Damage was done in the Nou Camp, says Rijkaard

LIVERPOOL, England, Mar 7 (Reuters) Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard praised his team for their fighting spirit and determination against Liverpool but said the damage was done in the 21- home defeat in the first leg.

A late Eidur Gudjohnsen goal gave the holders a 1-0 win at Anfield but Liverpool advanced on the away goals rule.

''Lets not forget that we did actually win tonight's game, a little luckily maybe but that was not enough we know,'' Rijkaard told a news conference last night.

''We made our own destiny because of what happened at the Nou Camp two weeks ago when we lost 2-1.'' Liverpool were by the far the more adventurous side yesterday and the Dutch coach recognised that his team had met their match.

''We had a lot of the ball in the first half, but they defended well and it was difficult for us to create danger around their box.

They are a very good side and I think they will be more than a match for anyone left in the competition,'' he said.

''The fact is we weren't dangerous enough and had put ourselves in such a difficult position from the first leg, that always meant it was going to be hard for us tonight. But I offer them my congratulations.

''It is not the end of the season for us, but it is very disappointing and will feel even worse in the morning.'' Barcelona were attempting to become the first team in the Champions League era to retain the trophy and needed to score at least two goals to have a chance of progress.

But although they played with a three-man attack as expected with Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi they were swept aside by a rampant Liverpool team in the opening exchanges and managed only one worthwhile shot in the first half.

In fact they looked most dangerous when Ludovic Giuly replaced Eto'o after 61 minutes. Eto'o has only just returned to the team after a lengthy injury layoff but Rijkaard said he made the right choice in picking him.

Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez praised his players for their efforts rather than take the credit for winning a tactical battle against his Dutch counterpart.

''I don't like to talk about battles between managers,'' he said. ''I set my team up nicely and I think we deserved to score on more than one occasion. When they scored we came under pressure but even when we were 1-0 down were still hit them on the break and I am very proud of the way my team played.'' Inspirational Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard added: ''We feel we have put a marker down to the rest of the teams because we have beaten the best team in the world over two legs.'' REUTERS PDS BST1424