Liverpool 2 Atletico Madrid 1: Eleven heroes but nothing in reserve

Where to start with this one?

Firstly let’s take the stick with which Rafa Benitez has been beaten black and blue this season and say that stick, or Alberto Aquilani as it is more commonly known, showed real quality and looked like a player worth his price tag. Not only was his timely goal exquisitely taken but he was the real creative hub of the team for much of the first 90 minutes. Inevitably, he ran out of steam as playing 90 minutes is not a requirement he has much recent experience of. If the little Italian can reproduce this form consistently next season (and play regularly) what a player Liverpool could have.

Secondly, for a supposedly negative manager, that was about the best starting line up any manager could have selected in the circumstances so let’s give Rafa some credit for a positive approach.

Thirdly, Lucas was bloody magnificent last night and anyone who refuses to acknowledge that is a complete and total berk.

Now I’m going to slip into whinge-mode. Liverpool had a 90-minute window to score an away goal. Atletico had a 120-minute window to score an away goal. Liverpool scored one away goal in 90 minutes. Atletico scored no away goals in their first 90 minutes but got one in the next 30 minutes. Liverpool’s away goal was wrongly disallowed for offside. Atletico’s wasn’t. Atletico progressed on the away goals rule.

The away goals rule gives a crucial incentive to away teams to compete in the first legs of knock-out cup ties and I completely support the concept. However, that rule should not count in extra-time as it clearly gives one team a significant advantage. You could argue that as the home team, Liverpool would have had an advantage over Atletico in extra-time but I would ask why do you need extra time? We played 90 minutes in Madrid and 90 minutes at Anfield. Why not go straight to penalties? No one wants extra-time. The law is an ass!

As for the decision to disallow what could have been a vital away goal for us last week, given how our season has gone, it is no surprise that a crucial decision went against us when the stakes were highest. That doesn’t make it anymore palpable though. Nor does the fact that in the two days leading up to this tie, we saw some rotten refereeing decisions lead to the elimination of both Lyon and Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. At least we can see that inept refereeing affects all teams in Europe and not just us – something you can’t say of the Premiership this season.

Overall, you have to feel hard done by. Robbed even. Were we magnificent in Madrid? No. Did we score as many legitimate goals as Atletico in that game? Yes. Should we have taken an away goal into last night’s game? Yes.

There’s no excuse for the decision to disallow Benayoun’s goal in Madrid. It was quite simply a wrong decision. Football should be won by the team that scores the most goals. That is the concept the entire game is based on. Liverpool scored two goals over 180 minutes and Atletico scored just one. Over 210 minutes, Liverpool scored three goals and Atletico scored two. OK, had Benayoun’s goal in Madrid not been disallowed, we would have seen a different approach from Atletico and potentially a very different outcome but the point is, if a team achieves its objective of scoring but is not given any reward or credit for doing so, what is the point in the game?

The raison d’être for a football referee is to enforce the rules of the game. By disallowing a legitimate goal, the referee did the exact opposite. Something has to change as it is clear that referees and their assistants are not equipped to handle the pace, tactics, theatrics and cynicism of the modern game and thanks to technology, incorrect decisions are quickly exposed.

Given the number of incorrect decisions that have decisively gone against Liverpool FC this season, I feel I can say that football is no longer decided by what 11 men achieve with a football and is instead decided by the decisions of the referee.

Referee rant over, the other key reason we went out of the Europa League last night is that we had no strength in reserve. With Torres, Aurelio, Skrtel and Insua injured, Maxi Rodriguez cup-tied, Riera in disgrace and Ngog barely fit enough for the bench, Rafa fielded his strongest and most-attacking XI even though it utilised a right-back at left-back, a central midfielder at right-back and a striker-turned-midfielder as a midfielder-turned-striker. That team was good enough to win the game in 90 minutes but to get through extra-time, clearly we needed some fresh legs. Who was on the bench? Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Degen, Pacheco, El Zahr and Ngog. Ayala, Pacheco and Ngog are kids. El Zahr is also young but clearly not of Premiership standard. Degen is pure shit. Only Kyrgiakos and Ngog of the outfield players could be considered first team players and Ngog has probably played too much this campaign.

Could you imagine Spurs, Villa or Man City, let alone Arsenal, Chelsea or the dirty Mancs ever having such a poor bench in a European Semi-Final? The worst thing about it, is had everyone been fit, you would have expected Torres and Aurelio to start with Johnson at right-back, Mascher back in midfield, Kuyt on the right and Benayoun on the left. I could see Babel and Aquilani being on the bench which adds some strength but it still would have been a bench of Cavalieri, Skrtel, Insua, Degen, Aquilani, Babel and Ngog. Spurs have the likes of Crouch and Eidur Gudjohnsson on their bench. City have Santa-Cruz plus one of Adebayor, Bellamy or Tevez and have let Robinho go out on loan! We simply haven’t got a strong enough squad.

We need a quality left-back, a decent back up for right-back, a winger with real quality (possibly two), and at least one more striker plus replacements for any first team players who are sold in the summer. It is a massive rebuilding task.

Rafa must be given money to spend this summer or the chances of us reaching a fifth European Semi-Final in seven years are slim to none.

Final, final point: I’m so proud of the players who did play last night. They gave their all and despite going out, we can hold our heads up high and won’t be afraid of the dark.