Liverpool are back in the European Cup Final after an absence of three years. They will return to Rome, the scene of their first triumph in the major competition in 1977, to meet the local favourites in the Olympic stadium after rising majestically above the cynicism of Dinamo Bucharest yesterday evening. It was yet another outstanding away performance, as impressive in its way as the victories over Athletic Bilbao and Benfica in previous rounds, but on this occasion the qualities Liverpool needed most were discipline and forbearance. The Romanians kicked mercilessly throughout, as they had done in losing 1-0 at Anfield, and although the West German referee cautioned a couple of them, along with Johnston in the latter stages, this was a mere gesture towards the task of keeping matters under control as the huge, passionate crowd in the August 23 stadium screamed for satisfaction. But Liverpool kept their minds firmly fixed on the objective of qualifying for Rome, none more so than the magnificent Rush, who took greater punishment than anyone else yet did most to ensure victory with goals early - his 40th of the season and his 100th for the club - and late. Apart from the phenomenal Welshmen there were also exceptional performances from Hansen, the jewel of an almost infallible back-four, and Lee, who played with a verve he has not always shown this season, while Souness was influential, albeit understandably reluctant to become involved in too much physical contact. The Liverpool captain, who was held responsible by the Romanians for the breaking of Movila's jaw in the first leg, was loudly booed every time he touched the ball. It must have been a frustrating evening for the vast horde huddling under their umbrellas as rain fell throughout the match on a pitch already sodden.

There was a comforting early indication for the English champions when Grobbelaar, whose well-publicised errors contributed to successive quarter-final defeats in Bulgaria and Poland, confidently held a slithering drive from Orac. Shortly afterwards, in the 10th minute, Liverpool were on their way to success when Rush scored a delightful goal reminiscent of Dalglish's winner in the 1978 Final against Bruges at Wembley. A corner was partly cleared to Souness, who, with a finely judged volley, turned the defence and sent clear Rush, who evaded Nicolae before chipping the advancing goalkeeper. Dinamo showed their undoubted quality in a series of sharp, incisive movements usually involving Talnar, Rednic, and Augustin, who shot wide as Hansen and Lawrenson closed in yet again. With six minutes left before the interval, and with Liverpool in apparent command, an isolated moment of slackness cost them dear. Lawrenson, quite unnecessarily, bumped into Turcu and from the free-kick, 25 yards out, Orac chipped superbly over the wall and past Grobbelaar. Dalglish, who was not at his most sharp, failed with a chance provided by Lee and Rush immediately before the interval and was substituted in the 73rd minute. Though Grobbelaar had to be alert to save a low drive from Custov, a Romanian substitute, Liverpool by then had aggregate victory well within their grasp; Dinamo seldom looking likely to pull back one goal, let alone the two they needed. Nicol gave Liverpool fresh legs and six minutes from time they put the outcome beyond doubt with another goal. Lee deserved the greatest credit for a marvellous run down the right and a hanging crossfield ball to Whelan. He slipped it between Marin's legs and squared through a careless defence which enabled Rush to score with far more ease than before.

Ian Rush, the incredible goalscoring machine, has done it again. The Welsh striker scored his 100th first-team goal and then added another in the hostile atmosphere of Bucharest's August 23 stadium to send Liverpool on the way to Rome for their fourth European Cup Final. And Joe Fagan's heroes clinched that titanic tussle against AS Roma with their most precious asset, their composure, intact. Rush deserved the man of the match accolade for his unstinting effort and calm acceptance of all the punishment the Romanians were determined to dish out from start to finish. But there were other heroes in a Liverpool performance that must rank as high as any they have produced in their many years of European competition - notable among them skipper Graeme Souness. He finished with his socks in tatters, the legacy of the spiteful over-the-ball tackles to which he in particular was subjected, but never lost his cool. Not far behind Souness and Rush were central defenders Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen, while in midfield little Sammy Lee and Ronnie Whelan always performed manfully. The game's pattern was set early when Souness was subjected to a couple of nasty fouls which made it obvious that Dinamo's method was once again intimidation. But it got them nowhere. In fact, Dinamo's search for revenge counted against them. They were so concerned with doing damage they forgot to play the football they can. Instead of concentrating on going forward, they laid themselves open to the Liverpool counter attack. The Anfielders won the first significant corner and it brought the vital opening goal in the 10th minute. Sammy Lee took the kick, which was only half-cleared as far as Souness. He pumped the ball forward and there was Rush, carrying it clear of marker Nicolas, to place his shot calmly past keeper Moraru. West German referee Dieter Pauli generally kept firm and fair control over a game that always bubbled beneath the surface following the first leg when four Dinamo players were booked and Souness was accused of breaking Movila's jaw. But I thought Pauli was definitely at fault when he penalised Lawrenson just outside the box for a 39th-minute foul on Augustin which seemed no more than a legitimate attempt to clear the ball. Dinamo winger Orac drove the free-kick decisively past Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar.

In the second half, the more Dinamo pushed forward the more they left themselves vulnerable to the sort of devastating counter-attack which crushed them in the 84th minute. It was started by a thrust up the right by Lee. The goal hero of the first leg at Anfield crossed to Whelan whose centre into the middle was badly muffed by Nicolas - fatal when a man with reflexes as swift as Rush is around. Rush seized on the chance to steer his second shot of the match past Moraru and justice was done. Liverpool deserved their win, not only for the all-round superiority of their performance but for their calm acceptance of intimidation, skullduggery and all the nastiest aspects of the game.

Liverpool are ready to lift the European Cup for the fourth time in seven years - even though they must take on AS Roma in their own back yard to do it. That was the clear message from Joe Fagan's joyful Mersey maestros after they had brilliantly disposed of the bully boys of Dinamo Bucharest 2-1 in yesterday's semi-final, second leg. Victory thanks to master marksman Ian Rush's double gave them a 3-1 overall passage to the Final in Rome on May 30 - scene of their 1977 triumph. "Playing the Italians over there doesn't worry us," said skipper Graeme Souness "it's the Final and that will get us on our toes." But Liverpool are ready for anything after the crowd abuse and physical intimidation from Dinamo. Souness branded the Romanian champions "a disgrace" and added: "there wasn't a clean tackle in the whole game, yet I always thought we were going to win. This has to be as good a performance as any we have given."

Rush's goals brought his tally for the season to 42 and were his 100th the 101st for the club. He also had a warning for the Italian giants, who sealed their date by killing off Dundee United 3-0 (3-2). "Roma will probably regard it as a home match, but that doesn't worry me. Some of our best results have been away." Dinamo's destruction was labelled "a remarkable performance" by boss Joe Fagan; "everyone was on song," he said.

A friend who claimed he danced the Gay Gordons with Bob Paisley on that hot, magical Rome night in 1977, when Liverpool first hoisted the European Cup after Keegan and Co. had beaten Borussia Moenchengladbach, is already polishing his shoes for a second reel. All roads from Anfield again point to the Eternal City where manager Joe Fagan's team, in the path of Paisley, have a date with AS Roma, in what could be a classic Final at the Olympic Stadium. Liverpool fans have been promised 25 per cent of the 70,000 tickets. This reward for sustained excellence by Liverpool across Europe was clinched by a matchless team performance last Wednesday, south of the Carpathian mountains. The second leg victory over Dinamo Bucharest should in no circumstances be devalued as simply another job well done. It was more than that, much more. It was a display of threaded team work and continuity in difficult, hostile condition's which had a number of Roman spies joining an aria of disbelief afterwards. It was a performance which also produced a further penetrating display of opportunism by Ian Rush, and some excellent goalkeeping by Bruce Grobbelaar, whose super-fitness and improved application silenced earlier taunts about the "clown with holes in his mitts." The challenge Liverpool faced on an afternoon of relentless rain which flooded the open press box was as sinister as the emergency black-hooded macs which left some British scribes resembling monks of the Spanish Inquisition. Dinamo's propaganda system had reached the crowd, huddled under umbrellas, and continuous hissing was aimed at Graeme Souness every time he touched the ball before the off. Souness is too experienced a professional to worry about such overtures. The villain in the locals' eyes, who had broken their idol Movila's jaw and kept him out of the replay, just got on with the game. But beyond the growling from rows of drenched comrades was a deeper message. Dinamo had the responsibility of glorifying Rumania's fanatical sporting ambitions in a system which otherwise seems to regard social entertainment as a sin.

President Ceausescu's sporting Generals were as keen on Dinamo reaching the Rome Final as they are on their handball team winning the Los Angeles Olympic final. Hans Bangerter, UEFA secretary-general, had noted this fanaticism on a recent visit and diplomatically suggested that Romania could reach the Final of the European Championships in Paris in June. That cheered up the Romanian leaders no end. It came as no surprise, therefore, that Liverpool's players found a number of concrete obstacles thrown in their paths whenever they progressed down-pitch. They were kicked and hacked, pushed and shoved, and Rush on one occasion took a fearful blow in the back. Firm refereeing by West German Herr Pauli helped cool some of the hotheads, producing dressing-downs worthy of a Prussian officer. The Romanians hung their heads as if thoroughly ashamed, but they knew exactly what they were doing. At one stage - halftime to be precise - it looked as if Liverpool might be in trouble after Orac had squared Rush's opening masterpiece with a sweetly taken free-kick. In the event, Dinamo's hopes died a thousand deaths in the second half long before Rush's late second goal. They ran out of steam, they ran out of hope, they lost the last echoes of patriotic songs in their confused brains. Bucharest is not noted for the frequency of its newsstands nor, indeed, the sight of the populace reading printed information. But next day the official sporting newspaper, Sportul, did bestow medals on some of the Liverpool players - notably Grobbelaar, Rush, Hansen, Lee and Johnston. “Liverpool's skill in the air was a major factor in their victory. They closed every path whenever our players attacked," stated the report. Bobby Robson, England's manager, noted the heavy patriotism and malice of the Bucharest crowd, which will be evident when England meet Romania next year in a World Cup qualifying match. But first things first… like Jock Stein he duly promised Joe Fagan that no Liverpool players would be selected for the Scotland and England match at Hampden Park which takes place only four days before the Final.

Liverpool rode a Romanian rainstorm and a physical battering with majestic purpose here yesterday to book their place in the European Cup Final. A performance drawn from rich reserves of professionalism and courage earned Liverpool a remarkable victory in the face of hostility and intimidation from all quarters of the 23rd of August Stadium. Now manager Joe Fagan can take his men back to Rome, scene of their first Champions Cup triumph in 1977. There, on May 30, they will attempt to lift the most coveted club prize of all for the fourth time at the expense of host club Roma. And, despite Italian football's notorious reputation for cynical play, it would be preposterous to predict that Roma will dish out the same sort of punishment that Liverpool endured at the hands of Dinamo Bucharest. It was therefore fitting that Ian Rush, the prime target of the rough Romanian tackling, was also the man whose goals emphatically settled this semi-final. The Welshman's deadly double strike brought his tally for the season to 41 and his total since he arrived at Anfield three seasons ago to an astonishing 101. Few of those goals can have been as important as the one he curled into the Dinamo net after 10 minutes. It was a goal to silence the hysteria of 60,000 fans who identified Graeme Souness as the villain from the first leg at Anfield. Again, irony was close at Liverpool's hand, as Sammy Lee's corner from the right fell to Souness on the edge of the penalty area. Instantly the Liverpool skipper volleyed the ball forward to Rush who slipped his marker and waited for goalkeeper Moraru to advance off his line before chipping the ball into the far corner of the net. West German referee Dieter Pauly maintained a firmer grip on the tackling than his Swiss counterpart had done in the first leg but Dinamo were still guilty of numerous indiscretions.

Bruce Grobbelaar produced a fine diving save to keep out a 38th minute shot from Augustin who, just as at Anfield, looked a formidable player but this time failed with three chances to give Dinamo more hope. Dinamo's pressure brought a goal six minutes before the break following a hotly disputed free-kick conceded by Lawrenson for a push on Turcu near the edge of the penalty area. Left winger Orac curled a brilliant shot over the defensive wall of red shirts and just inside the far post. For a brief period in the second half Liverpool found themselves under the collar and a little rattled. They rode the storm, slowed the pace and brought the fresh legs of Steve Nicol into the midfield in place of Kenny Dalglish after 75 minutes. Nine minutes later they endorsed their command with a second goal. Lee started a decisive break with a long, crossfield pass dropped perfectly into the path of the galloping Ronnie Whelan. The Irishman took the ball adroitly around full-back Rednic and crossed hard and low. Centre-back Nicolae dived full length in a brave attempt to clear but succeeded only in diverting the ball into the path of Rush, who calmly picked his spot from 10 yards with goalkeeper Moraru stranded.

Liverpool manager Joe Fagan said: "We won displaying typical British football, and we well deserved to win. There were no stars out there, everybody did exceptionally well. It was just a tremendous Liverpool team performance and I am proud of the way they helped each other and sustained each other when things might have gone wrong. Dinamo met us on a day when everybody in the Liverpool side was on top song. It was quite a remarkable performance. The players did not seem to have any nerves. I had them for all of us”.