Subbed Baros was not snubbed

The Czech international had been on the field for just twenty minutes before the Reds boss decided he needed to make a change. Houllier admits that it hurt him to have to substitute the player but he felt it was a decision that had to be made if Liverpool were to hold on to their lead.

Houllier said: "I did it because Manchester United put another striker on and they were flooding people into the midfield.

"There was five minutes left to play and I remembered that in 1999 they scored two goals in five minutes against us. Manchester United are used to scoring in the last minute or so.

"Milan understands the decision - and it worked. It hurts a manager sometimes to make such a decision but you do it for the good of the team. It probably hurts the player too but that really is a good sign.

"So despite the fact that Milan Baros had done very well I just needed to put a fifth midfielder on. I wanted us to have more hold of the ball and more control. Games at the top level are now games of 14 players