Alonso laments wasted opportunity

First goal was key
Needing to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit, Liverpool created a succession of good opportunities in the opening half-hour, before Simão's spectacular 36th-minute strike doubled the size of their task. Fabrizio Miccoli's late second for Benfica rubbed salt into the Reds' wounds but for Alonso, it was their own failure to get the first goal that was key.

'Created good chances'
"In the first half an hour, we created some good chances and it was a shame not to score that first goal that would have changed the game completely," the Spanish international midfielder told uefa.com. "With their goal, the situation was completely different. We knew it was going to be difficult after the bad result we had in Lisbon and we were really focused on the game to try to score quickly, to play calmly, but it wasn't possible."

Night of frustration
Liverpool drove at the Portuguese champions in the first 30 minutes and their litany of near things began with Peter Crouch's deflected shot hitting the post after eleven minutes. Luis García and Crouch then both missed with just Moretto to beat, setting the tone for a night of frustration. The goalscoring problems of Rafael Benítez's men have been well-documented - Liverpool have registered just eight goals in 13 games - and they had three times as many shots during the match as the Portuguese (21 to seven) but managed only eight on target.

Goalscoring problems
However, even after Jamie Carragher had headed against the woodwork just before the break, Alonso said they kept believing. "Last season against Olympiacos [CFP], we scored three goals in the second half and we believed we could repeat that in the second half, but the longer the game went on, it became impossible."

Much to play for
The Merseysiders' European campaign may be over but Alonso insisted they still had much to play for this season. They sit third in the Premiership - two points behind Manchester United FC and the second place that would bring automatic qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League - and are also through to the FA Cup quarter-finals. "We have to look forward. We are professionals and we have two big competitions to look forward to - we're still in the FA Cup and we want a ticket straight back to the Champions League," the 24-year-old said.