A spirited Inter fall 2 - 0 to Liverpool

MILAN - There was a feeling of déjà vu for Inter as they fell to Liverpool this Wednesday evening. Indeed, tonight's game had the echoes of another recent Champions League game, the Nerazzurri's group stage clash against Real Madrid. Simone Inzaghi's side dominated, yet didn't finish their chances, and then fell to defeat. It's especially a shame given that Inter played so well for long stretches of the game, backed by fervent support. All that was lacking was precision in the final third and a bit of bite. 

While the Nerazzurri deserve a lot of credit in the end they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, registering only two shots on goal and never really testing Alisson Becker in the visitor's goal. Inter now go away to lick their wounds before regrouping ahead of the return leg at Anfield on 8 March.

The Nerazzurri were back in the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in ten years, and the fans were keen to make up for lost time. San Siro provided a veritable wall of noise throughout, relentless and passionate as they watched Inter battle Liverpool.

Inzaghi was able to bring Alessandro Bastoni back into the side but was without Nicolo Barella through suspension; Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal replaced the Italian international in the team. Meanwhile Jurgen Klopp had a full compliment to choose from yet made the bold choice of fielding 18-year-old Harvey Elliot in the centre of the park. Regular forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were restored to Liverpool’s attack, playing either side of Diogo Jota. 

The game was full-throttle from the get-go and Inter thrived at the pace of the match. Lautaro Martinez had the first attempt of the night and Ivan Perisic got a lot of joy down the left flank up against Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was from the Croat’s creativity that Inter got their best chance of the match: in the 16th minute he slipped in Hakan Calhanoglu, the Turk controlled the ball wonderfully before quickly firing in a shot but was denied by the underside of the bar. 

Meanwhile Salah was making himself known to the Nerazzurri’s defenders and Mane presented Liverpool’s greatest threat from both open play and set pieces. Inter were able to resist the visitors though; Milan Skriniar, Bastoni and Stefan de Vrij all proved adept at thwarting the Reds formidable attack. Despite a compelling first 45 minutes both sides went into the half-time break with no shots on goal to their name.

The Nerazzurri came back out after the interval and were equally relentless, putting Liverpool on the ropes for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Only misplaced passes and shots, hastiness, and a bit of bad luck meant Inter didn’t take the lead. The best efforts of Arturo Vidal, Lautaro and Denzel Dumfries were snuffed out by keeper Alisson, and the deadlock remained unbroken.

Reacting to the shifting tides of the game, Jurgen Klopp made the decision to switch around his side, bringing on four players on the hour mark. It was indeed one of these substitutes who proved to be pivotal in the tie: Roberto Firmino. With a quarter of an hour to go Liverpool won a corner which was whipped in by Andrew Robertson and the Brazilian forward expertly flicked it into the corner beyond the reach of Samir Handanovic. It was all too familiar for Inzaghi’s side; just like against Real Madrid, despite a domineering performance Inter had fallen behind. Eight minutes later Salah doubled the visitor’s lead after reacting sharply to a knock down from captain Virgin van Dijk.

The Nerazzurri had well and truly had their steam knocked out of them, and the match ended with them needing to head to Anfield on 8 March and overturn a two-goal deficit. They will take great heart from their positive performance and know that they will have nothing to lose in the 90 minutes ahead of them.

Inter 0-2 Liverpool (HT 0-0)

Scorers: 75 Firmino (L), 83 Salah (L)

INTER (3-5-2): 1 Handanovic; 37 Skriniar, 6 De Vrij (13 Ranocchia 87), 95 Bastoni (32 Dimarco 90+1); 2 Dumfries (36 Darmian 87), 22 Vidal (5 Gagliardini 87), 77 Brozovic, 20 Calhanoglu, 14 Perisic; 9 Dzeko, 10 Lautaro (7 Sanchez 70).Unused substitutes: 21 Cordaz, 97 Radu, 33 D'Ambrosio, 38 Sangalli, 47 Carboni, 88 Caicedo. Coach: Simone Inzaghi.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): 1 Alisson; 66 Alexander-Arnold, 5 Konate, 4 Van Dijk, 26 Robertson; 67 Elliott (8 Keita 60), 3 Fabinho (14 Henderson 60), 6 Thiago (7 Milner 86); 11 Salah, 20 Jota (9 Firmino 46), 10 Mane (23 Diaz 60).Unused substitutes: 62 Kelleher, 12 Gomez, 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 18 Minamino, 21 Tsimikas, 27 Origi, 32 Matip.Coach: Jurgen Klopp.

Added on time: 2, 3.

Referee: Marciniak (POL).Assistants: Sokolnicki, Listkiewicz (POL).Fourth official: Raczkowski (POL).VAR: Kwiatkowski (POL), Frankowski (POL).