Gerrard believes Reds can win Europa League

Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool can lift the inaugural Europa League in Hamburg in May despite starting life outside the Champions League last night with a tense 1-0 win over Unirea Urziceni.

David Ngog's 81st-minute header gave Rafael Benítez's team a slender lead to take into the second leg in Bucharest next Thursday on a night when they dominated possession against the Romanian champions but struggled to break down a resilient defence.

"They were very stubborn but we expected that," said the Liverpool captain. "We needed to be a bit more clinical but I think we'll get more joy away from home. The teams knocked out of the Champions League are fantastic and some of the top sides across Europe are in the competition so it's going to be tough to win it but we can go all the way."

Benítez argued that a clean sheet on home soil was adequate compensation for failing to establish a convincing first-leg lead. The Liverpool manager said: "I think we could have scored one or two more goals. It is not the best result but it is good. If we score one [in Romania] they have to score three, so a clean sheet was important."

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