The minnows from Llansantffraid feared they would be battered, but they did their league and their country proud with a fine display of organisation and defensive determination to make this anything but a stroll for the European champions in the first leg of this first qualifying round match.
And it had to be Gerrard who stole the show at Anfield.
All summer he has been on the back pages for all the wrong reasons as his future has been the subject of a soap opera.
But his future is now decided and his first chance to prove his commitment produced two fine first-half goals and a late third.
The Reds started the defence of their European crown by fielding six of the heroes of Istanbul from the start against a side packed full of Scousers and Anfield fans.
Jose `Pepe' Reina made his debut in goal with Jerzy Dudek - the man whose penalty save won the trophy at the expense of AC Milan in Turkey - not even on the bench.
TNS boss Ken McKenna, an Evertonian, set out to deny Liverpool time and space with a packed midfield and a team designed to contain, frustrate and avoid severe embarrassment.
He left out skipper John Leah, record scorer Marc Lloyd Williams and Liverpool fans John Lawless and Steve Beck.
Gerrard's name was greeted with a roar when the teams were announced - and inside eight minutes he had responded with the first goal of the game.
John Arne Riise got down the left and crossed for Fernando Morientes to lay the ball neatly into the path of his captain, Gerrard sidefooting the ball crisply past Gerard Doherty.
Doherty - captain for the night - performed heroics to keep out efforts from Gerrard, Morientes, Steve Finnan and Anthony Le Tallec.
But the England midfielder Gerrard struck again in the 21st minute when Le Tallec flicked the ball on and Steve Evans hesitated long enough to allow the Liverpool skipper to breeze past him before chipping the exposed Doherty.
TNS, to the credit, came forward, kept their shape and even won a couple of set pieces and a corner - the sort of opportunities they must have hoped and planned for.
And the visitors to Anfield were even better for long spells in the second half against a side whose lack of training was becoming obvious.
Riise fired badly over from Le Tallec's pass after the restart before Xabi Alonso fed Gerrard - the England man's instant 20-yard chip flashing inches over with Doherty a spectator.
TNS stuck to their task. Phil Baker hampering Riise at every turn while Steve Evans was calm under the quality and pressure that was coming from Morientes.
TNS actually started to look comfortable and had plenty of possession before Michael Wilde was taken off just before the hour and Beck took over up front.
Bolo Zenden came on for his debut for Warnock, with Riise dropping to left-back and the Dutch signing playing down the left.
Gerrard let fly from a Zenden corner, but the avalanche of goals was not coming and TNS opted to take off their defensive midfielder Tommy Holmes and send on John Lawless as an extra option up front.
With 15 minutes left Djibril Cisse came on for Darren Potter and looked like he had created the third for Morientes with a fierce cross, but the ball had gone fractionally behind before Morientes slammed the cross home.
Nicky Ward was replaced by Leah on 81 minutes, TNS by now winning applause from the Kop for their defiance.
Cisse's fine run set up Morientes again but Evans stopped the effort - and seconds later Morientes hooked over from 10 yards.
The Kop's chant of 'Champions of Europe' was sounding a bit flat until Gerrard completed his hat-trick a minute from time when he struck an angled 20-yard effort wide of Doherty and inside the far post following Riise's crossfield ball.
A three-goal margin will be enough to make next week's second leg a virtual formality, with Benitez likely to use the contest as an opportunity to experiment.
Source:
Liverpool 3-0 TNS: Gerrard treble
