In the immediate aftermath of their epic Champions League triumph over AC Milan in Istanbul, it wasn't known whether Liverpool would be given the opportunity to defend their title after finishing outside of the top four in the Premier League table.

To rub salt into the wound, it was Merseyside rivals Everton that had claimed the final spot, but after lengthy discussions with UEFA, common sense prevailed and Liverpool were given permission to enter the 2005 competition in the first qualifying round.

After comfortably dispatching Welsh outfit TNS in their opening tie, Rafael Benitez's side were paired with Lithuanian club Kaunas, and despite the first leg being played away from home, it was a fixture that Liverpool were expected to win by a wide margin.

Benitez named a strong starting lineup, with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso taking their usual positions in the centre of midfield, while Peter Crouch made his Liverpool debut alongside Djibril Cisse in attack.

However, despite the belief that the Premier League team would encounter few problems against a team that were limited in ability, the offside trap that Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia were trying to employ wasn't working, and with that keeping Liverpool under pressure, Kaunas capitalised to take the lead through Giedrius Barevicius's close-range finish.

Kaunas's opener proved to be a blessing in disguise for Liverpool as it provided them with the motivation to show their class against the minnows, and six minutes after falling behind, they managed to get themselves back on level terms.

Boudewijn Zenden, who had enjoyed a bright start to the match, delivered an inviting cross from the left-hand side for Crouch to head the ball into the path of Cisse, who applied a clinical finish on the half-volley from inside the penalty area.

The equaliser had a stinging effect on the hosts, and before they could attempt to regain a foothold in the match, Liverpool struck again through Carragher, who netted his first goal for the Reds in six-and-a-half years.

The goal came from a set piece, with Gerrard sending in a corner for the defender to glance the ball into the net after taking the smallest of deflections off Irmantas Zelmikas.

With two away goals to their name, Liverpool were now in full control of the tie, and five minutes after the break, they effectively ended the two-legged encounter as a contest by netting their third of the night through Gerrard.

The skipper played an incisive one-two with Crouch before being hauled down in the penalty area to win a spot kick for his team, and after getting to his feet, he struck the ball confidently past Eduardas Kurskis.

The remainder of the second half was played in Kaunas's half, but despite the best efforts of Cisse and substitute Luis Garcia, Liverpool couldn't add a fourth to their total before the referee blew his full-time whistle.

After completing formalities at Anfield a week later, Liverpool defeated CSKA Sofia in the final qualifying round to progress through to the group stages where they were drawn with Chelsea, Real Betis and Anderlecht.

However, despite progressing through their six matches without experiencing defeat, Liverpool's trophy defence came to an end at the last-16 stage when they lost out to Benfica by a 3-0 margin on aggregate.