Mixed feelings for Benitez
05 Nov 2008 - 07:41:30
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez felt that his side had deserved at least a point from their 1-1 Champions League Group D draw at home to Atletico Madrid.
The Reds needed a controversial last-gasp penalty from Steven Gerrard to secure a share of the spoils, but Benitez thought that his team had done more than enough in the game to deserve their escape.
He told UEFA.com: "We had opportunities in the first and second half. They had one chance in the first half and scored and we had three or four clear chances in the second half.
"It's really disappointing that we had to score at the end with a penalty, although we deserved to get at least a draw.
"It was really important for us not to lose. To win would have been much better, but not losing was important because we're still at the top of the group.
"We were attacking and attacking all the time. We had some problems on the counter-attack because they have some quality players, but we continued attacking until the end.
"We were talking before about how important it was to win this game, so again you have to be disappointed at this moment.
"Because we scored at the end we have one more point than before, so it's positive also."