Heroes ‘red’ as on other occasions, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah brought Liverpool closer to the quarterfinals of the Champions League this Wednesday after scoring the goals that led to victory against Inter in the first leg of the round of 16, played at San Siro (0-2) . Inter, who had had better chances until Firmino scored, is now forced to come from behind on March 8 at Anfield.
Pure history of the Champions this Wednesday face to face at the San Siro: the 6 won by Liverpool against the 3 by Inter. The first half was very intense and balanced, but both teams knew how to control each other and lacked offensive clarity. Both Inter and Liverpool had problems completing their plays,
The best images of Inter – Liverpool
For Inter, the two clearest chances were Hakan Çalhanoglu’s shot off the crossbar and Edin Dzeko’s header. For Liverpool, a couple of shots by Mohamed Salah that did not find a goal.
It was the night that Harvey Elliot became the youngest player to play a Champions League match as a starter for Liverpool: at 18 years and 318 days.
After the break Inter came out more in tune than the ‘reds’. Lautaro narrowly missed a ball from Perisic. The Croatian’s internships put Liverpool in trouble, but Virgil van Dijk, this Wednesday captain of the Anfield team until Jordan Henderson’s entry in the 59th minute, marked the line.
Indeed, in the 59th minute, Jürgen Klopp made three changes. Fabinho, Elliott and Sadio Mané withdrew. Naby Keitam Henderson and Luis Díaz entered. By then, Inter had constant scares against Liverpool. Díaz tested in the 62nd minute, but Skriniar prevented the Colombian winger from scoring, who started at a high level. Inter became more withdrawn. But it was momentary. A header from Denzel Dumfries missed the crossbar.
INTER: handanovic; Brozovic, Bastoni (F. Dimarco, 91 ‘), De Vrij (Ranocchia, 87’), Skriniar; Dumfries (Darmian, 87 ‘), Vidal (Gagliardini, 87’), Çalhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martínez (Alexis Sánchez, 70 ‘)
LIVERPOOL: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho (Henderson, 59′), H. Elliott (Keita, 58′), Thiago (Milner, 86′); Salah, Diogo Jota (Firmino, 46′), Mané (Luis Díaz, 59′)
GOALS: 0-1 Firmino (75 ‘), 0-2 Salah (83’)
REFEREE: Szymon Marciniak (Polonia)
SPECTATORS: 37. 918 at San Siro
see game file
But it was Liverpool that took the lead and they did so thanks to a Roberto Firmino header from a corner served by Andy Robertson in the 75th minute. Not only that: Salah took advantage of a rebound in the 83rd minute with a shot with his left foot. But the decision is March 8 at Anfield.
read also