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Liverpool have withstood a serious challenge from Inter Milan to claim a vital 2-0 lead after the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 match.
Having dominated possession for much of the match at their San Siro fortress, the Italian champions were unable to sustain it, letting in two goals in the final 15 minutes to Reds stars Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah to leave themselves in a perilous position ahead of the second leg at Anfield in three weeks’ time.
Now on a seven-match winning streak across all competitions, Liverpool look primed and ready for a serious crack at a second title in four years, while Inter’s run to their first Champions League knockouts in a decade now appears all but over.
Salah is quickest in the box to double Liverpool's lead ????#StanSportAU | #UCL | #INTLIV pic.twitter.com/2DhXx6bfQX
— Stan Sport Football (@StanSportFC) February 16, 2022
Remarkably, Firmino’s header from a set piece in the 75th minute was the Reds’ first shot on target for the night, while Inter had sent nine towards Alisson without the goalkeeper needing to intervene.
On Stan Sport, Australian football great Craig Foster sympathised with Inter, but was full of praise for the Reds’ late surge.
“It was all Inter but once they scored the goal then Liverpool took complete control,” he said.
“It was a phenomenal, high-quality game and Inter didn’t deserve to lose it 2-0.”
Reds defender Virgil van Dijk, a key contributor to the team’s clean sheet, said they fully expected the ‘tough’ challenge from their Italian opponents.
“We suffered but something that we expected as well,” he said after the match.
“We both took a lot of risk in the pressing… it’s about the hard fight, the battle when you have the ball – be brave, make the right decisions and keep it tight at the back.”
Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead during the UEFA Champions League round Of sixteen leg one match against Inter Milan. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Youngster Harvey Elliott became Liverpool’s youngest ever Champions League player, at 18 years, 318 days, when he was given his first start in the tournament.
Meanwhile, German giants Bayern Munich have survived a major scare to salvage a draw in their opening round of 16 leg against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.
Bayern Munich leave it late as Coman rescues a point for the Germans ????#StanSportAU | #UCL | #SALFCB pic.twitter.com/eC4QS8csjP
— Stan Sport Football (@StanSportFC) February 16, 2022
Winger Kingsley Coman’s goal in the last moments before injury time was enough for a 1-1 tie after Junior Adamu gave the Austrians a surprise lead in the early minutes.
But the performance, following up a shock Bundesliga loss to lowly Bochum over the weekend, confirms the powerhouse are in a serious rut, though they have until March 9 to snap out of it before their home leg kicks off.
Heading in hoping for a quick return to form, Bayern instead had to settle for their first draw of the tournament, having won six from six during the group stages, including twin 3-0 thrashings of fallen former champions Barcelona.
Salzburg keeper Philipp Koehn can leave with head held high after making a number of key saves, most notably denying Coman minutes before his equaliser with a close-range stop.
The save, and a waved-away penalty late in the first half, had home fans daring to dream of a famous upset, but it wasn’t to be.
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