Benítez thoughts turn to draw

Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benítez felt his side were deserved winners after they came through their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against FC Barcelona on away goals at Anfield. The holders went out despite Eidur Gudjohnsen's second-half strike giving them a 1-0 second-leg win as the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate, leaving coach Frank Rijkaard cursing his side's luck. uefa.com hears from the coaches at Anfield.

Rafael Benítez, Liverpool manager
I am really proud of my players and the supporters. It was a strange game but we deserved to go through and should have scored, more than one even, in the first half. We started well and put pressure on them and were compact when we needed to be. Then in the second half we were reasonably in control but couldn't finish the game. We began to suffer after they scored and got a bit tired, but were still able to create chances on the break. It was almost perfect but only almost because we condeded a goal. We have confidence now and will see what happens in the draw.

Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach
When we went 1-0 up we still thought anything was possible and with a bit of luck we might have got through. Our players worked very hard but were not at their best, even if their attitude was very good. My congratulations go to Liverpool, they played very well and created lots of good chances. For the neutral it was a very attractive game. Overall, the tie was not decided tonight, it was down to the result in the first leg.