The Reds' Spanish winger has told of his part in the winning goal at the Bernabeu, heaping praise upon the man who put it away.

Liverpool are in the box seat to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Spain.

It was the diminutive Yossi Benayoun who rose late in the game to head home Fabio Aurelio's free kick, but Albert Riera was also lurking beneath the Brazilian's sumptuous ball.

"I was just in front of Yossi," Riera told the club's official website. "I think [Gonzalo] Higuain touched me and that made a bit of space for Yossi, so I left the ball for him and he made a great contact.
 
"It was a great header and a really important goal for us so you have to give Yossi a lot of credit for that. It was really good to see the ball hit the back of the net because we know how important away goals can be.
 
"It was the most important moment and it was a big victory for us because it means that maybe now we have a little bit of an advantage – but it is not a massive advantage."

Liverpool were made to work hard at the Santiago Bernabeu, but they came away with the spoils thanks to a ruthless display of defensive organisation.
 
Riera continued, "We made the game uncomfortable for Real Madrid because we knew that was what we had to do if we were to give ourselves a good chance.
 
"We always feel that we have a chance because we have some great players and we were waiting for the big moment to come and when it did we were delighted."

Statistically, the tie is well and truly in the Merseysiders' favour, considering they have never a lost a European Cup knock-out clash after winning the away leg.

But Riera said, "In big games like this no-one is ever the favourite – it comes down to what happens on the pitch on the night," he added.
 
"But we were not just thinking about what happened in this game at the Bernabeu, we were looking upon it more as a game over 180 minutes.
 
"At 0-0 we were thinking that maybe it could be a good score but to win the game 1-0 is an unbelievable result for us.
 
"Now we have to come up with another big performance in the second leg at home. But I am confident that we will go through to the next stage."

source: Goal.com