Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano was so struck by Wednesday's Memorial Service that he rang friends back home to tell them what he had witnessed.

"I have never seen anything like it in my life," Mascherano told Liverpoolfc.tv. "I spoke to some people in Argentina about it because it was amazing to see the stadium almost full for a memorial service. It would not happen at other clubs or in other countries.

"It's great the way the fans and the city came together. They still remember after 20 years the people who lost their lives.

"When I came here I didn't know what happened 20 years ago but living in the city and playing for Liverpool you hear all the stories. It was so sad."

Mascherano's first professional club, River Plate, endured their own stadium disaster in 1968 when 74 people died trying to escape a fire.

"In Argentina something similar happened many years ago at River Plate but they don't remember like Liverpool fans remember," added the 24-year-old.