Disparity begins at home for Deco

FC Barcelona's European dreams may have disappeared into the rainy Liverpool night but according to midfielder Deco, the defence of their UEFA Champions League title was dealt a fatal blow with their first-leg defeat on home soil a fortnight earlier.

'Big disappointment'
Reflecting on Barcelona's elimination on away goals, after last night's 1-0 success at Anfield failed to undo the damage of a 2-1 home reverse, Deco said: "It was hard to win here but we managed it. Where we should have won or at least avoided defeat in theory was at home." Not since Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard's own playing days with AC Milan have the European champions retained their crown but that statistic is unlikely to lighten the gloom at Camp Nou. "It is a big disappointment to lose," added Deco. "If we had scored sooner it would have become more complicated for them."

Ronaldinho miss
It was an argument echoed by goalkeeper Victor Valdés, who said: "It was a shame we scored with time running out." Barcelona struck the game's only goal through substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen after 75 minutes and could be forgiven for wondering what might have been had Ronaldinho's curling shot not rebounded off a post early in the second half. At the same time, however, they rode their luck in the first half, when Liverpool were twice denied by the woodwork - and the visitors failed to muster a single shot on target.

'Lost the tie at home'
"It was a difficult first half against a good team who had the advantage of playing at home," said Deco. "We needed to get back the two goals we lost at home but although we had the ball but we couldn't find a way through. They defended really well in the first half but it was impossible for them to keep that going. We played well in the second half, against a tough team who are difficult to break down. But the truth is we lost the tie at home."

Praise for Reds
While Barcelona's players flew home from Manchester this morning to start preparing for the weekend's Spanish league showdown with arch-rivals Real Madrid CF, Liverpool's players can now look forward to Friday's quarter-final draw. And according to Deco, Rafael Benítez's team, the 2005 champions, have a "good chance" of going even further. "Liverpool have a great team and a great coach," he said. "They've shown that when they get a lead it's very difficult to break them down, especially at home