In the knockout feature of the UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Inter Milan, the Nerazzurri managed to beat the Reds 1-0 at Anfield but couldn’t reduce the first-leg deficit as they crashed out of the tournament.
Liverpool scraped through to the quarter-finals after winning the first leg 2-0 at San Siro and keeps the hope of attaining the quadruple well in the sight. This defeat was Liverpool’s first at home in almost a year, hereby ending a run of 28 unbeaten games.
Liverpool brought in Thiago, Matip, Jones and Jota back into the starting line up to march the road to the last eight whereas Inter made the solitary change of dropping Dzeko to be replaced by Alexis Sanchez which had consequences further in the match. Following a medical emergency in the crowd, the match resumed with Liverpool starting strongly and Matip came agonizingly close to scoring from a header but rattled the crossbar instead. This was followed by missed chances by Virgil van Dijk and Calhanoglu on either end.
Five minutes into the second half, Salah struck the woodwork after a Diogo Jota attempt. The Reds played with nervousness as Inter started to dominate. Inter took the lead after a quick run of play in the second half as Lautaro Martinez had minimal resistance from Van Dijk to take a right-footed screamer which gave no chance to Alisson.
The newfound resurgence by the Italians was short-lived as an unnecessary tackle from Alexis Sanchez was followed by his sending off, which dimmed all hope for the visiting fans.
"He was cheating, he made more of it!"
More from Arsène Wenger on Fabinho's reaction to the challenge from Alexis Sanchez, adding that the Inter attacker did not want to hurt the Liverpool midfielder. #beINUCL#UCL
With the man advantage in hand, Liverpool slowed the pace and took control of the game. After another attempt by Salah that kissed the woodwork again, Arturo Vidal managed to deny Diaz in additional minutes but Liverpool managed to close the game with little discomfort.
Klopp expressed a sigh of relief of not playing Inter every week in the press conference as they look forward to preparing for the coming matches.
There is a long road ahead for Inzaghi as he returns back to the drawing board to seal the league after being eliminated from the intra-continental tournament.
