LONDON-- Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez remains under pressure after his side lost 1-0 at Lille in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday.
German side Hamburg SV eased to a 3-1 victory at home to Anderlecht while Rubin Kazan drew 1-1 with VfL Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid versus Sporting finished goalless.
Liverpool, whose only chance of a trophy this season is in Europe's second-tier competition, started with an attacking lineup of Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard while Lille were without their top striker Gervinho.
The visitors shaded the first half and had a close-range Torres header superbly saved by Mickael Landreau but almost went behind after the break when Daniel Agger's clearance narrowly missed his own goal.
Lille's winner came in equally bizarre fashion with five minutes remaining, when Eden Hazard's long-range freekick evaded everyone including Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina to hand the French side a slender advantage for the second leg.
Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy marked his first start for Hamburg with a goal in a comfortable victory over Anderlecht.
Strikes from defender Joris Mathijsen and compatriot Van Nistelrooy put the hosts ahead but Anderlecht hit back with a long-range Jonathan Legear freekick just before the break.
The Belgian side, who started with 16-year-old Romelu Lukaku up front, went further behind with 15 minutes to go when Hamburg captain David Jarolim volleyed home.
Russian champions Rubin Kazan went ahead through Ecuadorean midfielder Christian Noboa's first-half header but Wolfsburg equalised with a curling effort after 67 minutes from Zvjezdan Misimovic's who also hit the bar either side of his goal.
Sporting also earned a draw at Atletico Madrid despite finishing the match with nine players and would have grabbed an unlikely victory if striker Liedson's shot had not hit the bar.
The Portuguese side lost defender Leandro Grimi to a second yellow card after half an hour and Tonel was later shown a straight red with just minutes remaining.
