A European match kicking off in the afternoon felt strange, a bit like Roy Evans vintage wine presented in a plastic bottle. The blazing sun rather than the floodlights continued the unfamiliarity of this match, but much stranger things have happened and Liverpool started their European journey in the Stade Municipal in the French South-West city, a journey which is unknown where it will lead to and what adventures will it present to both the team and its fans.

Toulouse seemed to treat the occassion similarly to the way a Championship side will treat an FA Cup tie against a Premiership one televised on Sky. Their fans seemed to rise up to the occassion too, filling the four sides of the stadium, and along with their noise adorned the terraces with their long, narrow flags. Liverpool with six changes from last Saturday's Premiership opener quickly showed their European pedigree and experience though, dictated the pace of the match, while letting their over zealous opponents do the running in the scorching heat. Mentioning journeys earlier on, this was a rather plain sailing one, with next to nothing hitches or twists. The finishing line can only be achieved in two weeks time, as how Jamie Carragher correctly reminded but the display was efficient and the boss is happy about the proceedings of this counter.

The killer blow as dealt by the new kid on the block, Andriy Voronin. Having his back some twenty-five yards away from their goal, he gladly chested Crouch's flick from Finnan's cross, let the ball bounce before him and unleashed an unmerciful shot which only the top right hand corner of their net could stop.

Without much aplomb, hype or headlines, the Ukranian is settling quietly into the side and contributing his fair share to the side. I wasn't expecting much from him myself, but so far he is proving me wrong and am happy to eat my humble pie. His official goal scoring account was opened with a big thud of a warning of what he might offer in the future which was already discreetly shown in the pre-season.

An away goal, a clean sheet and modest opposition render proper Champions League football on the amber light. All will be forgotten by next Sunday where the focus will all be directed on Chelsea's foruth return to Anfield this year, albeit under different circumstances and with different reasons to fight for.