Errr, harder to get in but once in much much easier to win.
Liverpool 1977: Crusaders, Trabzonspor, St Etienne, FC Zurich, Borussia Munchengladbach - hardly Europe's elite!
And if you think that was a one-off:
Liverpool 1978: Bye, Dynamo Dresden, Benfica, Borussia Munchengladbach, Bruges - a bit harder but not much
Not just to pick on the scousers:
Nottingham Forest 1979: Liverpool, AEK Athens, Grasshopper Zurich, FC Koln, Malmo - tough first round but not much after
Nottingham Forest 1980: Oster, Arges Pitesti, Dynamo Berlin, Ajax, Hamburg
Need I go on?
Under the same format, with half decent draws, it's reasonably likely that we would have got to a final or two and maybe even won it over the last 7 years.