Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema hailed the away fans after their victory at Liverpool.

The Reds took a 2-0 lad, but lost 5-2 at Anfield in the first-leg of their Champions League round 16 tie.

Benzema later said, "We played with personality, we produced goals - we want this Champions League again. And that produced a match which was lovely to play in and for those who were watching.

"We started a little poorly. We knew that the Anfield fans were going to put us under pressure but after those first 15 minutes we saw the true Real Madrid. Football at this level is hard. They started better than us but this was a big game and we were ready.

"When you know it's a vital game and you're 2-0 down you want more. A goal can change any game and that's what happened from Vinicius Junior today. I want to thank our fans here, they were our 12th man all night. We'll need them again in the second leg and we'll need to produce a great match in the Bernabeu."