Yossi Benayoun gave Liverpool the lead in the first half as he headed in Steven Gerrard’s free kick.
But the Israeli’s opening goal was cancelled out by Martin Jorgensen’s strike before Alberto Gilardino grabbed victory for Fiorentina in the final minute.
The defeat means Liverpool finish with their lowest ever points tally in the Champions League, while Fiorentina progress to the last 16 as winners of Group E ahead of Lyon.
Although it was another disappointing night for Rafael Benitez, he was able to welcome back Fernando Torres from injury while handing Alberto Aquilani his first start since joining the club in August.
Liverpool started brightly with Aquilani immediately involved as he sent an inviting pass to Andrea Dossena on the left who whipped in a cross to the near post which Dirk Kuyt couldn’t apply a finishing touch to.
Daniel Agger almost handed Fiorentina the lead though with a poor backpass, however Diego Cavalieri managed to get to the ball before the advancing Mario Santana.
Liverpool continued to outdo their opponents in the possession stakes, but they struggled to create many openings with Benayoun guilty of giving the ball away in a number of promising positions.
In contrast Fiorentina always looked a threat with former AC Milan striker Gilardino playing on the shoulder of Agger and stretching the Liverpool defence.
It was Lorenzo de Silvestri who came closest to opening the scoring for the Italians with a header that Cavalieri did well to push over his bar before diving low to his left to save Riccardo Montolivo’s volley from the following corner.
Liverpool took the lead before half-time though when Benayoun sent a glancing header into the net from Gerrard’s swinging free kick from the right.
Gilardino had the chance to equalise immediately after the restart but Cavalieri managed to smother the Italian’s header after he arrived at the front post unmarked to meet Gianluca Comotto’s cross.
Liverpool began to threaten their visitors' goal more as they upped the tempo and Agger should have scored his team's second on the hour, but failed to make contact with the ball as he dived to meet another Gerrard free kick.
And Fiorentina took immediate advantage of their hosts' failure to double their lead when they broke quickly to equalise with Gilardino laying on a pass for Jorgensen to arrow a low shot past Cavalieri.
Benitez introduced Torres from the bench as they looked to regain the lead and the Spaniard supplied an excellent cross for Dossena but he failed to get his head to the ball.
The game became stretched in the final ten minutes as both teams pushed to find a winning goal with Cavalieri denying Montolivo from distance.
And the Italians finished the game the stronger, snatching victory in the final minutes when Gilardino slotted the ball past Cavalieri to compound Liverpool’s miserable Champions League campaign.
But the Israeli’s opening goal was cancelled out by Martin Jorgensen’s strike before Alberto Gilardino grabbed victory for Fiorentina in the final minute.
The defeat means Liverpool finish with their lowest ever points tally in the Champions League, while Fiorentina progress to the last 16 as winners of Group E ahead of Lyon.
Although it was another disappointing night for Rafael Benitez, he was able to welcome back Fernando Torres from injury while handing Alberto Aquilani his first start since joining the club in August.
Liverpool started brightly with Aquilani immediately involved as he sent an inviting pass to Andrea Dossena on the left who whipped in a cross to the near post which Dirk Kuyt couldn’t apply a finishing touch to.
Daniel Agger almost handed Fiorentina the lead though with a poor backpass, however Diego Cavalieri managed to get to the ball before the advancing Mario Santana.
Liverpool continued to outdo their opponents in the possession stakes, but they struggled to create many openings with Benayoun guilty of giving the ball away in a number of promising positions.
In contrast Fiorentina always looked a threat with former AC Milan striker Gilardino playing on the shoulder of Agger and stretching the Liverpool defence.
It was Lorenzo de Silvestri who came closest to opening the scoring for the Italians with a header that Cavalieri did well to push over his bar before diving low to his left to save Riccardo Montolivo’s volley from the following corner.
Liverpool took the lead before half-time though when Benayoun sent a glancing header into the net from Gerrard’s swinging free kick from the right.
Gilardino had the chance to equalise immediately after the restart but Cavalieri managed to smother the Italian’s header after he arrived at the front post unmarked to meet Gianluca Comotto’s cross.
Liverpool began to threaten their visitors' goal more as they upped the tempo and Agger should have scored his team's second on the hour, but failed to make contact with the ball as he dived to meet another Gerrard free kick.
And Fiorentina took immediate advantage of their hosts' failure to double their lead when they broke quickly to equalise with Gilardino laying on a pass for Jorgensen to arrow a low shot past Cavalieri.
Benitez introduced Torres from the bench as they looked to regain the lead and the Spaniard supplied an excellent cross for Dossena but he failed to get his head to the ball.
The game became stretched in the final ten minutes as both teams pushed to find a winning goal with Cavalieri denying Montolivo from distance.
And the Italians finished the game the stronger, snatching victory in the final minutes when Gilardino slotted the ball past Cavalieri to compound Liverpool’s miserable Champions League campaign.
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