But had it not been for a bit of bad luck Steven Gerrard could have become the stadium’s opening goalscorer only for the skipper’s thunderous strike to be kept out by the crossbar.

Had it not been a friendly then Espanyol defender Nico Pareja would have had the dubious distinction of receiving the first red card after Fernando Torres was felled when clean through on goal but the Catalan referee’s benevolence gave him a reprieve.

Gerrard’s battle with the woodwork continued from the resultant free-kick which hit the inside of the post before rebounding to safety, concluding a flurry of goalmouth activity in the latter stages of the first half.

Liverpool’s competitive heckles had been raised by some over zealous tackling from the home side and the visitors fought fire with fire as Lucas, Jamie Carragher and Javier Mascherano were all booked for a trio of hefty challenges prior to half-time.

With the tempo having been well and truly raised Liverpool duly looked to restore parity during the opening minutes of the second period but their growing pressure went unrewarded mainly due to the resoluteness of Espanyol’s back line.

With full sharpness still to be established in their attacking positions Liverpool found it difficult to break down what was a stubborn defence and Benitez will undoubtedly be looking to add a more ruthless cutting edge in the two weeks he has before the Premier League gets under way.

But he will have been more than satisfied with the effort his players put in, typified by the non-stop running of Gerrard and Torres and the trademark commitment of Carragher and Dirk Kuyt.

Equally, the Reds boss will have been heartened by Lucas’s display in the heart of midfield. It would be stretching things somewhat to suggest that the Brazilian is seen as Alonso’s heir apparent but his willingness and desire to do well is certainly not in question.

If they were the reasons to be cheerful then the manner in which Liverpool conceded their second goal will undoubtedly have disappointed Benitez as another bout of slipshod defending allowed former Chelsea man Ben Sahar to score past the exposed Reina.

Pre-season is not the time for apportioning too much in the way of blame nor for scapegoats to be created but the rollicking Reina dished out to substitute Philipp Degen certainly suggested the Liverpool goalkeeper was far from impressed with the protection he was being afforded by his right-back.

He won’t have been alone either with the 2,000-strong travelling contingent of Liverpool fans in the away end again left scratching their heads in bewilderment at what qualities the Swiss international brings to their team.

Liverpool – who wore black arm bands in tribute to the late Sir Bobby Robson who died on Friday – kept pushing to get a goal back but this was to be Espanyol’s night and nothing was going to spoil it – especially not when Sahar added a third after yet more poor defending.

Incidentally, the La Liga outfit’s fabulous new ground cost just £60m. That’s £20m less than Real Madrid shelled out for Ronaldo and around double what they will probably end up paying for Alonso.

It is also almost precisely the amount that Liverpool have set aside – and almost spent – for the preparatory work to begin on their own new stadium which still remains little more than an architects’ plan.

If their visit to Espanyol proved anything to Liverpool it will be that a great deal of work is still to be done – both on and off the pitch.