Liverpool beat Toulouse 4-0 on the night, 5-0 on aggregate, to reach the group stage of the Champions League. It was the first time since 1997 that neither Steven Gerrard nor Jamie Carragher had been in the Liverpool side for a European tie, but the injured pair were hardly missed as Yossi Benayoun impressed in midfield and Peter Crouch, Sami Hyypia and Dirk Kuyt (2) scored in a thoroughly convincing performance.
Afterwards, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was said: purring with satisfaction about the strength in depth hev now has in his squad.
Benitez had made seven changes from the team that started the 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday, and the Spanish tactician said: "I was very pleased with the performance, we played well and you can see the competition now for places with players working to impress right to the end," said Benitez.
"I know Peter Crouch has been out of the last two games and he has now scored eight in his last 10 games in Europe.
"But if the team keeps winning and everyone else scores goals as well, I will be happy.
"I was able to bring in Benayoun, Leto and Lucas for this game and they all did well."
Benitez now feels he has good options in every position.
"You can see the quality in every position. I have two players to chose from now for every place and the players know that.
"I now do not need to talk a lot about one or two star players all the time, I have players everywhere who want to play and have the ability to play."
However, Benitez was not happy with everything he saw from his side tonight.
"I was a little bit worried in the first half because we kept giving the ball away and they caused problems on the counter attack," he said.
"We needed to be awake and alert and needed the second goal to kill the game off and then we started enjoying our football.
"It is important to be in the group stage. These kind of games you must treat with caution and now I'm pleased to be looking forward to see the draw and see how far we can go."
Before the match started, Anfield paid tribute to the murdered 11-year-old, Rhys Jones, and Benitez said his tragic death had put football in its proper perspective.
As well as that tragedy, Benitez was also shaken by the sudden death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta who collapsed during a game at the weekend and died today in hospital.
"Football must take a back seat when such tragedies happen. It was very emotional for me and all you can do at this point is offer your respect and support," said Benitez.
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