Liverpool's England international Phil Thompson believes they can knock Nottingham Forest out of the European Cup on Wednesday night - with the help of the fans. That is why he is appealing to them to pack the ground and urge the team onto victory. "I still think we can do it," said Phil firmly, "we are in with a really great chance. I think everyone in the team believes that, and the supporters as well. It will be a hell of a night - the best since the St. Etienne match. But it not only us - the crowd have to come and really help us more than anything. We are looking to the crowd to give us great support. I want them to come in great voice bringing scarves, flags - everything. We are going to get as much help from them as the players will from each other. Their support is really important and we are going to need it. If they get behind us, as they can do, it will also put the frighteners on Forest. They know what it will be like. They are going to be thinking two goals are enough but, despite that, they know it is going to be hard. With the crowd behind us, they know they are going to have problems. That is why I think the fans will have to be at their very best, as well as us".

He added: "I will be looking to the fans to give us a goal start. And I think for us to do anything, we have to have one goal at least by half time. Even if we don't, we will work really hard in the second half to get the goals we want." Phil epitomises Liverpool's burning ambition to hang on to the European Cup. "We have won it the last two years and if we win it this third time, it will stay here and we do not want to lose it. And the ladies upstairs, who take such great care of the Cup, would be really grieved if they did not have it to look after. It is their baby and they are really proud of it." As for the game, he says: "I know they are going to mark us really tight again and close down on the midfield and, with this in mind, we can conquer it better than we did at Forest. It was hard to try and get away from them but it least we know what to expect this time and everyone will put 100 percent more effort into this time. I think we lacked a little bit of effort last time, but on Wednesday night everyone will be fighting for their lives."

A stranger talking to Bob Paisley about next Wednesday's European Cup second leg against Nottingham Forest could easily get the impression that he has resigned himself to Liverpool's departure from this year's tournament at the first hurdle. In his canny way, Bob admits: "We have got something to do now to get through. It will be hard to pull back two goals against Forest." But that is not the attitude of the Bob Paisley I have known for a lot of years and it occurs to me that it is just his way of ensuring that he does not create an over-confident atmosphere in the run up to such a vital match. Certainly it is going to be hard and, of course, not many teams can pull back two goals against Forest. But we have seen Liverpool do it all before against opposition as formidable as Forest and, if they get themselves into the right mood, they are good enough in every department to force at least a third match. If they do that, my money will be on the Reds. The one danger, as I see it, must lie in the all-out attack Liverpool will need to get those two goals. The Nottingham Forest defence has to be under pressure from the first kick and new boy, Alan Kennedy, is likely to play a big part there for he is one of the best over-lapping left-backs I have seen since Terry Cooper of Leeds United was an England regular. But over-exposure at the back could let Cloughie's lot in for a fatal third goal. Terry McDermott is another key figure in Liverpool's plans. "Terry gets into positions Jackie Balmer used to take up," says Bob, "but the difference is that Terry is always looking to be more positive in his finishing." Yet in the last analysis, everything may depend on the plan the Brian Clough-Peter Taylor partnership concocts to subdue the double thrust of Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish. They really are the players who can shape the outcome of a match that promises to be nail-biter.

Midfield man Jimmy Case, who nearly scored in the first leg, also believes they need an early goal. "It will be hard but if we score early on and get the crowd going, we only need one more for the draw - and then the winner," he said, "I still think we will beat them. The crowd get behind you and it will be all tension, just like the St. Etienne match. Of course it will be different because it is two British teams, so it is more like a league game. Forest have a good strong defence that, in our games against them, have soaked up the pressure and then gone away with the odd goal; that is what we have to be aware of." Jimmy is hoping to get his name on the score sheet this time. "I am aware of my record in Europe and I just hope it comes right for this one," he said, "I just missed one that went over the bar in the last game. I have not scored this season yet and I am due a goal. All the rest of the midfield have scored except me." As for Forest tactics for marking out the midfield, Jimmy says defiantly: "John Robertson will be more worried about me than I am about him. He will have to run 90 minutes, the same as me, and I think our team is a bit fitter. And you always get away from your marker sometime in the game. Europe is very important to us so I think you will get 100 percent from every single one of us. It is not the money. The lads do not think from that point of view. What we think is, it is our Cup, we won it two years on the run and we are desperate to win it a third time. So we will certainly be trying very hard to hang on to it."

Big defender Alan Hansen added: "That early goal is very important. I think Forest will play us as they did at the end of last season, packing the defence and playing on the break, with maybe even only one up front. If we get that early goal, the crowd will lift everyone and we can go on and score more. It will be hard because any team that packs the defence is hard to break down. And they have two big men at the back and we do not have a big man up front. That means you cannot just put high balls in up front but if anyone can get things going in the box it is Kenny Dalglish."

Alan Kennedy said: "We have got to rattle Forest. We have got to break them down and take an early lead. About 50,000 thousand fans will be thinking like me on Wednesday night - that the European Cup belongs to Liverpool. We do not want anyone to take it away."

Joe Fagan said of the first leg defeat: "It will have done us good. This season, so far, as been too easy for us. Things have fallen into place so well that we scarcely had to exert ourselves until the Forest match - and then we could not overcome them. But make no mistake - they were the better team on the night."

Brian Clough is adamant two goals is not enough to take to Anfield. "If we go to Anfield with the attitude two in enough," he said, "we will have as many scored against us as Tottenham Hotspur. We have it all to do." He is also concerned his players might be affected by the Anfield atmosphere: "I do not think they are used to playing in big competitions in front of big crowds. When you go to Liverpool, you are playing everyone from the Kop roof down. They are fanatical in Liverpool and that is how it should be. We are not just battling against 12 players, but over 50,000 people, the management, staff, secretaries, everyone."

Anfield and Liverpool could not produce the miracle needed to keep the European Cup holders in the competition in the first round second leg against Nottingham Forest last night. The two goals they conceded at Nottingham was the passport for Brian Clough's League champions to march into round two. Those goals at Nottingham were killers. They represented a gulf that Liverpool, try as they would, never remotely looked like bridging, The Forest feat completed a remarkable sequence in their games with Liverpool, who have now played 480 minutes without once scoring against them. So far as they are concerned, Forest have locked their defence against them and thrown away the key. Certainly, though Liverpool covered every inch of the pitch in search of it last night, they could not find it. No team could have mounted greater or more sustained pressure than did Liverpool. Time after time Liverpool advanced on their foes like an army, only to run into a wall of steel. Centred on Lloyd and Burns, Forest's defence was immaculate. They hardly looked like making a mistake. On the two occasions when Liverpool really promised to score, the last line of defence, Peter Shilton, denied them like the superb goalkeeper he is. And so Liverpool's dreams of a third European Cup spluttered and died. Real chances were almost non-existent so that the importance of seizing the half-chances assumed vital importance and this was the night Liverpool could not do it. They left nobody in doubt of the urgency of their mission when they forced two corners in little more than a minute, and the pace was frantic. Yet the Forest defence from the start looked like a curtain without a chink until Case crossed for Heighway to nod down, only to see McDermott lob wide from a good position.

There is no knowing what might have happened had McDermott been able to strike this first telling blow. Shilton saved from Heighway and Souness but, to a goalkeeper of his class, they were simply run of the mill affairs. Every defender had a job to do in a carefully conceived plan to bring Liverpool to a halt; and they did it brilliantly. Forest needed 29 minutes to gain their first corner but this was no consequence to them, basking as they were in a two-goal lead. In 33 minutes, Neal lifted the ball over Lloyd's head and Ray Kennedy, not seeing it until the last split second, stabbed over the bar. It made a change to see Clemence having to rush out of goal to dispossess the dangerous Birtles, put through by Woodcock. Passions were so intense it was hardly surprising that Burns's name went in the referee's book. There were occasional flickers of hope, like when a power drive from Case swung just wide of the post, but the story of so near and yet so far went on and on as the minutes flew by. Dalglish - shadowed though he was first by Lloyd and then by Burns - remained the one great hope. He refused to be subdued. He hit the ball into the side netting and then made space for himself inside the penalty area like the craftsman he is. He followed with a good shot too, hard and low, but Shilton saved magnificently. Both Souness and Case flashed over and, as the minutes raced by, Bob Paisley played his final card with the double introduction of speed merchants David Fairclough and David Johnson for Case and McDermott - but it was to no avail.

Liverpool had been ordered to run and run and run. They did that to the very limit of their physical powers, but it was not enough to keep them in Europe. With every minute that passed at Anfield last night, despite their own dedicated efforts, despite the magnificent support of a capacity crowd, their grip on the European Cup was loosened steadily. Nottingham Forest, who had beaten Liverpool in two domestic competitions last season, had wrapped up this first round tie on their own ground with two goals. That was the crux of the tie, and now they defended in depth, and with such solidarity, that all Liverpool's sustained attacks for 95 percent of the game, could not break them down. It was not a thriller of a match, not the great occasion it promised to be. There were times, particularly when Liverpool were at their best in the first half, when the pulse raced and the mouth went dry with tension, but it needed a Liverpool goal to lift it. That goal rarely looked like materialising. So the European Champions, who had not lost a tie in Europe since November 1974, went out in the first round for the first time in ten years. It was very hard to take for everyone associated with the club - officials, players, and supporters - because Liverpool and Europe had become like close relatives, very used to one another. To be out of European competition so early in the season is a massive blow to pride, and not least the huge cash rewards to club and players that they have come to accept as part of the Anfield way of life. However, the fans can be proud of the effort the players put into this tremendous task of trying to recover Forest's two goal lead. Clough's men showed they can defend as well as they can attack and, the longer the game went, the more sure it was that Liverpool were not going to score. They have now played Forest in five matches, starting at Wembley last season in the League Cup Final covering 460 minutes in all, and they have yet to score. The statistic tells a sad story. The story of last night's game is simply told. It was one of complete Liverpool attacking pressure against complete Forest defence. If there is anything beyond and above commitment to attack, Liverpool produced it. Forest pulled everyone back and had the luck when they needed it as well.

Forest were too much on the defensive collar to attack themselves, leaving Ray Clemence a spectator while his England pal, Peter Shilton, was kept busy but without having to extend himself more than twice. That was when Kenny Dalglish, with two brilliantly struck shots on the turn, had Shilton stretching his large frame with the agility of a class performer. Apart from that, however, the Forest goalkeeper had a comfortable time. Liverpool tried every tactic in the book to create a clear chance. Routine high centres were headed away by either Lloyd or Burns, low centres bounced off a wall of yellow-shirted defenders, passes were deflected off legs and bodies. There seemed no way through. Liverpool were at their best in the first half, but when they had not managed to cut back the lead by half time, the writing was on the wall in very large letters indeed. Kenny Burns was lucky not to be booked for the sixth minute foul on Steve Heighway - he was booked later for a similar bruising effort - but, those physical touches apart, he was their star man at the back. Liverpool's best efforts came from shots by Case, Heighway, and Souness but they were all mopped up easily by Shilton. A Dalglish header was blocked on the line by Anderson in the only incident when Shilton was beaten. It was clear it was not a night for the Reds. The fans had responded magnificently to the call for all-out support and, at this stage, Forest were having to battle through a cauldron of noise and sustained Liverpool attacks. But they held out, and Liverpool could not reproduce their form to the same extent after the interval. Only half chances, less than half chances, in fact, were chiselled out of this rocklike defence. In an attempt to change the flow and, perhaps, break the luck, forwards Johnson and Fairclough were sent on for the last 20 minutes to replace midfield men McDermott and Case. It showed commendable attacking initiative but very little changed. The pace had been frantic at times, perhaps too frantic as Liverpool battled away, but when it slowed down late on, Forest's Bowyer crept through to make Forest's only shots of the game. They failed miserably but Forest were not worried by that time the tie was safely in their keeping. Conditions: dry, pitch perfect.

Liverpool's long and distinguished innings in Europe ended noisily but rather tamely at Anfield last night when Nottingham Forest, unperturbed by the highly charged, at times hysterical atmosphere, calmly sat on their lead and forced a goalless draw to reach the second round of the European Cup on the strength of their 2-0 victory a fortnight ago. While Liverpool, to the profound disappointment of their followers, failed to produce the fluent imaginative attacking movements that the occasion demanded, much credit for their inability to do so lay with Brian Clough’s Forest players. They brought to Anfield precisely the type of tight containing game with which the European Cup winners of the past two years had frustrated so many opponents away from home during 15 seasons of Continental competition. As the end drew near with Liverpool unable to disturb a packed, disciplined defence, a desperate voice shouted: "What's the matter Forest; afraid to attack?" It was a nice moment of irony, far from being afraid to attack, Forest were merely demonstrating how well they had learned the European lesson from the masters of closing games down. As Liverpool found each attacking outlet denied to them by the superiority of Forest's covering, they must have recognised many of the doors that were closed in their faces. The one manned by Anderson was crucial, for the right back's covering of Burns and Lloyd more than once broke up a promising Liverpool attack before it came within range of Shilton. Perhaps, when all is said and done, Forest knew too much about Liverpool's play to allow them a realistic chance of avoiding their first defeat in a European tie for four years. After all, Liverpool had failed to defeat them in five previous meetings, including last season's League Cup final, and during that time had beaten Shilton only once.

They seldom looked like improving the record last night. Not until midway through the first half did Liverpool come close to scoring when Ray Kennedy headed back a corner from Heighway and Shilton was helpless for the only time in the game as Dalglish nodded down hard by the far post. Anderson, however, was behind the goalkeeper and cleared the ball off the line, and Shilton was not in action again until nine minutes into the second half when Dalglish, at last seeing a glimpse of goal, went past Lloyd and Burns and dragged the ball through a wide angle, only to see his shot held at full stretch. A quarter-of-an-hour from the end Dalglish produced a much fiercer shot but Shilton, leaping high and arching back, tipped this one over the bar. Long before that save Liverpool must have realised that their chance had gone, for the game had quickly assumed the pattern of the first leg with Souness dogged by McGovern, Gemmill keeping Ray Kennedy in check and Bowyer blocking the stealthy runs of McDermott. Heighway, the one player who might have caused serious disruption in the Forest defence, suffered a series of fouls - for one of which Burns was cautioned - and spent much time wandering disconsolately on the right and only twice managed to reach the by-line to any purpose. Liverpool's usual strength, their ability to get men forward quickly and keep up sustained pressure on their opponents, was never seen. Twenty minutes from time Bob Paisley, their manager, replaced Case and McDermott with two extra forwards, Fairclough and Johnson, but this was never more than a final, formal gesture.

Although their European Cup hat-trick dream was shattered last night by Nottingham Forest, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley still showed that familiar Liverpool brand of positive thinking by saying today: "We are still the best team in Europe... yet we are out of it." He went on: "That is not sour grapes. It is just being realistic. Good luck to Nottingham Forest. I think they will need it as they had it last night. But when they start playing on the Continent, perhaps against some of the Iron Curtain countries, they will find life very different and very difficult. I think it could be quite a shock to Brian Clough. We have never finished well against Forest. Things go that way in football. Last season we scored a crop of goals in Europe but we were not scoring many in the League. This season is the opposite - scoring well in the League but none in the cup. Forest defended well. That was what they came to do and they did it. It is not easy to break down any team that concentrates on that. Crusaders did it and they frustrated us as well." Liverpool have been criticised today in some quarters for being too frenzied in their approach last night. Mr. Paisley shot that down.

He said: "If we had been patient, there is no way Forest would have come out of defence. We had to attack hard. There was no other way to try to break through. Our first half display was as good as anything we have produced without getting anything from it. And I do not think I have seen two more one sided matches than last night and at Wembley in the League Cup Final. We had to panic them, throw everything at them, and if a couple of those first half chances had gone in the whole picture would have changed." Mr. Paisley asked me to thank the fans for what he called "their magnificent help." He said: "We asked for their support and they gave it. It may have created more tension but that is what we wanted. I was proud of the fans and the players. They could not have given more. And, as far as the substitutes were concerned, it was like picking out of a hat. There was no disrespect to the men pulled off. I told the team at half time that two substitutes were going to be used. But probably I picked the wrong ones. I should have brought off Ray Clemence because he had nothing to do at all."

Brian Clough showed no obvious signs of joy after his Nottingham Forest side had ended Liverpool's bid for a third successive European Cup triumph. "Was it as hard as I expected? A damn sight harder. They threw everything at us but the Liverpool docks," he said. His final observations put the triumph into perspective before anyone starts believing the European Cup has been won because the holders have been beaten. "We tackled and worked hard but we are still babes in the wood as far as European competition is concerned," he said, "we want to do more than win the European Cup. We want to set Liverpool's kind of standard. But we didn't really panic to any real extent and it came good for us on the night. It did not come good for Bob Paisley and he is, without doubt, the most successful manager in the League. On his results, he should be England manager. I feel we have a good chance now and we want to try and emulate Liverpool. They have done so tremendously well for England."

Emlyn Hughes issued a warning to Nottingham Forest last night: "They will have to watch some of their tackling when they go abroad," he said, "they can do well but their lack of experience could cost them dear. It is very different going away in Europe. When they get a crowd on their backs and a referee who is a bit doubtful, they could be sent off if they do some of the things they did tonight."

Garry Birtles told The Guardian that Forest had Bill Shankly aboard their team coach when they arrived at Anfield: "Don't ask me how that came about. It didn't seem normal, but not much ever did under Brian Clough. Shankly must have come to our hotel or something, and we took him to the game. I never asked why. You just didn't."