Lisandro Lopez 90             Babel 83

Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes hang by a thread after dropping two vital points in agonising circumstances at Stade Gerland.

They will go out if Fiorentina win at home in the next round of matches to a Lyon side who qualified with this result.

A wonder goal by substitute Ryan Babel on 83 minutes should have sealed victory for Liverpool, who had dominated proceedings.

Strikers Fernando Torres and Andrei Voronin missed gilt-edged chances in the first half, while midfielder Lucas Leiva was also denied by Lyon’s impressive 22-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Lloris halfway through the second half.

And they were made to pay for their profligacy as the game entered stoppage time, when Daniel Agger misjudged a bouncing ball and Lisandro Lopez nipped in to fire past Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool should have taken the lead on 11 minutes when Torres got on the end of Emiliano Insua’s left-wing cross only to direct his left-foot shot straight at Lloris, who saved with his legs.

Five minutes later, Lloris made a better save, tipping over Dirk Kuyt’s goalbound right-foot shot.

He should have had no chance when Voronin sped clear of the defence just before the half-hour mark, however. But the Ukrainian international’s right-foot finish was weak and Lloris was able to save with his legs once more.

He made a better save again from Lucas on 68 minutes, with Aly Cissokho clearing Kuyt’s overhead-kick from the rebound off the line.

Four minutes later, Reina was called into rare action to block Lisandro’s left-foot shot after the striker latched onto a poor back header from Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

But in the 83^rd minute when Babel picked up Yossi Benayoun’s pass thirty yards out, cut inside an unleashed a magnificent right-foot shot which flew past Lloris’s right-hand.

It was a goal which deserved to win any match. Alas, it didn’t win this one.