Aurelio injury mars Liverpool win

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had mixed emotions following the 3-0 Champions League victory over PSV Eindhoven after admitting Brazilian full-back Fabio Aurelio’s season is over.

Aurelio suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the quarter-final first leg in Holland and the Reds manager admits it is so serious he will be out “for a very long time”.

The 27-year-old will have a scan today in Liverpool but Benitez already knows the player is facing months on the sidelines.

He said: “Fabio has started to play really well, this is a very bad blow for him and us.

“There was nobody anywhere near him, he felt as if he had been hit by a stone. The pain was from behind and it struck him like he had been hit, it is a real tragedy for us.”

The injury was the only black spot on a great team performance in the Philips Stadium, with goals coming from Steven Gerrard, John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch.

The performance was so comprehensive that PSV coach Ronald Koeman conceded the tie. Liverpool can now start thinking of a semi-final date with either Chelsea or Valencia.

Benitez was predictably more cautious, but even he does not really believe his side can lose this tie despite saying: “We must remember Istanbul, we came back from 3-0 down.

“We played well, it was an organised, effective performance. But we are all more concerned about Fabio.”

Liverpool had a tremendous performance as well as records for Jamie Carragher and Gerrard to celebrate. Carragher played his 58th Champions League appearance, a club record while Gerrard scored his 15th goal in the competition, also beating Ian Rush’s record.

Benitez added: “There must be no room for complacency now. We must take the second-leg seriously and play a proper match.

“If we can keep them quiet for the first 45 minutes, then maybe we can start thinking of reaching the semi-finals.

“For me this is a different feeling from the season we won the trophy. This team is better than that one was, but this is another year, another competition. Although we are getting closer.”

Koeman was devastated by his team’s display, and said: “We played with the same tactics against Arsenal to beat them in the last round.

“But we have injuries now, we are missing a few important players, and you could see that we did not have the quality to match Liverpool.

“The result is bad. It is impossible now to go to Anfield and make out a case for reaching the next round. If I tried to find a reason to believe that, I would be from another planet.

“We played well until they scored their first. Then we started to give Steve Finnan too much freedom and we started to make mistakes.

“From then on it was clear that Liverpool were too strong for us. It is not realistic to think that we can win the tie now.”