Liverpool came away from a difficult night’s work in the San Siro with a superb 2-0 victory over Inter Milan.
The Reds now have a healthy advantage over their Italian counterparts for the second leg at Anfield.
But, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the visitors as the hosts took the game to Jurgen Klopp’s side at times.
Shots: 9-13
Shots on target: 0-2
Possession: 46%-54%
Corners: 7-7#UCL pic.twitter.com/5uEHnasuTX— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) February 16, 2022
After the match, Klopp insisted that Inter were still ‘dangerous’ in the tie despite the two-goal lead to take back to Merseyside.
The German boss admitted concern over the injury suffered to Diogo Jota after the Portuguese forward had to be replaced: “Diogo had to go off with something around the ankle ligament, we will see. At half-time the ankle was swollen and we had to change.”
Pundits saw fit to laud Ibrahima Konate in particular as Jason Cundy claimed that Liverpool and Manchester City were ‘miles ahead’ of the rest of Europe at present.
But who were the best on show…
READ LIVERPOOL VERDICT
XI: Alisson 7; Trent Alexander-Arnold 7, Ibrahima Konate 8, Virgil van Dijk 8.5, Andy Robertson 8; Fabinho 8, Harvey Elliott 6, Thiago 7; Mohamed Salah 7.5, Sadio Mane 7, Diogo Jota 6.
Subs: Roberto Firmino 7, Jordan Henderson 8, Naby Keita 7.5, Luis Diaz 8, James Milner NA.
An outstanding result with some sublime performances, especially from the bench.
Liverpool were undoubtedly under the cosh when Klopp made the triple change midway through the second-half and each arrival had a positive impact on proceedings.
For now at least, attention can turn back to domestic matters as the Reds welcome Norwich City to Anfield.
