Gerrard wishes he was facing Real

"We got knocked out early and it was jealousy really from then on in," he said. "It's hard watching it.

"We're going away to play in the UEFA Cup while teams like Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle go off to play in the Champions League.

"That's what we want to be doing. We wish it was us playing Real Madrid, obviously.

"All the players here love playing in the Champions League and were disappointed to be knocked out when we were this season, but that's just made us all the more eager to have another crack at it next season.

"We believe that we can do better than we did this year."