There were three Dutchmen in the base with Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries at Inter and Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool, but the most striking name on the match sheet was that of Harvey Elliot. The 18-year-old suffered a serious injury earlier this season, recently made his comeback and was now allowed to make his Champions League debut, while Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, among others, were on the bench.
With that youthful input, Liverpool started better and also forced a few small chances, but the first really big opportunity was for the home side. Hakan Calhanoglu hit a difficult corner after a low cross from the left, but still hit the bar with a seething shot. Other than that moment, Liverpool dominated, only without alarming goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. Sadio Mané, for example, hit the side net with a spectacular bicycle kick.
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The goalkeeper also owed the fact that Handanovic had it so calm to his defenders who often and successfully shot themselves in front of The Reds threw. De Vrij, for example, blocked a bet from Diogo Jota after 35 minutes, who was in a promising position. As a result, the few moments when the Italians came forward looked more promising, for example when Milan Skriniar nodded wide from a corner five minutes before half time.
Virgil van Dijk in duel with Denzel Dumfries.
Ⓒ ANP/HH
After the break, Inter came out a bit more and that almost led to the 1-0, but Lautaro Martinez just missed the sharp cross from Ivan Perisic that followed an excellent pass from Dumfries. Liverpool were also dangerous with substitute Luis Diaz, but he too saw his bet blocked by Skriniar in this case. On the other side, Dumfries headed wide from a corner.
Still neither team had shot at goal once, but that changed fifteen minutes before the end. A corner from Andrew Robertson was perfectly extended towards the far corner by Roberto Firmino who came in after the break. Handanovic just took a step in the wrong direction and then had no chance. The Milanese were close to an equalizing goal once more when Perisic’s shot went over the goal. A few minutes later it was 0-2. A header from Van Dijk ended up at Mohamed Salah via De Vrij, who scored with his effort via an Inter leg.
Liverpool therefore seems to be preparing for the fourth quarter-final of the Champions League in five years. The return is at Anfield Road on March 8.
Dumfries remains combative
Denzel Dumfries is not yet resigned to the elimination of Internazionale. “We will definitely fight for it. We have a lot of quality. Of course we can win in England. We certainly gave them a hard time, but at the end it went wrong. But we’re going to Liverpool to fight and win.”
Van Dijk enjoyed
Van Dijk, who was important with an assist, enjoyed the match in Stadio Giuseppe Meazza† “I enjoyed the atmosphere and the audience here,” said the captain of the Dutch national team. “And this is of course a very good result for us. Internazionale is a very good team. It was very difficult to play here. Inter defended very well. But in the end, I think we just deserved it. We continued to work hard. That’s where it all starts. We were prepared to suffer.”