Eric Gerets had vowed not to seek merely the draw that would have sent his team through, but a determination to attack isn't admirable if it means shooting yourself in the foot. Which is what Marseille did almost immediately tonight. In a direct reversal of these sides' encounter at Anfield in October, the visitors played like masters, the hosts like schoolboys.
Marseille had at least learned one lesson, the one taught by Porto and Besiktas in Liverpool's previous away matches in this year's Champions League, and by Reading last Saturday, ie that tearing in to Liverpool from the outset can disturb them, and expose a nervous tendency to resort to long balls too quickly. Unfortunately for the French, they couldn't apply that lesson, despite clustering no less than six players around the centre circle for kick-off and charging forward to dispossess Steven Gerrard within seconds.
Their zeal was headless, however, and moments later they were exposed with embarrassing ease. Dirk Kuyt's ballooned ball forward was clever, but can't be described as defence-splitting for the simple reason that the defence had already split - three minutes into a match that they didn't need to win, all 10 of Marseille's outfield players were in the opposing half. That's just silly.
Gaël Givet should have been sent off for his subsequent foul on Gerrard, but even if he'd walked it is hard to believe the gaps in Marseille's defence could have been any bigger. Their disjointedness was effortlessly exploited by Yossi Benayoun and, in particular, Harry Kewell, Rafael Benítez having wisely opted to deploy two widemen against fullbacks who generally exude the positional nous of Alaskan sunbathers.
If that was a tactical triumph for Benítez, albeit one aided by Marseille's inexperience/ ineptitude, then the performance of Fernando Torres was vindication of another kind. Firstly, the striker's exuberant menace suggested his controversial early removal from the Reading defeat had borne fruit, but, most importantly, it underlined the fact that on the one occasion Benítez has been entrusted with a transfer fee comparable to those spent by title rivals such as Manchester United and Chelsea, he has invested it wisely.
Torres's goal was beautiful. Karim Ziani was certainly guilty of neglecting to chase the Spaniard as he latched onto Kewell's through-ball, but Torres's work from that point - his sleek feint and dash past Lorik Cana and Julien Rodriguez followed by his slick finish - was reminiscent of John Barnes in the Maracana, or Michael Laudrup's famous goal for Denmark against Uruguay at the 1986 World Cup.
Or perhaps more pertinently in terms of the Premier League, which is reputedly Liverpool's priority this season, it recalled Thierry Henry. Accordingly, everything Torres did after that emphasised that Liverpool now have a player who, like Henry in his pomp, can collect the ball almost anywhere on the pitch and go on to threaten a goal. Though his finishing skills still need finetuning, as his 42nd-minute poke over the bar proved, he is unquestionably a game-breaker, meaning Liverpool now have two - possibly four, if we add the richly promising Benayoun and Ryan Babel to Gerrard. How many do Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea have?
And how many more could Benítez buy if his bosses quit complaining about the reality of the business they've just bought into and coughed up the cash that's required to keep pace with the best? When even Kuyt - hitherto pound-for-pound Benítez's worst signing - starts looking like a shrewd nuisance, it's perhaps time to come out and publicly back the manager. Or maybe just slag off Marseille.
