Saturday, April 03, 2010

Liverpool Midfielder Lucas Leiva Happy With Away Goal After Europa League Defeat To Benfica


Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva was content after the Reds' 2-1 loss at the hands of Portuguese outfit Benfica in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final.

The Brazilian international feels the Reds did well in the opening stages of the game, and is confident that Liverpool can overturn a one-goal deficit in the second leg in order to ensure progression to the semi-finals of the competition.

"We are really disappointed," Lucas told Fifa.com

"We started really well in the game and scored an early goal. We created some chances even with 10 men.

"Now we have to keep going and try to go through in Anfield."

Lucas was hesitant in his analysis of Ryan Babel's red card following a heated argument with Benfica defender Luisao, suggesting that the team are more focused on the second leg than disputing refereeing decisions.

"The referee just said it was 'hands to face' - something like that," he added.

"To be honest, we don't want to talk about the referee. I think everyone saw the game and you can analyse better than us.

"We'll just keep going now. We have an important game in the Premier League and then we'll try to go through to the semi-finals."

The second leg of the Europa League tie will be played next Thursday at Anfield, with the Reds going into the game with the advantage of Daniel Agger's away goal despite facing a one-goal deficit.

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