Despite being eliminated from the European Champions League today, I have to admit that I was really impressed with the resiliency and character that Liverpool played with.
Going into their second leg of their quarterfinal match against Chelsea, Rafa Benitez and his Liverpool side had a mountain to climb - they were already at a 3-1 deficit, and had to play the second leg without their leader and midfield general, Steven Gerrard.
They came agonisingly close to pulling off a dramatic comeback and left Stamford Bridge on Tuesday disappointed to have been held to a 4-4 draw. They led 2-0 and 4-3 at different stages of the game, putting them within touching distance of the semifinals.
Sky Sports' Chris Burton reports that Benitez learned a lot about his team tonight, and was able to draw a number of positives.
"We showed character and quality and we have to be really proud," he said.
"The players have done a fantastic job. The fans will be very pleased with the team."
"We were on top of them from the beginning, so credit to all of the players and especially Lucas in the middle, the position of (Steven)Gerrard, he worked very hard. Thanks to them we were pushing and we came very close."
"When you play against a team like Chelsea, though, you are made to pay for your mistakes and even though we were pushing and attacking, there were one or two mistakes and they scored."
"Clearly when you lose you are disappointed, but to lose in this way you have to be really proud, hold your head up and think about the Premier League."
"We are positive because we have shown that we can score four goals here at Stamford Bridge and we can do the same at any stadium. We can win many games with this mentality."
Having the ability to come out of the gates flying after being down 3-1 in their first leg shows tremendous resiliency on Liverpool's part, and seeing them to continue to claw back when they appeared to be down and out speaks volumes about the mentality they have within their team.
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