Liverpool can examine the credentials of the other seven teams in the quarter-finals of the European Cup without a trace of fear. The style and the standards they showed at Anfield last night to crush Scottish champions Aberdeen provided proof that, on this form, they can go all the way in the most prestigious competition of all. It was not so much a trashing as something more humiliating - a spanking - of useful opponents who, on the night, did not deserve a place on the same park. One tiny statistic tells it all - the number of saves Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemence had to make that could be called worthy of his talents. There was just one - in the 23rd minute when Aberdeen striker Mark McGhee, for the only time in the game, broke clear of Liverpool central defender Phil Thompson to shoot. Clemence got his body behind the ball, held it - and that was the sum total of worthwhile Aberdeen resistance. Aberdeen's plan was to make it a game of patience, massing men back in the hope - eventually forlorn - of wearing down the Liverpool machine. The snag was that with so many raw untried youngsters in their side, the Scottish team's tactics invited Liverpool to attack on a night when they were in a mood to accept all the invitations to have a ball. In all started to go disastrously wrong for Aberdeen in the 37th minute with the worst type of goal-against-one scored by their own skipper defender Willie Miller. Trying to intercept a header from Alan Hansen, Miller steered the ball past Jim Leighton.

But it was no one's fault, rather a tribute to Liverpool's expertise, when they went even further in front two minutes from half time. A cheeky back heel from Kenny Dalglish, whose talents always troubled the Aberdeen defence, set full back Phil Neal clear to make it 2-0. It is no exaggeration to claim that Liverpool could have doubled that score in the first five minutes of the second half when Ray Kennedy, Terry McDermott and Hansen all forced fine saves from Leighton. It was that sort of pressure that meant further goals inevitable and one arrived in the 58th minute. Full back Avi Cohen, who replaced Alan Kennedy, hit a cross against the bar, Sammy Lee retrieved the rebound, hoisted the ball back in the direction of Dalglish, who headed it neatly past Leighton. There were so many marvellous moments for Liverpool last night that it is hard to find any morsel of praise for Aberdeen. They were clean but not very clever and the goal which abides in the memory is the one which completed Liverpool's victory in the 71st minute. It was set up initially by Dalglish, carried on by Johnson and sent forward to McDermott. The Aberdeen defence were so bedazzled by the speed and accuracy of it all that they were left as spectators of Hansen's scoring shot. He did not so much as hit the net as pass the ball to it. It was made to look all so easy and Europe must now beware of Liverpool's third challenge for that great gleaming European Cup.

Liverpool, routine at first but remorseless for the most part, completed Aberdeen's removal from the European Cup at Anfield last night to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in three seasons. Having already won the away leg 1-0, Liverpool put the second-round tie beyond the reach of the Scottish champions with two goals in the last eight minutes of the first-half and completed another masterful performance with two more in the second. On last night's evidence, few would dispute Liverpool's case for becoming the first British club to win the European Cup three times. Of course they are likely to encounter opposition of rather higher quality than Aberdeen before this can be achieved - Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade or Real Madrid for example - but it would be wrong to dismiss their latest overwhelming victory simply as an easy demolition of substandard opponents. To be sure, Aberdeen lacked European experience, they had shown that in losing the first game at Pittodrie. But they are nothing is not a resolute team and, for half an hour last night, their defence, which has a good record in the Scottish League, covered and tackled diligently. Again the Scottish players in the Liverpool team appeared to make a point of dismantling the confidence and willpower of their compatriots. Dalglish had a marvellous match, full of quick accurate first-time touching and clean in perception; Souness's command eventually bordered on the arrogant and Hansen gave his attacking propensities full rein. Aberdeen had just one chance to stay in the tie as serious contestants, midway through the first-half when McGhee swerved past Thompson and side-stepped Neal's attempt at a covering tackle to leave himself with only Clemence to beat. Liverpool were fortunate that his shot went straight at the goalkeeper.

Ten minutes before half-time, Alan Kennedy limped off with a pulled thigh muscle and the change, while it might only have been coincidence, altered the whole complexion of the game. Two minutes later Liverpool scored with some assistance from the substitute, Cohen, but rather more help from Miller, one of Aberdeen's centre backs. Cohen collected a short corner from Dalglish on the left, Hansen headed on his hard, flat centre from the near post and Miller, attempting to clear the ball, merely nodded it into his own net. The largest Aberdeen banner on the terraces read: "Miller eats soft centres". Since this was his third own-goal in six matches, thoughts of fruit and nut cases inevitably sprang to mind. But to be fair to Miller, the centre was hardly soft. As if to show that they were in no need of such supplementary benefits, Liverpool ended the first-half by scoring a superb second goal. The movement began with Thompson passing the ball forward briskly, Dalglish back-heeled it first time into space to find Neal running clear on the blind side. Leighton was quick to leave his line and narrow the angle, but Neal simply switched the ball from right foot to left and scored with a precise shot inside the far post. But for Leighton, who made a quick succession of alert, agile saves, Liverpool would have doubled their lead in the first five minutes of the second-half. As it was, they scored a third two minutes before the hour when Cohen, spotting the goalkeeper off his line, lobbed the ball over his head and on to the bar, Lee pouncing on the rebound to give Dalglish an easy header into a gaping net. Eighteen minutes from the end a smooth sweet movement of six passes sauntered through the demoralised Aberdeen defence, McDermott sending in Hansen for Liverpool's fourth of the night and their fifth in the tie.

Long before the end, it was all terribly easy. Liverpool reduced their European Cup tie against Scottish champions Aberdeen at Anfield last night to a comfortable stroll as they reached the quarter finals with a 4-0 win (aggregate 5-0) which could have been stretched to whatever score they liked. It was almost embarrassing as they exposed the gap between English football at top level and its Scottish equivalent. Aberdeen were made to look like struggling beginners as the English champions showed a control and composure which Aberdeen could never match. Apart from the opening 30 minutes, when Aberdeen defended well and tried to contain a Liverpool team in supremely confident mood, the game became so one-sided that the Kop enjoyed themselves with the chant "Why are we so good?" The taunt was cruel in its cutting humour at the Scots but there could be no complaints from the Scottish contingent. The Scottish champions were outplayed, outthought, outrun. And, in the second half, when Liverpool turned on the class and the quality, it was indeed men against boys. The boys were never seen - and Ray Clemence in the Liverpool goal had just two shots to save throughout the game. The turning point, remarkably, was the arrival on the scene of Israeli international Avi Cohen. He came on for the injured Alan Kennedy after 35 minutes when the score was at stalemate with Liverpool on top but with no goals to show for their overall command. There seemed little danger to Liverpool but they had not made the tie safe and some urgency was needed as Aberdeen settled down to a defensive commitment with Rougvie, Miller and McLeish holding tight as Liverpool raided without anything to show for it. Cohen made an instant impact. He was involved in the fierce attack that led to Aberdeen having to concede a corner after 38 minutes. He moved up to take a short pass from Dalglish and turned the ball into the middle where the outstanding Hansen headed it into the goal mouth for the unfortunate Miller to slice the ball past his own goalkeeper.

It was the start of Aberdeen's disappearance from Europe for this season. They could not rally because Liverpool held all the attacking control as Graeme Souness and Terry McDermott took complete midfield command. And, just before half time, Phil Neal scored a gem of a goal to put the tie beyond Aberdeen's reach. Phil Thompson, on the heels of his eager front men, pushed the ball forward and Dalglish, with a cunning accurate back heel pass, sent Phil Neal into the clear. Neal, calm and sensible, tucked the ball past Leighton with the precision of an ace striker - a marvellous goal which decided the game. Dalglish and Alan Hansen scored second half goals to round off Liverpool's superiority, goals finished and made with a fluency which Aberdeen could not stop as Liverpool stroked the ball around with charm and quality It was one of Liverpool's easiest European Cup triumphs, based on supreme team work and class individual play in which Hansen and Souness were outstanding. As a couple of Scots, their part in Liverpool's success must have been even more hard to take for Aberdeen. Entertainment rating: four stars. Conditions: dry, cold, pitch soft.

Liverpool, as a team, deserve the man of the match reward. But it has to be an individual and Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, Phil Neal and Avi Cohen come into line for that. Cohen has to be highlighted for the impact he made as he came on as a first half substitute. Neal for the first class finishing touch to his goal which was a turning point, Souness for his calm and skilful midfield generalship which was a major factor. Hansen for the fact he never put a foot wrong. And, for that alone, it must be Hansen for another top rate display against the Scottish champions.

While many people, including the English and Scottish team managers, were busy saying that Liverpool can regain the European Cup, team boss Bob Paisley preferred to point out: "We have quite a game on our hands on Saturday." That game is against current European Cup holders Nottingham Forest and it was typical of the Liverpool chief that amidst all the praise for the quality of their 4-0 defeat of Aberdeen he was concentrating on the next game. But he was able also to savour his team's majestic display, particularly in the second half. Aberdeen battled well through the first half hour with a good defensive performance but then steadily collapsed into obscurity after their captain, international defender Willie Miller, sliced the ball past his own goalkeeper to put his team two down on aggregate.

Said Mr. Paisley: "It was probably due to the tension of the occasion that we played into their hands before Miller's goal. We were involved in too much challenge, too much man-to-man stuff instead of knocking the ball around and beating them that way. After that, we settled down and our second half was good. We had to isolate their men of inexperience and then hit them hard in those areas of the field. We were not doing it early on, but as soon as we did, we produced some good stuff." Two great goals by Phil Neal and Alan Hansen were highlights and I thought Hansen's goal, side-footed almost casually into the net, after a six-man, eight-pass move, typified Liverpool at their best, with the ball flowing quickly from man to man as though guided by an invisible radar beam. Mr. Paisley agreed but added: "Phil Neal's goal was very well taken, as well, and Kenny's back heel pass was timed just right as Phil was running forward." He said he found it difficult to name one of his own players as man of the match because it was, basically, a team display.

But he went on: "I'll give that to the East German referee Adolph Prokop. I thought he gave one of the finest refereeing exhibitions I have ever seen. He was fit and fast on his feet, quick in his decisions and although there was a lot of whistle, I've never known an official allow the game to flow so quickly. Free kicks were allowed to be taken instantly and, in a game where there was a lot of challenge, a lot of bite, three or four men might have been booked by one of our referees. But not by this man. It was a model exhibition."

Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson also referred to the inexperience of his team. He said: "Perhaps we were asking too much from a young side against a team with experienced internationals that have done it all. We were holding them well until the first goal which pushed us over the cliff and the second one just before half time finished us." Tributes also came from the national managers Ron Greenwood (England) and Jock Stein (Scotland). Mr. Greenwood said: "There were purple patches from Liverpool. They are a worthy club and a worthy team and nobody would be more delighted than me to see them win the European Cup again." And Mr. Stein followed with: "You cannot look any further than Liverpool. With the experience they have had, and with the warnings like slipping up against Forest in the past, I think they can do it again. They certainly look good enough on this display." Full back Alan Kennedy, who went off in the first half with a slight hamstring strain, will be having treatment but, otherwise, Mr. Paisley has a full strength squad available for the Anfield clash with Forest - apart from David Fairclough recovering from his cartilage operation.

Anfield spectators last night, revelling in a majestic performance by Liverpool in crushing Aberdeen, played their part in making it a memorable European Cup night without crowd misbehaviour inside the ground. They responded to yesterday's appeal by Liverpool chairman John Smith to set a pattern of good behaviour in view of the grave consequences of trouble which UEFA is determined to stamp out at their competitions. Mr. Smith today praised the spectators and referred particularly to the way the Scottish contingent of around 2,500 had behaved. He told me: "Mr. Hubert Claessen, the UEFA observer was glowing in his comments about the good crowd behaviour. We were all delighted that the crowd produced a good humoured, well behaved atmosphere. It was what we wanted above all else and I want to thank spectators for their reaction. In the past, we have had problems with Scottish supporters, but not last night. The Aberdeen fans behaved impeccably, supported their team well even when they were losing and I want to thank them for their part in what was a memorable European night at Anfield."

Wigan Athletics' catalogue of injuries worsened today with the news that record buy Brian Kettle, a 30,000 pounds signing from Liverpool in September, now faces a lengthy layoff. Defender Kettle, stretchered off in the 1-1 draw with Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday, has torn ligaments and a damaged cartilage.

European Cup fever hit Anfield in a big way today, but the message from the club was: "Take it easy lads. The draw for the quarter-final is not until mid-January, the game not until next March." General Secretary Peter Robinson said: "The phone has never stopped ringing with people asking for tickets already. They must be patient because there is nothing we can do at this stage." The seven teams that go through with Liverpool into the quarter finals include three other former winners in Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, as well as CSKA Sofia who eliminated holders Nottingham Forest. The remaining three challengers this year are Red Star Belgrade (one of only two overseas teams to win at Anfield), Spartak Moscow and Banik Ostrava of Czechoslovakia.

Name the new Kemlyn Road stand after Bill Shankly. That was a reader's suggestion in last week's Football Echo. Why should the world famous Anfield Kop be made all seated? Another reader gives his views on the declining support of those fanatics. It is all in Sports Platform - the controversial column that gives you a chance to speak out. So don't miss it on Saturday.

For their League Cup quarter final against Birmingham City at Anfield on December 2, Liverpool will sell tickets in advance only for the Main Stand (3 pounds-wing section 2 pounds, 50 pence) and the Kemlyn Road Stand (3 pounds). Admission to the seats in the Paddock Enclosure (3 pounds) and the ground (1 pound, 50 pence) will be by payment at the turnstiles on the night.