Liverpool manager Roy Evans praised his players after last night's performance, but was also realistic enough to accept that his team had lost this tie on the away leg. "To be honest, we lost it over there," he said. "We can't afford to go away and come away with a three-goal deficit, but we have to learn off that and learn fast. I couldn't ask for any more tonight. The lads were fantastic.

"Sometimes you need a break of the ball, but everything in their box seemed to go to them. We might have finished better, but our effort and commitment were fantastic and we deserved more than we got.

"They defended well, to be fair to them, but we had a great chance to win the game and I honestly believe we could have done it, but again we've just fallen short. I thought we had a great chance, but they had a little spell where they did well and kept the ball."

Evans has come under increasing pressure from disgruntled Liverpool supporters after their faltering League form. "You've seen the response tonight - the fans have come, they've got behind us and they've given a standing ovation at the end. It hurts as it was so similar to last season when we went out of the Cup Winners' Cup to Paris St Germain in identical circumstances."