13 LONG YEARS

HOULLIER:

"I think they can come through against Real

"Their potential is growing and they have a good end of season in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

"With an extra man today, they passed the ball well, although at times they also had a bit of luck."

"From where I was sitting, the first one looked a penalty, even if Sami said they were just tangling for the ball.

"I do think the referee could have avoided sending him off though. It wasn't as though he was pulling Van Nistelrooy's shirt.

"If you come here and play Manchester United with 11 men you know it's going to be hard but losing your captain so early is not something you can legislate for.

"This defeat hurts everyone but we will just have to take it on the chin. Once they got the second goal, the players knew the task they faced was insurmountable and tired legs got to us in the end."

"Obviously the sending off was vital but we made a marvellous start generally, got at them quickly at to get in front so early was a great boost.

"Hyypia did deny Ruud a goalscoring chance and he probably had to go, although some referees wouldn't have sent him off.

"In the last 10 minutes of the first half we were a bit scrappy and took our foot off the pedal - and that's not the way to play against Liverpool.

"That was an uncomfortable part of the game for us but we survived it and in the second half I thought we were comfortable.

"You always want to kill the game off and I think the second goal did.

"I think we did very well, particularly in the second half when we moved the ball quickly.

"We played without running most of the time in the second half. It saved our energy - and that may help us on Tuesday night."
"If you're asked at the start of the season would you rather have two league victories over Liverpool or the League [Worthington] Cup what would the answer be?

"It's always a disappointment to lose to them - but to have the league double is very satisfying."

"Phil (Neville) has been training for the past two weeks, he is suspended for Tuesday's game and I wanted to use his freshness.

"Once we had got the opening goal, Liverpool never really offered an attacking threat and we managed to play with a lot of common sense in the final 25 minutes and conserve some energy for the challenges which lie ahead."

"We can forget a bit about the Worthington Cup defeat by Liverpool now.

"It was a penalty, no question. If the referee thinks only about the player being taken down in a scoring position then it's red card. I just wanted to take it and get it out of way.

"You get a few moments to focus and pick a corner then you move on.

"I knew where I was going to put the second penalty. I decided to go for the same corner.

"There is a certain kind of stress with penalties. They are important moments and you have to be ready to take them.

"This is a massive win for us. An unbelievable result for us. We go to Madrid with a good feeling."