Liverpool set up a mouth-watering Champions League semi-final against English Premiership rivals Chelsea after grinding out a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their quarter-final against Juventus here Wednesday.
A stalemate at the Delle Alpi stadium secured a 2-1 aggregate victory for the Reds after their first leg win at Anfield last week - the first meeting between the two teams since the Heysel disaster 20 years ago in which 39 Juventus fans died when a wall collapsed as they tried to escape from advancing Liverpool fans.
The nearest Juve came to scoring the goal that would have taken them through on the away goals rule came in the 78th minute when Fabio Cannavaro's header struck the post.
Juve, who were beaten by Italian Serie A rivals AC Milan in the 2003 final, enjoyed plenty of possession but lacked the imagination to break down a resolute defence marshalled superbly by giant Finn Sami Hyypia.
And Liverpool, who were without their injured captain Steven Gerrard, would have sewn the game up much earlier had Milan Baros' superb solo effort not rolled the wrong side of the post soon after the break.
Given the history between the two teams, the match was played in a tense atmosphere.
Before the game, anti-riot police were forced to use tear gas on Juventus supporters trying to attack Liverpool fans arriving on special buses under a heavy police escort.
Juve fans threw an array of missiles at the police and three vehicles, including two police cars, were set on fire.
Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez was ecstatic after his team's heroics.
"It was a fantastic night and I'm very proudof the players," said the Spaniard.
"It may have been a surprise result to some, but not me. We've worked very hard for this and we felt confident we could come here and get a result."
Benitez revealed his game plan was to try and stifle Juve's midfield.
"In terms of tactics, we controlled the midfield, pressing hard and letting them have the ball out wide.
"I felt that we had the defenders to cope comfortably with their crosses and that worked well for us."
Juve coach Fabio Capello admitted Liverpool were stubborn opposition.
"It was a balanced, difficult match of few chances and they defended with 10 men behind the ball," he said.
Capello was left to rue his team's poor defending in the first leg.
"I think that overall the two matches should have been draws. In the first leg, Liverpool had two chances and scored from both of them," he added.
Replacing Gerrard, Liverpool's driving force in midfield, was Spaniard Xabi Alonso for his first start since breaking an ankle on New Year's Day.
With an ankle injury still troubling French striker David Trezeguet, Juve coach Fabio Capello partnered Ibrahimovic together with Alessandro Del Piero in attack.
To cope with the loss of injured French right-back Jonathan Zebina, Capello reverted to a three-man defence with experienced Uruguayan Paolo Montero flanked by Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram.
The first chance of the game fell to Juve in the 11th minute. Gianluca Zambrotta tore down the left wing and from an acute angle whipped in an inviting cross for Ibrahimovic whose half-volley flashed over the bar.
Baros was a constant menace to Juve's defence in the early exchanges, but although his pace and movement caused plenty of concern for Montero and his ageing legs the Czech international lacked support in good positions.
Juve's tigerish midfielder Emerson saw his volley charged down before slicing a drive well wide as the home side finished the first-half on top.
Liverpool came within inches of taking the lead five minutes after the restart.
Alonso put Baros through with a sublime diagonal pass and the livewire Czech accelerated past Montero and Thuram before prodding the ball towards goal, only to see his effort roll agonisingly wide.
Emerson's header was safely gathered by Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek as Juve mustered their first on-target chance before Djibril Cisse came on for Liverpool for his first outing since breaking a leg last October.
Cannavaro was denied by the woodwork as Juve pressed hard for the all-important goal, but Liverpool dug deep and held on to advance to the last four.