No excuses for Riise

While the referee's performance has been understandably cited by Gerard Houllier, Norwegian star Riise insists that the game was ultimately lost two weeks ago at Anfield.

Riise said: "We could complain, but maybe we should be thinking we should have done better at Anfield in the first game.

"Even after drawing 1-1 in the first game we thought we'd score in the away leg. But once you've gone down to 10 men it's always going to be difficult, especially in a place like Marseille. It was a very disappointing night for us."