It seemed Milan Baros had given his team a narrow advantage to take to the South of France despite another disjointed performance. That was until Didier Drogba capitalised on what Gérard Houllier, the Liverpool manager, generously described as "a defensive misunderstanding". Liverpool will now need at least a score draw at the Stade Velodrome on Thursday week if they are to reach the quarter-finals.
"We didn't play particularly well," Houllier admitted. "They frustrated us and there weren't many chances. But I thought it might be one of those nights where you play badly yet still win 1-0."
If Houllier has presided over a troubled season for Liverpool, Jose Anigo, the Marseilles coach, has hardly had an easy ride himself since being promoted mid-season following the sacking of Alain Perrin. A hard-fought 1-0 aggregate win over the Ukrainian side Dnipro saw them through to this tie but recent league form has been far from impressive two goalless draws followed by a 4-1 defeat at Bastia hardly representing the ideal preparation.
Buoyed on by a small but vociferous band of supporters, Marseilles made their intentions clear from the start. Steve Marlet, the forward currently on loan from Fulham, frequently dropped deep to augment what was already a five-man midfield.
Nevertheless, he should have converted his team's first attack, but with the Liverpool goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland, stranded he screwed his shot wide.
Liverpool were being so stifled that the sum effort of their first-half performance was a single half-chance. Despite a rotational system in midfield, with Harry Kewell, Danny Murphy and Steven Gerrard interchanging positions around Dietmar Hamann, they only threatened when Gerrard was central.
They had to improve in the second half. Kewell began to attack the Marseilles defence and Hamann's flashing header almost rewarded Gerrard's swinging dead ball.
Then came the breakthrough they scarcely deserved. Gerrard burst forward, driving past defenders as much by force of will as anything else. When he drew a challenge from the advancing Fabien Barthez, Baros was on hand, sliding in, to guide the ball into the unguarded net.
Their growing superiority was abruptly ended with little more than 10 minutes left. From a position of little promise, defensive ineptitude allowed Drogba to finish from close range for his 22nd goal of a prolific season. It was Gerrard who predictably led Liverpool's response, drawing a fine save from Barthez. In the last minute, Hyypia looked to have won the game but his header was scrambled off the line.
"They obviously think it's all over because we could hear them singing in their dressing-room afterwards," Houllier said. "But I know we can play better and they've just done my team talk for me."
"When we do things well, we celebrate," Anigo responded. "Sorry for not crying when we were happy. We know there's a long way to go it was just such a lift for us after our recent form. Liverpool will still be a threat in the second leg."