The fanatical Liege fans hang a massive 'Hell side' banner from their favourite end of their intimidating stadium.
And Liverpool know it is hell they escaped from. Jose Reina was their hero, saving a first-half penalty in the third qualifying round, first-leg clash.
• Rafa relieved after sub-standing showing
But the Spaniard looked to get away with clawing another shot back from behind the line as Liege pounded the Mersey giants.
Liege could easily have won by two or three goals, but Liverpool now know they have the chance of progressing to the lucrative group stages in front of their own fans.
There is around £10million of UEFA prize money at stake for them, and the spectre of Rangers' disastrous exit from this competition in the qualifiers will hang over Liverpool until they have put an end to Liege's dreams.
Boss Rafael Benitez opted not to risk skipper Steven Gerrard from the start, naming him on the bench, along with Andriy Voronin, while French teenager Damien Plessis played in central midfield alongside Xabi Alonso.
It means the Spaniard is now cup-tied in Europe if the Reds do sell him during the transfer window.
Italian full-back Andrea Dossena and £20million new boy Robbie Keane made their competitive Liverpool debuts as the five-times winners of this competition sought the expected comfortable step towards the group stages having never lost an away leg at this stage of the competition.
Liege were without the suspended American and one-time Newcastle defender, Oguchi Onyewu.
And the hosts were not prepared to risk Serbian striker Milan Javanovic, even on the bench, with him likely to be sold shortly to Marseille.
The locals whipped up quite a storm ahead of their club's appearance in the Champions League.
Their tight, high-sided, three-tier stadium was rocking with noise and flares lit up both ends of the Maurice Dufrasne stadium.
The Liege players responded to the fanatical support with a fierce opening that could have seen them score twice.
After just six minutes Reina looked to have clawed the ball back from behind the line after a close-range shot from Marouane Fellaini had bounced across goal off the far post.
Some Liege players protested, others tried to force the ball home in a six-yard box melee with Liverpool frozen in panic.
And Liverpool were still in a daze when they conceded a penalty soon after.
But Reina rescued the team again when he made a fine save with his legs from a Dante Bonfim penalty, after Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo adjudged that Dossena had handled a cross from Wilfried Dalmat, although the infringement looked outside the box.
Liverpool were in disarray at the back as crosses rained in, and their zonal marking at set-pieces looked ready to crack at any moment.
Liege continued to be quicker to the ball in midfield, and equally as fast to break at pace.
Alonso was booked for a tackle on Deiu Mbokani, and still Liverpool had barely got into Liege's box.
And when they did get that far up field, Fernando Torres was taking a fair bit of stick from the home defenders, Marcos Camozzato was eventually booked for one late assault on the Spaniard's ankles.
Alonso came closest for Liverpool in the opening half when he curled a 25-yard free-kick on to the net, but this was a mess and the silent Liverpool fans high up in the stadium knew it.
The second half continued in much the same vein, Liverpool being hounded into mistakes all over the pitch.
One 40-yard punt up field cleared the entire Liverpool defence and Axel Witsel almost got on the end of it in the box with Reina scrambling.
Belgian youngster Fellaini was dominating midfield from what was a holding role, with plenty of licence to attack. The 20-year-old continually broke up play and surged forward.
Another 20-year-old, skipper Steven Defour, was having an equally impressive game in the middle.
Torres, starved of service, managed a long-range low drive that went a foot wide.
But Liege were still surging forward, and they almost took the lead after 65 minutes when Igor de Camargo got in front of Daniel Agger to head a deep, angled pass from Bonfim just wide of Reina's right-hand post.
That was the cue for Gerrard's arrival in place of Keane, who had struggled desperately to make any sort of impact.
Alonso fired just wide and Gerrard lifted a free-kick over the bar, but Liege still came forward.
And it took a Yossi Benayoun clearance in front of an open goal to stop a Mbokani header that had beaten Reina, from bouncing home.
Gerrard clearly was not really right, but his influenced calmed frayed nerves.
Had the England midfielder been closer to fitness, surely Benitez would have brought him on earlier, such was the ineptitude of the Liverpool display.
Next into the fray was young Moroccan winger Nabil El Zhar, for Dirk Kuyt. And with two minutes left El Zhar was flattened by Tomislav Mikulic, costing the Serb a booking.
Gerrard almost fired the free-kick home, Rorys Aragon Espinoza saving to his left.
Rafa relieved after sub-standing showing
Rafael Benitez admitted his relief at the desperate goalless draw Liverpool achieved to keep their Champions League dreams alive.The five-time winners could easily have finished the match three or four goals
in arrears after a hammering from Standard Liege in everything but goals.Liverpool chief Benitez said: 'We were not surprised by the fine performance
of the Liege side, we had seen enough of them to know they were a good,
aggressive side.'The real surprise for me was the way Liverpool played. The only positive to
take from the match was the fact that we did not concede a goal.'We will have to be a lot better in the second leg at Anfield, much better.'We have been playing well in pre-season, looking confident and passing the
ball well.'But we did not do any of those things. I did not want to bring Steven Gerrard
on because the doctors had told me he was not fit enough to start the match.'We waited until well into the second-half before using him, but we were not
controlling the game and I had to bring him on.'Gerrard was initially ruled out with a thigh strain and looked well short of
his combative best when he eventually entered the fray.Benitez added: 'This game was far more difficult than we expected. And Jose
Reina was the man of the match.'Reina saved a first-half penalty and also looked to have clawed one effort back
from behind the line early on.Benitez said: 'We know we can always rely on Pepe to stop penalties, but we
have been told that the other effort may have been behind the line, but these
things happen.'Liege coach Laszlo Boloni praised his own side's performance, but said:
'Liverpool maybe came here asleep and not expecting this sort of game.'Maybe, though, we have woken them up for the second-leg, which will me much
harder for us.'We felt that if we did not lose this first-leg, we would still be in with a
chance. We know, though, that we still have to score and that could be the
problem.'But I want to praise my team. They attacked Liverpool from the start, and
when their goalkeeper pulled the ball back from behind the line, maybe the
referee was asleep too.'
Standard Liege 0 - 0 Liverpool
