By Daniel Ghorbal
Not long ago, Liverpool lined up in the San Siro, one of Europe’s most prestigious grounds for a Champions League fixture with AC Milan, having already won all of their group games. The likes of Divock Origi, Tyler Morton and Neco Williams played superbly that night, but the stakes couldn’t be more contrasting now, as the reds return to face Inter Milan in the last 16.
The Italian champions have had an excellent campaign so far, and navigated their way through the group stages with relative comfort. Sitting third in Serie A, they have had a couple of results in recent weeks that haven’t gone their way, most notably the derby against AC which ended 2-1 to their arch rivals. Although San Siro will only be at 50% capacity tonight, one of Europe’s cathedrals of football will undoubtedly be a cauldron of noise as Inter play their first Champions League knockout tie in a decade.
Despite such a joyous season for Inter winning their first league title for a number of years, it was a turbulent summer for the club, with financial difficulties resulting in the departure of influential manager Antonio Conte as well as star player Romelu Lukaku.
The huge fee the club received from Chelsea practically saved the club from being dragged back into turmoil again, and they have kicked on well since. Simone Inzaghi was appointed as manager and he has kept the 3-5-2 formation which worked so well under Conte. Certain players in the side work best under said formation, and therefore the results have been coming as a clear understand between players and tactics were established.
Achraf Hakimi and the previously mentioned Lukaku were replaced by Denzel Dumfries and Edin Dzeko, whilst key members of the side such as Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Barella were kept hold of. Although the result results haven’t been as good as hoped for, Inter still sit in an excellent position and will have lots of confidence heading into this tie with Liverpool. Going forward, they score goals for fun and have a good habit of keeping clean sheets too.
With regards to how they will line up against Klopp’s side tonight, key men Barella and potentially Bastoni will be absent, a huge blow for Inter who rely on the quality of the two Italians regularly. Barella brings a dynamism to the midfield, drags his side forward and assures calmness on the ball when under pressure. He was a key member of the Italy team that won Euro 2020, but his red card in the group stage game against Real Madrid means he will be absent for both legs of this one.
Likewise, new signing Robin Gosens is injured meaning Ivan Perisic will almost certainly start in the left wing-back/midfield role, a player Jurgen Klopp mentioned in his press conference yesterday. As it is the first leg and away goals do not count, the expectation is that Inter will have a serious go at Liverpool and see how big of an advantage they can take to Anfield in a few weeks time. Even the greatest sides in Europe understand the difficulty of picking up results at Anfield, so for their chances of progression it is imperative that Inter Milan at least win tonight’s tie.
Liverpool’s perfect group stage campaign as well as superb domestic form means they are the favourites tonight, but the energy generated from the crowd as well as the motivation of the hosts means that they will have to weather some storms at stages tonight. It may not be pretty, but the experienced heads such as Alisson, Van Dijk, and Fabinho will all have their part to play. A partnership of Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez with their ability to link play and be direct can cause the reds serious problems, and being up to the physical battle could be a defining theme of the game. It feels so good to have European knockout football back again, and this has the feeling of a proper heavyweight battle.
Predicted Inter team: Handanovic, Darmian, Skriniar, De Vrij, D’Ambrosio, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Vidal, Perisic, Dzeko, Martinez
By Daniel Ghorbal
