After the 3-0 victory win at PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, which makes Liverpool overwhelming favourites to reach the semi-finals, the task facing the captain and manager may be to keep a lid on rampant expectations.
As they returned to John Lennon Airport at 4am yesterday, with nothing to declare but a seemingly unassailable first-leg lead, it was easy to imagine Liverpool lifting the European Cup for a sixth time. Yet no sooner had Gerrard suggested that the mood was reminiscent of their last run to the final than the realisation kicked in that Chelsea or Valencia bar their way to Athens.
"We're getting the same feeling we had two years ago," the England midfielder said, despite the fact that only five members of the side that achieved the miracle against Milan were on the pitch in Eindhoven. " But I'm also telling myself to slow down and remember we have a lot more work to do before we can think about Athens.
"We did a really good job against PSV and we have one foot in the last four. But I don't want to think about the semis yet. We have to be professional about the second leg, and we know we'll have two really tough games whoever we play next."
Gerrard, who replaced Ian Rush as Liverpool's top scorer in Europe's premier competition when he headed them in front with his 15th Champions League goal, saw the demolition of the Dutch champions as evidence of their ability to handle the contrasting challenges thrown up by the knockout stages. " Everyone was doubting us when we played Barcelona, but we showed what we're capable of," he said.
"It was the reverse against PSV. Everyone was expecting us to beat them and I suppose there was a lot more pressure on us. That is the pleasing aspect - that we can perform when the pressure is on as well as with being the underdogs."
Gerrard's rich vein of form is as timely for Liverpool as it is for himself after an energy-sapping summer spent fighting Sven Goran Eriksson's lost cause. "I was really frustrated at the start of the season," he said. "I didn't have much energy and didn't feel the way I like to going into games. I felt lethargic and tired from only a little rest after a World Cup that was both physically and mentally draining.
"Towards Christmas, I could feel bits and bobs of my game coming back and I feel sharp. I'm training better and, hopefully, I'm peaking at the right time because there are some big matches around the corner."
When they drew 0-0 at PSV during the group stages, Gerrard felt Liverpool were groping for consistency. Not so now. "If you look around our team, all the big players - [Jamie] Carragher, [Jose] Reina, [Xabi] Alonso - are performing really well."
The ever-cautious Benitez restricted himself to saying "maybe" Liverpool would contest the semi-finals. But his inner delight showed when he added: "I believe this is a better side than when we won the final. We have signed better players and others have more European experience."
The loss of Fabio Aurelio with an Achilles tendon injury was the only dampener on Liverpudlian spirits. The Brazilian left-back faces a four-month lay-off but the atmosphere in the party was encapsulated by Benitez's praise for Peter Crouch after his second headed goal in two games.
"We had been talking to him, before and after his nose operation, to show more confidence with his heading," he said. "It seems to have worked. If he has a few games without scoring, maybe we should arrange to break his nose again."
* George Gillett, one of Liverpool's American co-owners, yesterday said he and Tom Hicks are reviewing plans to make the new Stanley Park stadium bigger than a 60,000 capacity, saying: "We have to be economically competitive. We don't want to fall behind."