Mark Hughes was left wondering where it all went wrong as he saw his side defeated by two goals, to leave them an uphill task to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Cup when the two teams meet in a few weeks for the second leg of the tie.

With his team enjoying a long unbeaten run, he must have hoped that they would be taking an away goal advantage back to Ewood Park at the very least. In truth the team never looked like scoring and found themselves second best in most areas of the pitch throughout the night.

Both teams had chances early in the first half but the home team had shown that they were not going to be a push over before on 33 their striker Bakayoko scored the first goal by dispossessing Blackburn defender Morten Gamst Pedersen, turning and shooting to see the goal being deflected into the visitors net. Blackburn seemed stunned by this although it was expected such was the quality of the Greek sides play.

Unfortunately for them the Greek sides quality showed again as they were gifted the ball to push forward and attack the visitors goal once more. After saving several attempts Brad Friedel could only watch as Cleyton slotted the ball into the Blackburn net to double the advantage of the home side on 35.

What Hughes will find most disappointing is that his team were unable to offer anything in return for the rest of the match and indeed may have gone even further behind if Larissa had taken their chances. Hughes will still believe that his team can progress but much depends on his defenders as an away goal for Larissa would surely see Blackburn suffer an early exit from the competition.