Late Gerrard penalty rescues Reds

Atletico will believe they were robbed of a place in the last 16 by referee Martin Hansson's hotly disputed penalty award for a debatable foul on Gerrard by Mariano Pernia.

They had led from the 37th minute following a cleverly constructed Maxi Rodriguez goal and frustrated Liverpool at every turn.

Liverpool started with pace and desire and could have scored in the first minute when Dirk Kuyt's close-range effort was grabbed by Atletico stopper Leo Franco.

Robbie Keane drove into the side-netting for Liverpool, while their opponents were not slow to hit back and Sabrosa Simao fired just over minutes later.

Two more Liverpool chances then went begging, Albert Riera's touch into the box almost set-up Gerrard as he surged into the area and Keane was denied by Franco when he tried to round the Argentinian goalkeeper.

Atletico were also producing some quality football and scored an outstanding goal in the 37th minute. Antonio Lopez broke down the right, taking a long pass with a superb first touch to confound Daniel Agger.

His pass into the box found Rodriguez moving into space away from Jamie Carragher before firing a shot across Jose Reina and inside the far post.

Agger saw a header drop onto the roof of the net as Liverpool cranked up the pressure just after the break. And Liverpool almost grabbed the equaliser in the 70th minute when Alvaro Arbeloa and Keane combined to set up Gerrard, but the captain's shot just cleared the angle.

Liverpool's pressure finally told when Gerrard went down inside the box in the fourth minute of injury time under an aerial challenge from Pernia. He made no contact with the ball but it was a debatable decision and Gerrard picked himself up to drive home the penalty and ruin Madrid's night.