With goals from Firmino and Salah, Premier League runner-up Liverpool beat Serie A champions Inter Milan away to win the first leg of the Champions League knockout round. Counting the group stage double-killed AC Milan, the Reds have become a nightmare for Milan City. However, despite losing, Inter, who lacked major generals, still played at their own level, and they even had the opportunity to complete the goal first.
Midfielder Barrera was banned from UEFA for a malicious group stage match against Real Madrid and missed out on a two-legged match against the Reds, which greatly reduced Inter's midfield defensive interception ability. Against Liverpool, Inzaghi Jr. had to let the 34-year-old veteran Vidal start the game, while the previously injured Bastoni returned to the back line. Liverpool, on the other hand, had a three-man rotation, with Thiago, Jota and Elliott getting the start.
After the game began, the two sides did not try, but directly began to attack. Lautaro's volley and Thiago's volley were all a fraction of the same as the goal. In the 15th minute, Perisic forced Alexander-Arnold on the left and sent a cross, Char Khanoglu stepped forward and stopped the ball and shot in one fell swoop, but unfortunately the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field, scaring Liverpool into a cold sweat, which was also Inter's best chance in the game.
In the second half, the two sides still played against each other, and in the 60th minute, Vidal's long pass from midfield, Dzeko single-handedly knocked on the goal guarded by former teammate Alisson, but unfortunately, his goal was ruthlessly blown away because of offside. As the saying goes, there must be a blessing in disguise, and in the 75th minute, the opportunity that belonged to Liverpool came, Robertson opened a corner kick on the right, and Firmino finally broke the deadlock on the field after the front point. Seven minutes later, Alexander-Arnold slanted into the penalty area, Van Dijk's header sailed across, Inter centre-back DeFrey was not far from the line, Salah fired inside the penalty area, the ball refracted into the net, and Handanovic did not react to this goal.
At the end of the 90-minute match, Liverpool won 2-0 to take the lead in the two-legged knockout rounds. From the post-match data, they are also the dominant side, with 54% possession and 13-9 shots. However, before Firmino scored, Liverpool's 11 shots were deflected off target. Although Inter did not shoot on target, Char khanoglu's pumping shot was extremely threatening, and Zheko's offside goal in the second half was also a fraction of a cent.
Throughout the game, Inzaghi Jr. clearly made sufficient preparations for this formidable opponent, and Perisic repeatedly forced the defensive Alexander-like Arnold on the left, so much so that Reds centre-back Van Dijk was dissatisfied with the Liverpool prince's loud rebuke. In this game, Perisic sent the highest 3 key passes of the game, 3 breakthroughs and 2 successes, which made Arnold on the opposite side repeatedly frustrated.
For Liverpool's forward trident, Inter also gave a very targeted defense, this campaign, Mane 1 shot 0 in 59 minutes, 2 breakthroughs all failed, Jota 45 minutes 1 shot 0 positive, 4 breakthroughs only 1 success, even the goal of Salah only 2 shots, 4 breakthroughs only half successful. Although there is a big gap in strength between the two sides, Inter still showed the style of a Serie A champion, played without fear on the field, and even if they lost, they won respect.
After winning this game, Liverpool have won seven consecutive Champions League games, creating a new record in the club's European history and equaling the Champions League winning streak record won by Manchester City last season, showing great strength. With the Premier League behind Manchester City more difficult to win, they have reached the final of the League Cup, the FA Cup and the Champions League are also soaring, if the season ends with the triple crown, please do not be surprised.