London(Xinhua) : Liverpool got their stuttering UEFA Champions League football campaign back on track with a record-breaking 8-0 victory against Turkish club Besiktas.
The English Premier League side had managed only a draw in their three previous outings but broke the record Tuesday night for the highest-ever Champions League victory margin shared by Arsenal and Juventus.
Playing at home on Anfield, England striker Peter Crouch gave Liverpool the lead before Israeli international Yossi Benayoun took centre stage with his first Champions League goal on the half-hour mark.
He added two more in the 53rd and 56th minutes, thus opening the floodgates. Captain Steven Gerrard made it 5-0 and substitute Ryan Babel added another two to equal the record margin.
Crouch ensured that the evening ended as it had begun, with his second goal on the night to put his club into the records book.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said they had gone into the game knowing they needed to win.
“The players knew that they had to give everything and they showed true character and class. Once we scored the first goal, that took a lot of pressure off us and once we started scoring it seemed easy.”
He said however, that the victory was only a small step towards qualifying for the next round.
“We need to win the next two games to go through. Let us see what the situation is at the end of those two matches.”
The win takes the Premiership side to four points in Group A, three behind leaders Olympique Marseille and four behind Porto, who beat the French side 2-1 in Portugal with goals by Moroccan Tarik Sektioui and Lisandro Lopez, while Mamadou Niang scored for the visitors.
In Group B Norwegian club Rosenborg Trondheim took a giant step towards qualifying for the knock-out stages with a 2-0 win in Valencia, while Chelsea played to a goalless draw at Schalke 04 in Germany.
The London side lead the group with eight points, one more than Rosenborg, while Schalke have four points. Valencia are last with three points from their three games.
In Valencia former Tottenham Hotspur player Steffen Iversen scored both goals for Rosenborg.
Group C remains wide open after leaders Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw in Athens by Olympiakos, who ended the game with 10 men, while Serie A side Lazio beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in Rome.
Tommaso Rocchi scored twice in the second half for Lazio, while Brazilian midfielder Diego, who was sent off in injury time, scored from the spot for the Bundesliga side.
Real Madrid has eight points, three more than Olympiakos and Lazio, while Werder Bremen have just three.
In Group D, AC Milan, who won 3-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to second-half goals by Filippo Inzaghi (2) and Kaka, took a giant step towards the next round.
The Serie A side have nine points, while Celtic, who beat Benfica Lisbon 1-0, have six, the same as Donetsk. Benfica, who ended the game in Glasgow with 10 men after Cameroonian midfielder Gilles Binya was sent off for a horrendous tackle on Scott Brown, have three points.