DESPITE all the talk of nutters, putters and character in adversity, one of the main factors behind Liverpool's victory at Camp Nou 11 days ago was, typically, Rafael Benitez's pragmatism.

A manager so fastidious, every team selection is based on his opponent's most obscure weaknesses, he had naturally been watching Barcelona with the scrutiny of a prison warden in Midnight Express. Vulnerable to high balls in the box? Craig Bellamy was picked out at the back post. Open down the flanks? John Arne Riise's winner came from the exclusion zone around Steve Finnan on the right. No doubt then, Benitez was paying particularly close attention on Wednesday night.

Real Zaragoza hosted Barcelona in the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie, a goal up after an unlikely victory in Catalonia and duly confident of frustrating the stuttering European champions again.

Sound familiar? Except Barca had seemingly learned to articulate themselves again. And with a loquaciousness not seen since their poetic heights last season.

Not only did they overturn the tie with a hugely unflattering 2-1 win to go through on away goals, but did so with a performance of such conviction that they have managed to completely change the mood around Camp Nou.

Whereas last week the headlines forecast the imminent end of the Frank Rijkaard era, now they are very seriously anticipating one of its greatest moments with a comeback at Anfield.

"Viva la Revolucion" declared Mundo Deportivo.

Performing the sort of private service Marca does for Real Madrid, the newspaper's oscillating humours can usually be readily discounted.

But if Rijkaard can get Barca to do something that has happened only five times in the history of the European Cup proper - go through after a first-leg defeat at home - then it's a feat that can be truly hailed as revolutionary. And the seeds have certainly been sown.

For, that loss to Liverpool had marked the culmination of a long period of disquiet at the club that finally demanded a response. The collective hangovers brought on by both that Champions League win and the World Cup notwithstanding, something has looked amiss with Barca throughout the season. Their play has been forced rather than fluent. Players who had previously rotated so cleanly in an organic system now appeared uncomfortable in a mechanical one. And, crucially, where last season they were dominating games, now - bar matches against such fodder as Levski Sofia - they were scrambling home. In short, they've been stale. And that laxness finally came quite publicly to the surface with Samuel Eto'o's rebellion, chairman Juan Laporta's rebukes and, most noticeably of all, Ronaldinho's body fat.

Inevitably, fingers pointed to Rijkaard. Or rather, that vacant seat on his right. During the close season, Rijkaard lost his assistant manager Henk ten Cate to the head coach post at Ajax and as Barcelona's problems have increased so too has ten Cate's credit for their previous achievements.

The impression given was that Rijkaard was only a facilitator, his assistant the enforcer, responsible for instilling the discipline behind the design. Ten Cate's replacement Johan Neeskens only mirrors Rijkaard's laidback approach and, consequently, other than re-emphasising his ideal of entertaining possession football, the coach has been unable to impose his personality onto the dressing room.

Until now.

The first signs that meek surrender to Liverpool had triggered a response came within four days against Athletic Bilbao. Eto'o was reinstated and Ronaldinho dazzled again, the Basques' only solace that they somehow managed to prevent the Brazilian from scoring. Yet, while that emphatic 3-0 win could be put down to hurt pride and Athletic's ineptitude, against an accomplished Real Zaragoza it was something else.

Real managerial inspiration was needed for a suitable performance to keep their Cup challenge alive.

Rijkaard found it, and in a manner most pleasing to the Catalan press. Adopting Johan Cruyff 's classically Dutch 3-4-3 formation from the fabled 'Dream Team' era, he moved Rafael Marquez from centre-half to the midfield anchor position once occupied by Josep Guardiola.

The effects were instantaneous and profound. Relieved of defensive responsibilities, Deco, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were free to dictate with their incisive passing. Similarly liberated, Ronaldinho and Leo Messi - the latter particularly mesmeric - were left to occupy defenders' attentions, allowing Xavi and Iniesta to settle the tie with two away goals within only 25 minutes. At the back, the solid trio of Lilian Thuram, Carles Puyol and Oleguer never looked troubled.

But, most importantly, for the first time this season, each Barcelona player looked comfortable and as if they were enjoying their football again. So enthused was stand-in keeper Albert Jorquera, he felt compelled to tell the press that the system, and the performance, were "la puta madre" - very roughly translated, a more obscene version of 'the dog's b****x'.

It was an endorsement much repeated, most notably - if not so colourfully - by Laporta. It may only be one game but belief is flowing through Barcelona again. As Messi declared, "our winning attitude has returned".

Intriguingly, the only other time Rijkaard has used the system was when Barca went a goal down to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.

It brought two away goals.

As such, the born-again press had only one question for the coach after the game.

"Will we continue with this system against Liverpool?

We won, that's what's important. . . At this moment I'm honestly not thinking about it."

You can bet Benitez is, and probably a lot more intensely than he had been before Wednesday.

HISTORY FAVOURS LIVERPOOL

ONLY five times in the history of the European Cup proper has a team come back from losing the first leg at home to go through. Evidently, they need something special to do so as, from four of those occasions, Nottingham Forest won the competition, Ajax got to the final twice while Milan were knocked out by eventual champions Real Madrid.

1955 first round FC Saarbrucken 14 AC Milan (5-7 agg) 1969 quarter-final Benfica 1-3 Ajax (4-4 agg, Ajax won play-off 3-0) 1980 quarter-final Dynamo Berlin 1-3 Nottingham Forest (2-3 agg) 1994 first round Croatia Zagreb 2-3 Steaua Bucharest (4-4 agg, Steaua win on away goals) 1996 semi-final Panathinaikos 0-3 Ajax (1-3 agg)