GLOBAL FANS ARE ANXIOUS FOR UPCOMING LIVERPOOL V INTER MILAN MATCH-UP
Both teams performed brilliantly at the group stage but Inter came up short in San Siro and they must atone for that in Anfield.
After the group stage, Inter Milan ended up fighting Liverpool in the round of 16 of UEFA Champions League. The first leg was already concluded, and Liverpool dealt a blow of two goals to none. The two teams are bound for the second leg on March 8th and it will be held in Anfield.
Despite the win, the First Leg was still tough for Liverpool
The first leg in San Siro was such a gritty fight as the Reds really struggled to make something happen in the first half. The real opportunity for Liverpool only came up more than one hour into the match. Klopp made a series of changes in halftime after Diogo Jota got injured with a swollen ankle, and, as it turned out, the substitute Roberto Firmino was the trump of the match.
The deadlock between the two teams was only broken late in the match when Firmino netted a header from Henderson’s corner kick at minute 75. After the goal, errors started to creep inside Nerazzurri’s resistance, resulting in another goal by Mohamed Salah at the 83rd-minute mark. The fulltime concluded at 2-0 for the Reds.
Liverpool are standing by
With another 90 minutes standing between Liverpool and the quarterfinals, the Reds’ manager Jürgen Klopp is sure that Inter Milan will not go down without putting up a fight.
“It’s half-time, nothing else. It will be a tricky one and we have to be ready for that,” said the German manager after the match. “They played good, they played differently, but they are really good and that’s why it is halftime, 2-0. If it is proper halftime, like today, if it was 2-0 at halftime, I don’t tell my boys ‘job done, put your legs on the table’. It is a tricky result so why should we think about it now.”
What to expect in the Second Leg
Time frame is also important in this match-up. In the span of 10 days before meeting Inter for the return leg, Liverpool is set to have three matches. And anything can happen within that time span. Players can get injured; they can get fatigued, and they may have to follow the healthy protocols for COVID-19.
Load management is an important consideration, but they also cannot ignore the fact that they have the chance to score a home run of winning the Carabao and FA Cup, as well as the Premier and Champions League in the same season. It is a matter of priority, and it is tricky to handle.
The odds for the second leg are still going in Liverpool’s favor. Even with the away goals rule no longer in force, Nerazzurri will still be fighting at a disadvantage of having to battle the Reds in their home ground with two nets down. However, one shall not underestimate the motivation of Simone Inzaghi’s men getting into the return leg. That is because this is Inter Milan’s momentum to actually fight, as it is their first time getting into the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League in a decade.
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