Marseille had prompted the best and worst from Liverpool last year, with the home defeat followed by a magnificent 4-0 victory in France to earn their passage to the last 16.

The return of the skipper and Benitez’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation meant there was no place in the starting line-up for Robbie Keane, despite the Irishman netting in two of the previous three Champions League games.

It took Gerrard just 23 minutes to mark his comeback with the winner, the midfielder left criminally unmarked at the far post to head home Xabi Alonso’s deep cross beyond a static Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

The lead was just reward for a bright opening from Benitez’s side in which the Torres-Gerrard partnership showed definite signs of flickering back into life, Marseille left-back Taye Taiwo alert to intercept following one dangerous combination.

Torres’s persistence down the right flank earned an opening for Dirk Kuyt, whose first-time shot was only parried by Mandanda before being ushered behind by the Marseille defence.

But once ahead, Liverpool’s intensity dropped allowing Marseille, for whom only a win would keep them in the competition, to gain a foothold in the game.

They twice came close within the space of a minute shortly before the break. Having earned a free-kick 25 yards out, Ben Arfa – by some distance the game’s stellar performer – rolled a free-kick into the path of Taiwo, whose rasping low drive was turned behind by a sprawling Reina at his left-hand post.

From the resultant Ben Arfa corner, Reina misjudged the flight of the ball but was relieved to see centre-back Ronald Zubar send his header wide with the goal unattended.

Liverpool forced the final chance of the half when Albert Riera skipped into a good position on the edge of the area and drew a good save by Mandanda with a right-foot shot.

However, Marseille remained the more threatening after the interval. After narrowly failing to reach an inviting ball over the top from Karim Ziani, striker Mamadou Niang should have done better when cutting inside Carragher but shooting weakly at Reina.

With the game increasingly stretched, Mandanda beat out a Riera shot at his near post while, at the other end, Ben Arfa beat substitute Andrea Dossena too easily but his low cross was behind the incoming Benoit Cheyrou.

Dossena was at fault again for Marseille’s next chance, needlessly felling Laurent Bonnart on the edge of the area with Reina then required to make a fine save to claw clear a Ben Arfa free-kick that was curling into the top corner.

To be fair, Dossena made amends shortly afterwards with a fine sliding block to deny Niang after another defensive mistake, this time by Daniel Agger.

Alonso struck a cheeky free-kick into the side-netting before Dossena again bailed out Agger with the ever-dangerous Niang waiting to capitalise.

Liverpool, though, held on to ensure a fifth successive progress from the Champions League group stages under Benitez.