perfect start inside three minutes. Fábio Aurélio swung over a ball from the right, Jamie Carragher headed it back across goal and David N'Gog reacted quickest to poke it in from a few yards out. Liverpool did all they could to keep their Champions League hopes alive, but in the end it just wasn't enough. A solitary goal gave the Reds all three points on the night against Debrecen but thanks to Fiorentina's win in Lyon, the 2005 champions were eliminated from the competition at the group stages for the very first time under boss Rafael Benítez. Alberto Aquilani made a cameo appearance with seconds to spare but the game finished 1–0. After the win in Hungary, Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez said, "We did our part and we did our part well. Obviously we cannot control the other game, but this win will give us confidence." Liverpool ended their failed Champions League campaign in defeat as they were beaten 2–1 by Fiorentina which inflicted Liverpool's second successive home defeat in this European competition and also they had the worst points tally in their European history. Group stage UEFA Europa League Being unable to finish higher than third in the 2009–10 Champions League group stage, Liverpool appeared in the Europa League for the first time since the 2003–04 season. Liverpool were drawn to play Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, playing the first leg at Anfield. The dates for the two legs were 18 February 2010 for the first leg and 25 February 2010 for the second leg. Liverpool made 3 changes for the first leg, with Fábio Aurélio coming in for Emiliano Insúa, Jamie Carragher being drafted back into the squad to replace Sotirios Kyrgiakos, and Dirk Kuyt being placed on the right-wing, with David N'Gog the lone striker. Liverpool started brightly, with Steven Gerrard having a shot kept out by the Unirea keeper after 60 seconds and Fábio Aurélio placing a free-kick wide after three minutes. Liverpool continued to press throughout the rest of the first half and for all but ten minutes of the second-half. Unirea were proving to be strong in defence, but in the 81st minute, Liverpool finally scored, substitute Ryan Babel crossing into the path of fellow substitute Daniel Pacheco, who produced a downward header into David N'Gog, and he headed into an empty net. This meant Liverpool would take a slender 1–0 lead to Romania. In