The 2005 champions were much the better side, particularly in a largely one-sided first half, but still suffered several late scares as Maccabi came close to snatching a shock result.

Beanpole striker Peter Crouch opened the scoring on 54 minutes with a near post header from Jermaine Pennant's cross after the former Arsenal and Birmingham winger had beaten defender Haim Magralishvili.

But nine minutes later Roberto Colautti tapped home the equaliser after Xavier Anderson made a storming run from midfield right at the heart of the Liverpool defence.

Pepe Reina kept out his shot at full stretch but was powerless to prevent Colautti mopping up the rebound.

Crouch admitted it had not been a pretty game to watch but paid credit to stubborn opponents.

"That was a difficult game. They proved over the two legs that they were a difficult side to play against," he told ITV. "It wasn't pretty but at least we got through."

Crouch is at least thriving on the service of wingers Pennant and Chilean Mark Gonzalez as coach Rafael Benitez has switched to a classic British style of play this season.

"It's good for someone like me to have two wingers like Pennant and Gonzalez. Pennant did great going down the wing and for me it was just a case of getting in the box."

Crouch is also far from over-awed by the challenge of keeping his place in the side following the arrival of Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt from Feyenoord.

"Of course it's good to have competition. You're always going to have competition at a big club and I hope I can thrive on that and get a couple of goals."

The English Premiership team dominated the ball in the first half but it was Maccabi who came the closest to scoring on 21 minutes when Alain Masudi's strike was ruled out for a marginal offside against former West Ham forward Yaniv Katan.

Luis Garcia was at the helm of most of Liverpool's attacking probes in the first period and three times he was denied by Maccabi goalkeeper Nir Davitovitch.

Xabi Alonso also pulled the trigger on one occasion but his delightful, disguised curling effort sailed just inches wide of Davitovitch's post.

Six minutes after the break, Alonso again went close with a free-kick this time, but he just could not find the inside of the far post.

Just three minutes later, though, Crouch managed his first ever European goal.

After Collauti's equaliser, though, Maccabi went close to snatching a victory and taking the tie, which had been switched to Kiev over security fears in Israel, into extra time.

Eight minutes from the end, Collauti hit a stunning long-range curling strike that Reina tipped away with his fingertips.

That came just four minutes after young Danish centre-back Daniel Agger had to hack the ball away after substitute Eyal Meshumar had carved through the Reds' rearguard.

Benitez will have been a relieved man to hear the final whistle as his no-frills outfit made the money-spinning progress to the group stages of Europe's premier club competition.

The draw for the group stages takes place on Thursday where champions Barcelona and big guns Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan enter the fray.