SO the march towards the Eternal City can now begin in earnest. But it was an unimpressive Liverpool that stumbled into the group stages of the Champions League on a night of high tension at Anfield.

The cheers at the final whistle were joined by an almost audible sigh of relief as Rafael Benitez’s side scraped past Standard Liege in their third qualifying round tie.

Concerns over early-season form were fully justified as Liverpool laboured to overcome the Belgian champions.

Less than four months after coming within an own goal of an eighth European Cup final, there was a genuine danger Benitez’s men would be forced left rubbing shoulders with Europe’s lesser lights in the UEFA Cup.

Instead, Liverpool go into the hat for today’s draw aware they are unlikely to be given a bigger fright in the competition this season.

Benitez had believed his team needed two goals to progress, but an 118th-minute strike from Champions League specialist Dirk Kuyt was sufficient.

And as against Middlesbrough on Saturday, this could prove to be one of the most important victories of Liverpool’s campaign.

Certainly, the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, could ill afford to miss out on the estimated £12million windfall brought by qualification to the group stages.

Neither could Benitez, given the squad strengthening that Liverpool so clearly still require given the evidence of recent weeks.

The traditional tomato-throwing festival of La Tomatina took place in a town near to Benitez’s former club Valencia yesterday.

But while the Anfield manager was spared a similar red face, he can expect a critical pelting after another poor performance.

Liverpool have got out of jail so often in the past two weeks that their players might consider auditioning for a part in Prison Break.

This, though, was their closest call yet, the Anfield outfit again overly reliant on goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

Standard had conceded 11 goals on their last two visits to England, but there was no chance of a repeat last night. Well organised, determined and with confidence oozing throughout, the Belgians were everything Liverpool were not.

But the dogged self-belief and sheer desire that ultimately propelled them beyond their alarming shortcomings to the last-gasp victory on Saturday was again the decisive factor for Benitez’s side. Indeed, Liverpool have yet to score earlier than the 83rd minute this season.

The injury to Steven Gerrard, which rules the skipper out of Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa and possibly next month’s home clash with Manchester United, has compounded Benitez’s worries.

It was telling that Kuyt’s winner should come from the flank, substitute Ryan Babel cutting in from the left on to his right foot and crossing deep for his Dutch team-mate to beat Standard’s Dante to the ball and force home.

Liverpool were once more hampered by a chronic lack of width until Babel and the lively Nabil El Zhar were introduced during the second half.

Small wonder Benitez is so keen to wrap up a deal for Espanyol’s left winger Albert Riera.

Olympic medallists Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva were saluted pre-match along with boxer and Liverpool fan David Price, who won a bronze in Beijing.

But Liverpool needed the midfield pair on the pitch during the game, not before it; Benitez having made a calculated gamble to omit both from the squad list. It almost backfired.

Standard coach Laszlo Boloni claimed beforehand that an away victory last night would have represented the biggest by a Belgian side in Europe in 40 years.

The evidence of a one-sided first leg, in which Liverpool were extremely lucky to escape with a goalless draw, suggested otherwise.

And, as in Liege, the visitors dominated the chances in the opening half-hour with Reina again Liverpool’s best player.

The keeper produced a brilliant save in the seventh minute, diving at full stretch to his right to turn away a 20-yard snapshot from Dieumerci Mbokani, rightly identified as a dangerman by Benitez. Reina made a similar stop in the 18th minute. With Liverpool’s defence slow to react to a ball pumped into the box, an unmarked Igor De Camargo completely missed his kick from eight yards out but retrieved possession and crossed for Marouane Fellaini to improvise a volley Reina did well to repel.

Marcos then sent an ambitious effort dipping wide as Standard gave Liverpool little encouragement going forward, Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane well shackled by the robust centre-back pairing of Onyewu and Mohamed Sarr.

The home side were largely restricted to shots from range. Goalkeeper Aragon Espinoza beat out a curling Fabio Aurelio free-kick early on, Yossi Benayoun scuffed wide after a driven Gerrard pass and Xabi Alonso was off target from 25 yards.

Aurelio had replaced new boy Andrea Dossena at left-back and added more stability to backline that, for all the brickbats, has still only conceded one goal this season.

A deep corner from the Brazilian was headed wide by Kuyt at the far post, while Liverpool screamed for a penalty when Axel Witsel accidentally handled while attempting a sliding clearance.

It would have been a harsh call against the Standard man, but no harsher than the penalty Dossena conceded a fortnight ago.

Liverpool finally roused themselves after the interval. Torres ended a trademark slaloming run with a shot that was blocked when a pass to the unmarked Kuyt was the better option, the Dutchman then struck wide and, in a rare clear opening, Keane couldn’t gain a proper connection to a low Alvaro Arbeloa cross.

Keane had been part of the Inter Milan team shocked by Swedish outsiders Helsingborg in the qualifying round back in 2000, but enjoyed no greater fortune last night, sacrificed along with the disappointing – and admittedly out-of-position – Benayoun as Benitez sent on Babel and El Zhar.

Standard were on the defensive for most of the second half but almost snatched victory in the last minute when De Camargo headed wide a right-wing Marcos cross.

Arbeloa tested Espinoza from distance in extra time while El Zhar could easily have been awarded a penalty after going down in the box under the weight of a rash challenge.

Standard, though, couldn’t hold out and, with two minutes of extra time remaining, Kuyt netted the ninth goal in his last 15 Champions League appearances to break

It ensured Liverpool maintain their record of having never been eliminated from a Champions League qualifier. Rome, though, seems an awful long way away right now.