Rafael Benitez and Alessandro Del Piero were united last night in reminding Liverpool and Juventus of their responsibilities to ensure this evening's tie at Anfield is played in a spirit to befit the memory of those who lost their lives in the Heysel Stadium tragedy 20 years ago.

The shadow of that terrible night, on which 39 Juventus supporters died after Liverpool fans rioted, hangs over the first competitive meeting between the clubs since that European Cup final in Brussels.

"For the families of the dead, this is a significant occasion," said Liverpool's manager. "The best thing we can do for the families, for the clubs and for the people around them is to talk about football and to play the game in the right spirit.

"But, while you can't change things 20 years after an event, you can try and make a better future. Time has passed. You can only give respect to the families involved and send them good wishes, but then you must look to the future.

"Liverpool's reputation suffered (during the six-year ban imposed after Heysel), but that is not important now. The most important thing now is to give a good spectacle in terms of the sport."

"This means we can close a chapter on this bad memory, though we must always remember it clearly," said Del Piero, who watched the events at Heysel on the television as a 10-year-old Juventus fan in Turin. "My father sent me and the young ones into the yard to play football when he realised what was going on. I only understood later what had happened. I hope we can play this game in the right spirit of football, and that the fans and players will share that true football spirit."

The deep regret which still gnaws at Liverpool will be obvious this evening. Aside from a pre-match mosaic on the Kop, the wristbands distributed among Juventus supporters and the standard to be paraded to them in the Anfield Road end, a minute's silence will be observed before kick-off. Uefa were reluctant to grant permission for that tribute and were only persuaded once Liverpool made representation yesterday. Uefa have since announced a minute's silence at all European games this week to mark the death of the Pope.

Liverpool must hope they hold an advantage in this tie at the final whistle tonight if they are to travel to Turin next week in confidence rather than resignation, and much depends on Milan Baros. The Czech is Benitez's only available striker, and Juve's defensive record - only Ivan Helguera of Real Madrid has beaten Gianluigi Buffon in the Champions League proper this season - is intimidating.

Should Liverpool be floundering late on, then Benitez will at least have the option of introducing Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard has been out since breaking his ankle against Chelsea on New Year's Day, but will start this evening on the bench.

"I've told my players they have done well against important teams," said Benitez. "Why can't they do the same thing against Juventus?"