Jurgen Klopp was disappointed Liverpool were not able to produce a "special performance" against Real Madrid, meaning they would have been eliminated from the Champions League regardless of the first-leg collapse.
Liverpool headed to the Santiago Bernabeu for the return match in the last 16 with a huge task, needing to overturn a 5-2 deficit.
Klopp's Reds were unable to do that as they instead lost 1-0 to a Karim Benzema goal and bowed out 6-2 on aggregate.
While the nature of the heavy defeat at Anfield in the first match impacted on Liverpool's attempts to rescue the tie on Wednesday, Klopp pointed out even a draw at home would not have been enough if Madrid then controlled the second game.
"To be honest, if we draw at home and play the game that we played tonight, we go out probably as well," Klopp told BT Sport. "We cannot come here and hope that you get something.
"We prepared for a special performance, but we were not able to put it on the pitch tonight.
"It was obvious, I think – nobody is thinking, 'how could Liverpool go out?' That's probably the best sign that the right team went through."
He added: "In three halves of the two games, they were the better team. That's how you go through to the next round."
Liverpool at least avoided another embarrassment, albeit only after Alisson impressed in goal, making two "sensational saves", according to Klopp.
"Not all exits are like this," the manager said. "There are probably 500,000 different ways to go out, and this was ours tonight.
"It's not what we wanted, but it's what we got. Now we have to carry on."
Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras qualify for Concacaf Gold Cup
Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras all qualified for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup following the results of their matches on Saturday in the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League.
Haiti defeated Montserrat 4-0 to claim the top spot in Group B of League B to clinch their Gold Cup place.
Canada topped Curacao 2-0 to secure at least a second-place finish in Group C of League A, thus qualifying them for the Gold Cup. Even though they were not in action, the Canada win also assured Honduras a berth in this summer’s Gold Cup as well.
Costa Rica will also play in the Gold Cup again after rallying late from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 2-1 win in Martinique in Group B of League A.
Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras join the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Panama and Jamaica as teams that have punched their ticket to this summer’s tournament.
The winners and second-place finishers from the League A groups and the winners of each group in League B group will directly for the Gold Cup.
The second-place teams from the League B groups and the third-place teams from League A will join the winners of each League C group in the Gold Cup Prelims.
Southgate hails ruthless Saka after stunning England strike
Gareth Southgate praised the ruthlessness of Bukayo Saka after his starring role in England's 2-0 win over Ukraine.
England made it six points from two Euro 2024 qualifiers with a routine win at Wembley on Sunday.
Saka, a leading light in Arsenal's challenge for the Premier League title, supplied the assist for Harry Kane's opener in the 37th minute.
He then made it 2-0 three minutes later by bending a magnificent long-range strike into the top-right corner, his eighth goal for the Three Lions.
"It is a top-level finish [from Saka]," Southgate told Channel 4.
"That is the ruthless part he has added to his game in the last 18 months or so. There were times you weren't sure he was going to finish, but now he has that confidence in front of goal."
England were in control throughout, with Ukraine never looking likely to produce a comeback in a game where they did not manage a shot on target.
The command England enjoyed naturally delighted Southgate, who also had plaudits for James Maddison, the Leicester City playmaker creating five chances in an impressive showing.
"The risk is that when you have control of the game you have the odd sloppy pass, but the application throughout was excellent," added Southgate.
"We have broken down a lot of barriers over a period of time. We still had that question mark over some of the bigger teams.
"We are starting to win those games now but there is still lots of room for improvement.
"To back up the Italy result was important, but there is still room to grow."
"We are always trying to think about now and what is next. We did that with James Maddison today. We thought it was a good game to see him.
"He was defensively very solid. It was nice to get Ivan Toney on the pitch as well. We will always look at people, but we have to qualify and we can't take that for granted."
Juventus midfielder Kostic out of Serbia squad with Achilles injury
Juventus midfielder Filip Kostic has been ruled out of Serbia's Euro 2024 qualifier against Montenegro with an Achilles injury.
The 30-year-old played a full part in Friday's 2-0 win over Lithuania and set up Dusan Tadic's early opener.
But Kostic will not be available against Montenegro at Podgorica City Stadium on Monday, having returned to his club side for treatment.
"It's bad news for us," Serbia head coach Dragan Stojkovic said at Sunday's pre-match press conference. "He left the team because he has Achilles tendinitis.
"There is no need to take any risks with him. The decision was to return to the club. I'm always sorry when a player gets injured – there's nothing worse for a coach."
Juventus will hope to have Kostic available for a busy run of fixtures when they return to action later this week.
Massimiliano Allegri's side have nine games in April across three competitions, starting with Saturday's Serie A meeting with Hellas Verona at the Allianz Stadium.
Kostic has played in 38 of Juve's 39 matches this season – only Danilo has featured as regularly – and has a team-high 11 assists to go with his three goals.
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