There was a mood of quiet satisfaction among the Liverpool squad and management staff who touched down at John Lennon International in the small hours of yesterday morning, yet the contentedness was born not merely from their riotous first-leg victory at PSV Eindhoven.

The sense abounds that the Merseysiders have clicked into their best form of the season and their timing may just be right.

Already the talk is of the Greece capital in May, even if the players are attempting to keep their feet firmly on the ground. "We are getting that same feeling we had in 2005 when we won this trophy but I am also telling myself to slow down and realise that we have a lot more work before we can think about getting to Athens," said Steven Gerrard. "We have to be professional about the second leg but we did a really good job against PSV and we have one foot in the last four."

The England midfielder scored the first goal in Holland, making it 15 in all and breaking Ian Rush's European Cup club record in the process. Sluggish and disjointed when Liverpool visited the Philips Stadion and drew 0-0 in the group stage, a result to match their sloppy early-season form, Gerrard was resurgent as the visitors triumphed 3-0 on Tuesday. Other key performers who had laboured after the World Cup - Xabi Alonso and Peter Crouch - are also finding late-season momentum.

"I was really frustrated at the start of the season," Gerrard said. "I didn't have much energy and I didn't feel the way I like to going into games. I felt lethargic and really tired from only a little rest after a World Cup that was draining not just physically but mentally too. Towards Christmas I could feel bits and bobs of my game coming back and I feel sharp at the moment. I am training better and hopefully I am peaking at the right time because there are some really big games around the corner.

"It was a different type of game with PSV earlier in the season but everyone can see how big a difference there is now compared to how we were playing back then. There is a lot more at stake now. It is all about results and not conceding. I think we were a little bit inconsistent back in September. We had a lot of big players who were maybe not on top form. If you look around our team now all the big names are performing really well - Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina, Alonso. So it is good to see."

The Brazilian Fabio Aurelio, who was beginning to make his mark after a slow start following his move from Valencia, will not play again this season after undergoing surgery last night on the achilles tendon he ruptured in his right leg in Holland. His absence will be a blow but at least next week's return leg appears a formality before the sterner test of Valencia or Chelsea in the last four.

"There's no denying we're in a great position," said Steve Finnan, who set up two of the goals on Tuesday. "We were in a great position when we beat Barcelona in Spain in the last round but we can't let our standards slip. I'd be very disappointed if we didn't go through but we have to be focused and do the right thing next week."

"What we've shown is that we can perform when the pressure is on," added Gerrard. "In some ways the Eindhoven game was just as tough as Barcelona when we won there in the last round, even if it was a different kind of pressure. Before that game, everyone was doubting us whether we could get through. This time around it was the reverse and we were expected to win.

"That brings different demands but we showed we can withstand them and perform. We have to be professional about the second leg next week and we know we'll have two really tough games whoever we play in the semi-final . . . But, for now, let's just try and forget about Athens."

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich's French defender Willy Sagnol could be out for the rest of the season after injuring his knee during their Champions League quarter-final first leg against AC Milan on Tuesday. "He's got a serious meniscus injury," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. "In the next few days he will undergo an operation and in all probability he won't be able to play for us again this season."

Sagnol was replaced after 68 minutes by Christian Lell when the score was still 1-0 to Milan. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.