Liverpool ready to bring glory nights back to Anfield

Almost exactly 40 years after their first ever European tie at Anfield, Liverpool’s much-awaited return to the Champions League group stage tonight when they face Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria, is, despite unfamiliar and unglamorous opposition — and despite a self-confessed obsession to end their Premier League drought — a crucial moment in the club’s bid to return to former glories.

It has been four years since the last big Champions League night at a ground steeped in the history of the European Cup and soaked in the memories of previous campaigns under so many iconic managers; and there is no doubt that Brendan Rodgers now has the potential to join that pantheon as the Kop prepares for a European night under the Anfield lights once more.

There has been steady improvement at Liverpool under the man from Carnlough, not least in the way he has been able to unify the club and provide a sense of direction after so many difficult and frustrating times since they were last champions of Europe, back in 2005.