Liverpool lead 2-0 ahead of the return match with Inter in the round of 16 in the Champions League tonight, and Jürgen Klopp feels in no way confident of advancement after seeing Simone Inzaghi’s team impressed against Salernitana on Friday.
– Inter won their last match 5-0. Yes, it was against a team at the bottom of the table, but it was still a very impressive performance. Martinez scored, Dzeko scored and Gosens is back. We saw the match, and are very happy that Barella does not play against us, because he was the architect behind three or four goals, I think, Klopp stated during his press conference on Monday.
Nicolo Barella was suspended in the first match against Liverpool, after his red card against Real Madrid in the last match in the group stage, and he still is when Inter visit Anfield tonight.
He will probably be replaced by Arturo Vidal in midfield, as in the first match of Guiseppe Meazza.
– Inter have a very experienced team, and they do not come here as tourists. I know they’re going to hunt for advancement. We will do the same, because we are not a team that lies behind and defends a result, and tries to move on in that way. We want to attack once again. Let’s see what we get out of it, Klopp said on Monday.
A dangerous management
The cliché that 2-0 is a dangerous lead has at least Klopp got with it, and is something that the German has in mind before this match.
– It is a danger everyone knows. We lead 2-0, and I think that is the lead that has been reversed most times in football history. We are halfway, and lead 2-0, and then the danger is that the team thinks they have won 2-0, but we are only halfway. If the team starts to think in those paths, we are on the wrong path. We’ve been in this tournament long enough to know that.
– 2-0 is a much better starting point than I expected in advance. It did not look like we would win the match in Italy 2-0 in most of the settlement. It was a very difficult match. We knew in advance that Inter were a quality team, and after the match we had experienced that as well. Now they come here after winning their previous match 5-0.
Liverpool – Inter will be played on Tuesday at 21.00, and is shown on TV 2 Sport 1.
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