Holders Liverpool suffer shock exit to Benfica
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-09 09:19

Peter Crouch was first to be denied by the woodwork when his shot deflected off Anderson past the visiting keeper.

The England forward then conjured up an embarrassing miss in the 25th minute, following a typical surging run from midfield by Steven Gerrard, when he shot weakly at Moretto.

Liverpool survived a scare in the 29th minute when Geovanni controlled the ball on his chest and sent a volley crashing against the bar but they failed to learn the lesson of denying Benfica space on the edge of the box and Simao capitalised.

Jamie Carragher was harassed into conceding possession and the ball was fed to the winger. With Liverpool's defenders standing off, Simao curled an unstoppable shot past Jose Reina.

The Reds now needed three goals to win the tie but the spirit that saw them stage a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan in last season's final was missing.

Carragher hit the post with a header from a corner just before the break and substitute striker Robbie Fowler had a goal ruled out with seven minutes left.

Benfica then took advantage of Liverpool's need to push men forward and Miccoli had time to control a right flank cross and beat Reina from six metres to kill the game.

It was Liverpool's first home defeat in the Champions League since they lost to Valencia in 2002, nine matches ago, and it ended a campaign that began with a victory in the qualifying stages over Welsh side TNS in mid-July.