You wouldn't have thought Liverpool had reached two Champions League finals in three years, winning the first in extraordinary style. It seemed the sort of outburst that only follows constant underachievement, not the script of a man in a position of power, who had brought back European glory to its previous home.

	Cause for concern: Rafael Benitez gives instructions to his players

But Benitez wanted more. He wanted a team that could win the Premier League, not just excel in cup competitions, however illustrious. Four months on from that defeat in Greece, with many millions of pounds spent in the interim, the demanding Spanish coach seems almost there.

Still early days, perhaps, but Liverpool now look the part – domestically at least – much more threatening going forward thanks to the arrival of players like Ryan Babel, Andrei Voronin and Fernando Torres.

With much more pace in the side and better-quality options, a sustained title assault already looks assured.

As for the Champions League, you would imagine the same improvements would automatically apply. If Liverpool could compete so successfully before, they should be even better equipped this time around. Only logical surely? What could go wrong?

class="story">Plenty, of course. Benitez knows that. But he would still have been slightly alarmed by the way his team defended in last night's Champions League opener in the Estadio do Dragao.

Led by the mesmeric skills of Ricardo Quaresma, Porto asked plenty of questions of the visitors' rearguard, a unit normally meaner than a traffic warden on commission.

Not quite so here, though. Even before the benefit of hindsight, the decision to play Sami Hyypia in preference to Daniel Agger, Jamie Carragher's normal partner these days in central defence, looked rather strange by Benitez's standards.

There didn't seem any need. It wasn't as if Porto were particularly strong in the air. Where they were strong, however, was the way they threaded clever passes down the side of defenders to cause several palpitations among that back four. And from such a pass came Porto's early goal, which made Liverpool's task all the more tricky.

Thirty-four next month, Hyypia just couldn't get his ageing legs going quickly enough to catch the darting Tarek Sektioui, who had sneaked in behind. As a result, Pepe Reina had no choice but to charge off his line, diving at his opponent's feet to concede a penalty.

Although Hyypia went on to set up Dirk Kuyt's equaliser with a towering header, this one moment alone raised legitimate doubts about Liverpool's strength in depth in an area that normally collects clean sheets for fun.