Prize is huge for Pool and Gerrard

THERE have been many memorable moments in Liverpool’s rich European history.

But none, not even the heady denouement of the club's first Kevin Keegan-inspired European Cup triumph of 1977 against Borussia Moenchengladbach, would compare with the sheer wondrous achievement of lifting the trophy for a fifth time in the Ataturk Olympic stadium on Wednesday night.

Can they do it?

Well, at the start of this season you would have got about the same odds on Liverpool picking up the trophy as Rolf Harris being chosen to paint the portrait of the Queen.

So anything is possible.

The prize is huge.

Win against AC Milan and Steven Gerrard & Co would bridge a link with the great Liverpool sides of yesteryear as well as possibly securing the millions guaranteed by a place in the Champions League next season. The pressure and will is growing within UEFA to ensure the winners a chance to defend their trophy.

Lose and suddenly their fifth place in the league would look a little more shabby and, more importantly, the chances of Gerrard staying at Anfield would appear distinctly doubtful.

It is always dangerous to build the future of a club around one player, but in Gerrard Liverpool have a window to the spirit which took the sides of the 70s and early 80s to four European Cup triumphs. There is a lot of Emlyn Hughes in Gerrard, that surging, galloping gait in particular and a natural instinct for leading his team-mates into action when the battle is at its height.

Watch Liverpool when they speed up the play and invariably it is Gerrard initiating the thrust. He is their heartbeat. Which is why, if Liverpool are to recapture their once pre-eminent place in English football, they need him to stay.

Domestically they have been less than ordinary, losing 13 matches in the Premiership. It has been one long struggle for consistency, culminating in that embarrassing FA Cup defeat against Burnley.

The general consensus was that Benitez had shown contempt for England's most famous competition and fielded the worst team ever to wear a Liverpool shirt. But Benitez knew better. He insisted he did not possess a squad to battle successfully on all fronts and after winning the UEFA Cup with Valencia last season Europe was the stage he understood best. So it has proved. Liverpool were a revelation in two matches against Bayer Leverkusen.

Their home performance against Juventus in the quarter-final was one of the season's high points, a wonderful night of swagger and emotion in which the famous red shirts took us back two decades.

But it was the manner in which they beat Chelsea in the semi-final goalless at Stamford Bridge, 1-0 at Anfield which gives hope they can also deal with AC Milan.

Benitez's side is not moulded in the image of the club's legends.

There is no machine-like steam-rollering of opposition which categorised Bob Paisley sides.

None of the silky defensive skills of Hansen, no Souness blend of steel and guile. Nothing to rival the striking potency of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish.

Some might say Liverpool are boring.

But against Chelsea they demonstrated a splendid resilience, a cussed determination, too, to hang on to what they had, once an early advantage had evolved. It was not pretty, but as an exercise in containment and sheer will to get the job done it was a classic of the genre.

Against AC Milan it would be wonderful to think Benitez could reignite the passion of that Anfield night against Juventus, but Milan have forwards in Andriy Shevchenko and Brazilian Kaka and former Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo who demand the greatest respect.

It is much more likely Liverpool will play it tight, hope to steal a goal and then ask the imperious Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia to defend for their lives.

However, for all the Italians' superior individualism, don't be surprised if we are saluting the greatest night in Liverpool's history. And listening to Gerrard pledge his allegiance to Anfield.