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The Reds won 2-0 in Milan in the first leg of the knockout stages of the Champions League. Not without having been moved and having struggled to find the fault.
Mohamed Salah, congratulated by his team-mate Ibrahima Konaté, scored the second goal for the Reds.
AFP
Liverpool know how to be cynical. To win the Champions League, sometimes you have to be. By winning 2-0 on the lawn of Inter, the band of Jürgen Klopp has in any case done a good part of the work to hope to qualify for the quarter-finals. And this, despite a tight and particularly intense first leg match on the tactical level.
That didn’t make it boring though. But he suggested extreme precision in finding the flaw. So much so that it was on the first shot on target of the match that Liverpool opened the scoring… in the 75th minute. All it took was a corner from Andrew Robertson taken up by an uncrossed header at the near post from Roberto Firmino for the Reds to take the lead. Before Mohammed Salah doubled the lead seven minutes later following another set piece. Liverpool thus have a serious advantage before the return to Anfield. Even if, it should be remembered, away goals are no longer important in European Cups since this season.
Careful preparation
What maintain a semblance of hope for Inter. Who was however at the rendezvous of this first leg. As usual, the Nerazzurri set to work on their recovery, forcing Liverpool to find the right pressing to prevent them from initiating dangerous actions. In fact, for a long time, this confrontation showed meticulous preparation on the part of the two coaches. And it was Jürgen Klopp who took a little ascendancy over Simone Inzaghi.
Even if the latter might just as easily have exulted quickly. At the quarter of an hour, two minutes following Sadio Mané misadjusted a header that missed the target, Hakan Calhanoglu touched the bar of a beaten Alisson. The good work of Ivan Perisic on the left side was not far from being valued. Like the many remarkable ball outings of the Italians. But central defense Van Dijk-Konaté has never ceased to be intractable.
Noah Okafor did not really have time to show off in a meeting where Salzburg came close to achieving the feat once morest Bayern Munich. The Swiss international indeed had to leave following only 12 minutes of play, touched and bandaged in the thigh. But his replacement, Chukwubuike Adamu, took advantage.
The Austrian striker, on loan to Saint-Gall in the first half of 2021 (with 8 goals scored), opened the scoring with a very nice strike nine minutes following coming into play. It almost held, thanks in particular to the saves by Swiss goalkeeper Philipp Kön. But Kingsley Coman found the fault in the 90th minute, to hang the 1-1.
