a challenge by Frank Lampard in a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea FC in the Premier League at Anfield. The Spanish playmaker had already become a key player for Liverpool FC since joining in the summer, but was now set to join an injury list that was becoming increasingly worrying for Benítez.

The Reds’ domestic troubles continued in early 2005 with their erratic form in the Premier League including defeats to bitter rivals Manchester United FC, as well as Southampton FC and Birmingham City FC, and devastating early departure in the FA Cup.

Liverpool FC entered and exited the FA Cup in the third round after a defeat against Championship outfit Burnley FC. A decision to rest a number of first-team players for the trip to Turf Moor ended poorly for Benítez as the Redmen crashed out of the cup in a 1-0 defeat, courtesy of an infamous Djimi Traoré own goal when an attempted Cruyff-turn went as badly wrong as it can get.

There was good news in the League Cup, the Reds reaching the final with 1-0 home and away semi-final victories against Watford FC, while Morientes announced himself to travelling Kopites by scoring in a 2-1 success at Charlton Athletic FC, but to get past Bayer 04 Leverkusen - who had knocked Liverpool FC out in the last eight in 2002 - improvement would be needed.

Liverpool FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Liverpool FC welcomed the German side, managed by Klaus Augenthaler, to Anfield for the first of the two legs. Captain Steven Gerrard was not available for selection through suspension, leaving the Reds without two key options in midfield alongside Alonso, who was still sidelined with a broken ankle.

With 40,000 making themselves heard inside Anfield, Liverpool FC went 1-0 up after 15 minutes. Croatian midfielder Igor Bišćan found himself with the ball and danced past challenges from a few Bayer 04 Leverkusen players before dissecting the defence with a pass that found Luis García.

The Spaniard had buried his shot away into the net before the players grounded by Bišćan’s majestic footwork could get back to their feet. The Kop belted out a chant of ‘Eeeeegor, Eeeeegor’ for the Croatian, who had stepped up in the absence of Gerrard and Alonso to create the first goal of the evening.

Ten minutes before the half-time whistle, the Reds’ lead doubled thanks to a signature free kick from John Arne Riise. His low shot nestled in the bottom left corner, with Bayer ‘keeper Hans-Jorg Butt not getting down to it in time.

Beniíez gave his half-time team talk with a two-goal advantage, however, it wasn’t smooth running despite the comfortable lead. The Reds had struggled to keep up with the Bayer 04 Leverkusen strikeforce and were lucky that none of their chances ended up in a goal.

The second half was mostly comfortable for Liverpool FC. A few efforts from Leverkusen were dangerous, but still didn’t lead to a goal for the Germans and the Reds’ lead grew to three in the closing minutes thanks to another free-kick, this time tucked away by German midfielder Didi Hamann.

Three-nil looked to be a great first-leg lead, but the celebrations were quickly dampened as an ambitious attempt from Berbatov was spilled by Dudek straight to the feet of Franca, who got an away goal for Leverkusen in the third minute of additional time.

A lead that should’ve booked the Reds their spot in the quarters was instead cut by a poor mistake from the Polish international ‘keeper and Liverpool FC had their work cut out at the BayArena, where Bayer 04 Leverkusen were unbeaten all season and had defeated FC Bayern Munich (3-1), Real Madrid CF (3-0) and AS Roma (3-1).

Between the two games they also lost the League Cup final 3-2 to Chelsea FC, with an unfortunate late own goal by Gerrard cancelling Riise’s opener and sending the game to extra time on an afternoon in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium that saw Blues boss José Mourinho shushing Liverpool FC supporters, a gesture that wouldn’t be forgotten.

On the evening before the second leg in Leverkusen, Benítez was in nearby Köln with first-team coaches Pako Ayestarán and Alex Miller looking for somewhere to watch the Chelsea FC v FC Barcelona match as it wasn’t being screened in the team hotel. They walked into Jameson’s Irish Pub, which was absolutely packed full of Reds, and got mobbed!

The following night skipper Gerrard was back in Rafa’s starting XI and although Bayer 04 Leverkusen fancied their chances with their away goal meaning a 2-0 win would see them through, a first-half Luis García double killed the tie off.

Gerrard created his first with a cross and Bišćan weighed in with another assist when his header from a Gerrard corner was touched in by the Spaniard. Only a flying Hans Jorg-Butt save prevented the little man for the big occasion from completing his hat-trick in the space of 10 minutes.

That brilliant first-half display was continued just over 20 minutes after restart when Czech striker Milan Baroš added a third from a deflected Riise pass. Liverpool FC were heading into the quarter-finals although a late consolation goal by Jacek Krzynowek saw the Reds win 3-1 again on the night and 6-2 on aggregate.

Despite their domestic struggles, Liverpool FC were in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League, but faced a tie that had a heightened sense of emotion around it.

Liverpool FC v Juventus FC

On May 29, 1985, defending European champions Liverpool FC and UEFA European Cup Winners' Cup holders Juventus FC were to meet at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, for the 30th European Cup final.

The events that took place before kick-off in Block Z of the stadium turned the occasion into a nightmare: 39 fans - mostly Juventus FC supporters - tragically lost their lives and hundreds more were injured.

Since that fateful day two sides had never met again, but had conducted transfer business with Ian Rush signing for Juve in 1987 before returning to Anfield in 1988. So when paired with each other in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, almost 20 years after the Heysel disaster, those who had lost their lives in 1985 were at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

With the first leg at home, Liverpool FC welcomed the Italian side to Anfield with a number of touching gestures. The Matchday Programme featured a special front cover in tribute to those who had perished and prior to kick-off, a banner was carried from the Kop to the away fans as a mark of respect with Rush, and the two captains from 1985 - Phil Neal and Michel Platini - all involved.

A minute of silence was also held in remembrance of Pope John Paul II, who had recently passed away. It also gave everyone inside Anfield a moment to remember those who lost their lives 20 years ago and the Kop displayed a moving mosaic that displayed the Italian word for ‘friendship’: Amicizia.

Beyond the tributes, the previously injured Xabi Alonso returned to the bench whilst 19-year-old goalkeeper Scott Carson was given a baptism of fire. First-choice Jerzy Dudek had recovered from an injury suffered on international duty, but Rafa Benítez decided he wasn’t mentally ready to play.

Dudek later admitted in his autobiography that he had been ill and also hit hard by the death of the Pope, a fellow Pole. “My thoughts were completely somewhere else,” he wrote. “I was thinking about the Pope. Even though I was sitting on the bench for a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield, his death was dominating my thoughts. I didn’t want to be there.”

Rafa also sprung a shock by starting French attacker Anthony Le Tallec in the no.10 role, but Liverpool FC began the game quickly and with a clear intent. Milan Baroš pounced onto a gifted opportunity, but his shot deflected wide for a corner.

The Reds were unrecognisable from some of their poor Premier League displays and with 10 minutes played Luis García flicked on a Gerrard corner and Finnish centre-back Sami Hyypiä volleyed home the opening goal to give Liverpool FC an early advantage.

A second goal to add to the tally didn’t take long as 15 minutes on from Hyypiä’s opener, Le Tallec floated a high ball forward which drifted over the head of Baroš, but it bounced straight into the path of Luis García. He struck a dipping, left-footed, half-volley from over 25 yards out that beat legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon all ends up. It was one of the goals of the season.

Fabio Capello’s Juve reacted well. Zlatan Ibrahimović struck the base of the post and Carson made a smart save to deny Alessandro Del Piero, but the young goalie was at fault when the visitors equalised in the 60th minute. Fabio Cannavaro’s header seemed savable, but Carson seemingly dived too early and could only push the ball over himself and into the net.

The Reds secured a 2-1 victory, but with an away goal in the bag Juve would only have to win 1-0 in the second leg in Turin to progress. The Reds also headed to Italy without skipper Gerrard, who had aggravated a groin problem against Manchester City FC at the weekend.

Dudek returned to the starting line-up and the fit-agian Xabi Alonso was given a first start since his ankle injury at the turn of the new year, despite having only 45 minutes of football under his belt for the reserves.

On a tense night, and with Djibril Cisse also coming on for a staggering early return having suffered a compound fracture to his leg six months prior that was initially feared to be career ending, the Reds secured a hard-fought 0-0 draw to progress to the semi-final.

With Jamie Carragher and Hyypiä outstanding at the back, the Reds limited the Serie A giants to very few clear-cut chances, Ibrahimović heading the best one of the first half over from Pavel Nedvěd’s cross.

Milan Baroš missed an opportunity on the counter-attack to cancel out Juve’s away goal, however the closest the hosts came to scoring was when Traoré misjudged a free-kick and under pressure from Cannavaro headed against his own post before Dudek brilliantly clawed the ball off the goalline.

In truth, Bentítez had won the tactical battle against Capello while Alonso, impressively, lasted for the full 90 minutes alongside Igor Bišćan in midfield. When the full-time whistle blew, the travelling Kopites inside Stadio Delle Alpi celebrated the Reds reaching a first semi-final in the UEFA Champions League since it was relaunched in the early 1990s.

Incredibly, despite being fifth in the Premier League - a point behind Everton FC and one ahead of Bolton Wanderers FC - the Reds were now two games away from a first European Cup final since 1985.

To get there, they’d have to beat the runaway Premier League leaders…