2005-06: TNS, FBK Kaunas and CSKA Sofia
After finishing fifth in the Premier League while winning the Champions League in 2004-05, Liverpool were entered into the competition's first qualifying round in the following season.
Just 49 days after Istanbul, the Reds welcomed Welsh champions Total Network Solutions to Anfield and duly claimed a 3-0 first-leg win courtesy of Steven Gerrard’s hat-trick.
The skipper scored twice in the return leg six days later, too, with Djibril Cisse also on target as Rafa Benitez’s side eased through 6-0 on aggregate.
A 5-1 aggregate success over FBK Kaunas in the second qualifying round is best remembered for Jamie Carragher’s first and last European goal for the club, which came in the 3-1 first-leg victory.
Gerrard and Cisse also netted in Lithuania, as they did again at Anfield in a 2-0 win a week later.
The holders’ final hurdle was a tie with CSKA Sofia, which was won 3-2 on aggregate thanks to Fernando Morientes’ double and another Cisse strike that earned a 3-1 victory in Bulgaria. CSKA’s 1-0 success at Anfield two weeks later therefore meant little.
Benitez’s Reds went on to top a tough group that also included Chelsea, Real Betis and Anderlecht, but then saw their reign as European champions ended by Benfica in the round of 16.
