Liverpool will take Sparta Prague back to Anfield with the advantage after holding them to a 0-0 draw.
Dour draw gives Kenny's men the advantage
Liverpool will take Sparta Prague back to Anfield with the advantage after holding them to a 0-0 draw in the Czech capital.
The game on the whole was highly uninspiring, with the Reds failing to create any significant chances or test goalkeeper Jaromir Blazek properly.
Glen Johnson was the away side's most threatening player, putting in crosses and having the best opportunity for Kenny Dalglish's team, but his team-mates were not quite on-song around him.
Sparta, in fact, had the better of the openings, with several shots from the edge of the box and Pepe Reina being tested once by striker Leonard Kweuke.
That was as good as it got in a dour game, and Dalglish will be unconcerned about the prospect of taking the Czechs back to Merseyside and gaining a positive result.
Dalglish waited 9,394 days to get the chance to manage Liverpool in Europe, but the Reds legend must have wondered why he looked forward to it so much.
The 59-year-old missed out on continental competition in his first spell as Reds boss because of the ban on English clubs after the Heysel disaster.
Despite the significance of his debut, this last-32 first-leg match is unlikely to live long in Dalglish's or anyone else's memory.
The visitors' play was disjointed and lacked a cutting edge but crucially they kept a clean sheet and captain Steven Gerrard should be available for the home leg after a groin problem.
Sparta created the few chances in the biting cold of the Generali Arena, most of which were created from wide positions as full-backs Ondrej Kusnir, on the right, and the particularly effective Manuel Pamic advanced at regular intervals.
Contrast
That was in contrast to Liverpool's two wide defenders, with Glen Johnson, back in his more familiar right-sided role, and Danny Wilson, a centre-back playing on the left, rarely getting the opportunity to go forward.
Pamic gave Johnson problems in the first half and almost capitalised to great effect in the 17th minute.
Martin Abena slid a pass inside the England defender and Pamic raced into the penalty area to drill a low shot from a narrow angle which Reina parried to safety.
Even the normally unflappable Spain international was not immune to the general untidiness which littered Liverpool's play and when he could only parry Kusnir's deep cross into the path of Pamic, he was relived to see the defender blaze over with his weaker right foot.
Sotirios Kyrgiakos was next to the Reds' rescue, putting in a diving block to halt former Reading midfielder Marek Matejovsky's shot as it travelled goalwards.
With a lack of central midfielders, having left Gerrard and expectant father Christian Poulsen at home, the last thing Dalglish needed was to see Fabio Aurelio forced off with an injury in the first half.
It prompted a reshuffle with Raul Meireles withdrawn from his advanced role, from where he had scored five goals in six previous matches, to allow Joe Cole to come on.
Little different
The second half was little different from what had gone before except for Liverpool enjoying slightly more possession.
But the successful passing game which had been so evident in their six-match unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League never really got going.
Sparta continued to pose the greater threat, however, and Kweuke headed just wide on the hour mark.
Liverpool's best chance came with 20 minutes to go when Lucas Leiva's lofted pass picked out Johnson on the right of the penalty area. He weaved inside but instead of shooting with his left foot - with which he has scored some screamers from long range - he opted for the outside of his right and poked the ball past the far post.
The match was held up for a couple of minutes after a flare let off by Sparta fans behind Reina's goal clouded the pitch in thick smoke and there would have been few complaints had it blanked out the rest of the game.
When play did resume Reina had to be alert to stop Kweuke's shot on the turn from a corner, while Matejovsky's 25-yard effort curled just wide of the goalkeeper's right-hand post.
Dalglish switched to a back three for the last six minutes, with Slovakian Martin Skrtel receiving a predictably hostile welcome from the Czech crowd when he replaced Ngog.
Kamil Vacek almost snatched a winner with a long-range strike which whistled past the upright but Liverpool held on for a clean sheet which makes life slightly easier for them in a week's time.
