Liverpool 1 Fiorentina 2: Rafa's running on empty after Gilardino's final insult

Rafa Benitez had demanded they go out with a bang at Anfield, yet Liverpool departed the Champions League in the manner that has characterised their season so far.A couple of thousand short of capacity at the outset, Anfield was barely half-full by the time Alberto Gilardino stroked Fiorentina's winning goal into an empty net with virtually the last kick, vacant red seats all around telling their own tale of a campaign fast being emptied of all its promise and possibility.The damage had already been done, of course, with dropped points in Florence and home and away against Lyon consigning Liverpool to the Europa League with a game to spare. Italian job: Alberto Gilardino completes a stunning comeback for Firoentina with his late winner at AnfieldThat hardly made a third defeat in the least distinguished ChampionsLeague campaign of recent memory any easier to take for Benitez and hisplayers as they attempted to absorb the most unwanted of statistics.By bowing to a workmanlike but scarcely formidable Fiorentina, thisLiverpool team became the first ever to suffer back-to-back homedefeats in Europe's premier club competition. Liverpool boss Benitez piles pressure on Aquilani to deliver on his first startLiverpool v Fiorentina: How the action unfolded at AnfieldLIVERPOOL FC

Source: Daily_Mail