Champions League: Liverpool thrashed Spartak Moscow 5-0

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier hailed his team as "tactically perfect" following their 5-0 Champions League rout of Russian champions Spartak Moscow on Wednesday.

Emile Heskey's brace, a header from captain Sami Hyypia and first goals for the club from Bruno Cheyrou and Salif Diao made it a night of celebration for the English premier league club, who moved into second place in group B above Basel.

"May be my players wanted to prove a point after last week's draw against Basel," Houllier said. "The pace and the tempo we put into the game and the speed, power and movement off the ball was fantastic. Technically we were perfect.

"We made them look very ordinary, even though I still feel we played better against Basel.

"I still cannot believe we did not win that game, but tonight was our night and the group is still open."

Spartak were a pale shadow of the side that defeated Liverpool 2-0 on their only previous visit to Anfield in the European Cup Winners Cup a decade ago.

The class of 2002 arrived without a point and looking for their first win in 14 Champions League games, dating back to a victory over English side Arsenal in November 2000, but were rocked by Heskey's early goal.

"I was delighted with Emile's contribution," Houllier said. "Two goals and one assist shows his confidence is creeping up again.

"You have to be careful with players who played in the World Cup and I thought tonight was the right time to put him back into the attack.

"It shows we don't always rely on Michael (Owen) and that he only scores when we need him to."

Spartak coach Oleg Romantsev was brief in his assessment of his side's mauling.

"Liverpool played brilliant football and it was a well deserved victory," he said.

"The result against Basel was insignificant because Liverpool and Valencia are the leading teams in this group.

"The level of Russian football is not very high at the moment. We are in a period of stagnation and we can only hope the younger players coming through can reach the level they did in the past."

Valencia, who beat Liverpool 2-0 in Spain two weeks ago, top the group with a maximum nine points from three matches. Liverpool's next Champions League game is on October 22 against Spartak in Moscow.