Bayer boss' praise for Reds

Last updated : 10 March 2005 By Al Campbell
Liverpool beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 home and away to record a comfortable 6-2 aggregate victory and afterwards Augenthaler was full of praise for Rafael Benitez and his team.

"I congratulate Liverpool for making it to the last eight, and after the two games they deserved to go through," said Augenthaler.

"We wanted to do so much, we wanted to achieve much, but we were without five regular players and it was very difficult.

"In the early phase, just as we had found our feet and had two good chances, Liverpool broke away and scored the goals that decided the result.

"We now have only difficult matches in the Bundesliga, and we must concentrate on that and at least I was able to give some younger players the experience of playing at this level against top players like Gerrard and Baros."

Talk about the game here