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 Belgians.

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 to contemplate rubbing shoulders with Europe’s lesser lights in the Uefa Cup.

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

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

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

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 manager was spared a similar red face, he can expect a critical pelting.

Standard, who were beaten in both legs in their previous encounter with Liverpool back in the 1965-66 European Cup Winners Cup, had conceded 11 goals on their last two visits to England when thrashed by ManCity and Arsenal.

There was no chance of a repeat last night. Well organised, determined and with confidence oozing throughout the team, Standard were everything Liverpool were not.

Going into the game, Liverpool boasted a 100% record in five games against Belgian opposition at Anfield and had never been beaten at this stage of the competition.

Benitez made just one change from the weekend’s last-gasp victory over Middlesbrough, the fit-again Fabio Aurelio replacing Andrea Dossena.

Standard welcomed back central defender Oguchi Onyewu from suspension, the only alteration to the team that gave Liverpool such a fright at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne a fortnight ago.

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

But Liverpool needed the midfield pair on the pitch during the game, not before it.

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

The evidence of a one-sided first leg suggested otherwise. And, as in Liege, the visitors dominated the chances in the opening period with Pepe Reina once 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 before the game.

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 distance,

Kuyt later headed a deep Aurelio corner wide 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 convert 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 Benayoun as Benitez sought to address a chronic lack of width by once again introducing Ryan Babel and Nabil El Zhar from the bench.

Standard were on the defensive for most of the second half but almost snatched victory in the last minute when De Camargo headed wide.

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 Babel, marauding down the left, cut on to his right foot and sent in a deep cross which Kuyt bundled in.