Liverpool primed for CL return

Champions League soccer will return to Anfield for the first time in five years on Tuesday when Liverpool hosts Bulgarian champion Ludogorets Razgrad in their opening Group B fixture.

It was December 2009 when Liverpool last played a match in Europe's elite competition, losing 2-1 at home to Fiorentina, and the only two survivors from that game in its squad are Martin Skrtel and captain Steven Gerrard.

Four years in the wilderness followed - the legacy of finishing seventh, sixth, eighth and seventh in the Premier League - before last season's thrilling title tilt catapulted the five-time European champion back into the big time.