Anfield has a special atmosphere even when there isn't a game happening, so how much more so does it come to life when it is hosting a European tie. Some of Liverpool's most famous and magical moments have occurred in Europe. Liverpool's first encounter with the European Cup occurred in 1964. With Bill Shankly at the helm, it has won the League for the first time in 17 years. It's first match was against KR Reykjavík of Iceland. Over the two legs, Liverpool hammered the hapless Icelanders 11-1 and so Liverpool were on its way. It defeated Anderlecht in the next round and met Koln in the quarter-finals. After two scoreless matches, Liverpool advanced to the final four courtesy of a coin toss. It would be the beginning of Liverpool's never-ending lucky streak in Europe. Liverpool met the defending champions Inter in the semi-finals and won the opening leg at Anfield 3-1. The return leg was marked by some questionable refereeing and Liverpool lost 3-0 to go out 4-3 on aggregate.
The club had had a taste of European action and wanted more. It wasn't until the late 1970s they Liverpool mastered the European Cup and it was most likely its two UEFA Cup triumphs in the mid 70s that helped it get there.
Liverpool defeated Club Brugge in the 1976 UEFA Cup final and went into the 1976-77 European Cup campaign full of confidence. Bob Paisley was now in charge of Liverpool and he was the man to take them to next level. In the opening round, the Northern Irish Crusaders lost 7-0 on aggregate. This set up a second round tie with the Turkish Trabzonspor who Liverpool easily got past. French Saint-Étienne posed a stern test in the quarter-finals, but Liverpool finally shrugged them off 3-2 after super-sub David Fairclough scoring the winning goal. Liverpool had no problem dispatching Zurich in the semi-final and progressed to play Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final in Rome. The two had met in the 1973 UEFA Cup Final which Liverpool won 3-2 on aggregate.
Liverpool was led by Emlyn Hughes and had the likes of Kevin Keegan, Phil Neal and Terry McDermott in the team. Bertie Vogts captained the German team that had Jupp Heynckes. McDermott opened the scoring with Allan Simonsen equalizing in the 52nd minute. Ray Clemence in goal made some incredible saves for Liverpool. This deflated the Germans and they conceded two goals to give Liverpool its first European Cup. This would be Kevin Keegan's final game for Liverpool.
Liverpool would also go on to win the Super Cup. Defending its title, Liverpool received a bye into the second round. It eased passed Dynamo Dresden and Benfica before it was to yet again meet Borussia Mönchengladbach. This time a place in the final was on the line. The Germans won the opening match 2-1 at home but again Anfield provided the spark as Liverpool won the second leg 3-0. The 1978 final was against another familiar team in Club Brugge. At Wembley, Liverpool had the advantage of being the home team and made it count winning thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal.
Liverpool's chances of making it three in a row when it was drawn to play fellow English team, Nottingham Forest. There was no country protection then and Forest were too good winning 2-0. Forest were a quality team and would go on to win the first of two successive European Cups.
Liverpool's European luster was diminished somewhat with another first round exit in the 1979-80 competition. The Russian Dinamo Tbilisi defeated it 4-2 on aggregate.
Just when rumors of its death were exaggerated, Liverpool bounced back. With a point to prove, it was on a mission in the 1980-81 European Cup. It pulverized Finnish side OPS 11-2 in the opening round before knocking out Aberdeen 5-0 in the second round. Getting past CSKA Sofia in the quarter-finals, it was next drawn to meet Bayern Munich. After a 0-0 opening leg at Anfield, Ray Kennedy scored to see Liverpool through on away goals.
The dream final pitted Liverpool against Real Madrid. It was Real Madrid's first European Cup final since 1966. With both sides tense, it was quite a dull match until Alan Kennedy burst onto a throw-in and rammed home the winner.
Liverpool then had problems getting past the quarter-finals. CSKA Sofia had its revenge knocking it out 2-1 on aggregate and Polish side Widzew Lodz did it a year later winning 4-3 after two legs.
The 1984 European Cup triumph is best remembered for Bruce Grobbelar's antics at the penalty shoot-out. Back in Rome, the match was tied 1-1 after extra time, Grobbelar tried to put off the Roma players and it worked with both Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani missing. This left Alan Kennedy to slot home the winning penalty. Joe Fagan had just replaced Bob Paisley as manager and it was a great way to start his time in charge. Liverpool's fourth triumph in seven years saw it edge past Bayern Munich and Ajax who both had three wins and established it undeniably as the most dominant team in Europe. Real Madrid had won the Cup six times but the last time had been 1966.
Liverpool lost the 1984 Super Cup to Juventus and would meet the Italians again in the European Cup final. The final was played at Heysel and is sadly remembered for the tragedy that saw 39 fans killed. The game went again and Juventus won it 1-0 in a game the Liverpool players hearts were never in. Liverpool fans were blamed for the incident and English clubs were banned from Europe for three years with Liverpool receiving an extra three year ban.
Liverpool returned to the Champions League in 2001-02. With a young side, they were new to the rigors of playing in the premier club competition in the world but started well getting as far as the quarter finals until Bayer Leverkusen knocked it out.
It won the trophy for the fifth time in 2005 when it rallied from a three goal half time deficit to win on penalties. Jerzy Dudek called on the spirit of Bruce Grobbelar to try and put off the Milan players. When Andriy Shevchenko missed, Liverpool had won the trophy for the first time in 21 years. Two years later it would again meet Milan in the final but this time the Milanese prevailed.
In recent years, Liverpool has developed a fantastic rivalry with Chelsea. Unbelievably, the two have met in Europe in each of the five last years. It had the upper hand at first winning the first two but Chelsea has bounced back and knocked Liverpool out of the competition in each of the last two years. The 4-4 at Stamford Bridge is one of the greatest ever European matches.