Unlucky Inter Milan punished for their profligacy as Liverpool steal first-leg advantage

It’s rare for a team to face two opponents from the same city in a single UEFA Champions League campaign. But Liverpool have found themselves in such a situation.

The Reds were paired against AC Milan in the group stages and were drawn against the Rossoneri’s rivals Inter Milan in the round of 16. While Jurgen Klopp’s side had an easy ride against Milan, beating them home and away, it was a much tougher test against Inter on Wednesday evening.

Liverpool were on the back foot for large periods of the game. However, they found their bearings in the last 20 minutes and made it count. Goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah sealed a 2-0 win away from home.

Inter pay for not taking their chances

All the statistics in the game favored Inter and, in truth, the Narrazzuri did enough to deserve victory. However, they were too wasteful on the night. Edin Dzeko was uncharacteristically indecisive in the attacking third while Lautaro Martinez and Ivan Perisic were both culpable for missing some good chances.

Hakan Calhanoglu also hit the post as Inter created chance after chance but failed to make it count. In the end, Liverpool scored from the two shots on target they had.

Inter’s poor defensive marking can be blamed for the cheap goals they conceded. Ultimately, it was their profligacy upfront that cost them the most.

Inter are all but out of the Champions League

Few teams are able to come back from a 2-0 first-leg defeat to win a Champions League game and even fewer have been able to do that against Liverpool.

As much as Inter would like to keep their hopes up, the reality is that they are all but out of the competition after losing at home. Inter manager Simone Inzaghi in the aftermath of the game said, as quoted by Team Talk:

“We hope not to face Liverpool every game! I am happy and proud of the team, unfortunately, during our best period of the game, we were not rewarded with the goal we deserved. Then Liverpool scored at the first distraction we had."

“We certainly deserved more, but this performance has to augur well for what is to come in the future. Liverpool are one of the two best teams in Europe and in my view, Inter held out well and deserved more.”

Inter were brave in the way they played against Liverpool and made the Reds look ordinary for the better part of 70 minutes. However, they failed to take their chances. They will now need a miracle to advance to the next stage of the Champions League.