Houllier has to admit: We were lucky

13 April 2012

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was today still thanking his lucky stars after his side struggled into the last eight of the UEFA Cup.

On a night of drama and confusion at Anfield, Liverpool lost 1-0 to Roma but hung on to win 2-1 on aggregate to take them into a quarter-final with Portugal's Porto, the first leg away on 8 March and the Anfield return on 15 March.

It gives Liverpool three quarter-final matches in eight days, with the FA Cup tie at Tranmere on the Sunday between the two Porto games.

But, while Houllier admitted his side were "lucky" to force their way past Roma, he was also wishing his players hadn't got involved in some of incidents which marred the match.

He also was concerned at the pre-match hype that was part of the Paisley Day celebrations. There was a feeling that the party atmosphere after the tribute to the club's former manager could have been a distraction.

Liverpool decided to mark Bob Paisley's achievement in managing Liverpool to European Cup Final glory over Roma in 1984 with a night of celebration, which involved his widow Jessie being introduced to the crowd on the pitch before the game.

Houllier said: "Of course I'm happy to give credit to Bob Paisley but I don't like celebrations before a game."

Houllier was also relieved his players had escaped the match without any disciplinary problems.

He said: "I don't like my players getting involved in silly situations. You need to be cool and controlled." But as Roma stormed away from Anfield claiming they were robbed, Houllier admitted: "We were lucky, sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit that. They were better than us."

Rome had six players booked, one sent off and were denied a penalty they thought had been given.

Spanish referee Jose Garcia-Aranda changed his mind after seeming to award Roma a penalty for a Markus Babbel handball. Minutes before Roma had forced their way back into the tie with a goal from Gianni Guigou.

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