Champions League: Liverpool host Inter Milan in second leg of last-16 tie after win in Italy | Football News

March 7, 2022 admin

The Champions League knockout stages continue on Tuesday as Liverpool look to finish the job against Inter Milan and secure a place in the last eight, while Bayern Munich host Red Bull Salzburg.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are strong favourites to move past the Italian champions after goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah secured a 2-0 win in Milan last month.

Liverpool’s win on the road was part of a successful return to Champions League action for English clubs, with Manchester City thrashing Sporting in Lisbon, Chelsea easing past Lille at home and Manchester United drawing away to Atletico Madrid.

While clubs from the same nation were unable to face other in the last 16, that isn’t the case from the quarter-finals onwards, meaning all-English clashes could be on the horizon if they are able to take advantage of their promising first-leg results.

Liverpool well placed to continue quadruple quest

Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea following extra time and a marathon penalty shootout, as well as their serene progress in the Champions League and FA Cup and tireless pursuit of Manchester City in the Premier League, has raised hopes among fans of a stunning quadruple for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

While such an achievement remains unlikely – no English side has ever won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup in the same season – Liverpool’s sensational form in 2022 means it is at least worthy of consideration.

Klopp’s side have won 12 of 15 games in all competitions this calendar year, with the other three being a home draw against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, a draw at Chelsea in the Premier League and the penalty shootout win over the Blues in last month’s final following a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.

Securing a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League – and therefore continuing the quadruple conversation – should be on the cards for Liverpool after their 2-0 win over Inter in the first leg at the San Siro.

While they were perhaps fortunate to win what was a relatively even game, Liverpool will be confident of finishing the job on Tuesday at Anfield, where they have not lost a European fixture since going down 2-0 against Atalanta in November 2020.

Inter’s form doesn’t give much reason to think they can upset the odds and eliminate the 2019 European champions – they have won just two matches since January and failed to score in four successive games before a 5-0 thrashing of Serie A’s bottom side Salernitana at the weekend.

Klopp said in his pre-match press conference that Liverpool won’t be complacent, though, and he will be wary of the threat posed by Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko, who have 26 goals between them in Serie A this season and between them scored all the goals against Salernitana.

But while Inter are second in Serie A – two points behind AC Milan with a game in hand – they face an uphill task if they want to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2011.

Liverpool team news

Liverpool trio Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino have all returned to training ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg at home to Inter Milan.

Midfielder Thiago and centre-back Matip will be in the squad after a thigh injury and illness respectively.

A late decision will be taken on Firmino, who has not played since the first meeting with the Italians in mid-February because of a groin injury.

Liverpool provisional squad: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Salah, Jota, Mane, Kelleher, Adrian, Gomez, Konate, Tsimikas, Keita, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elliott, Jones, Diaz, Minamino, Origi, Firmino.

Elsewhere on Tuesday…

Bayern Munich vs Red Bull Salzburg: The 2020 winners narrowly avoided a shock defeat at the Austrian champions in the first leg, with Kingsley Coman’s 90th-minute equaliser snatching them a 1-1 draw in Salzburg.

That was the first game Bayern had failed to win in the Champions League this season, having scored 22 goals on their way to winning all six of their group games.

The Bundesliga champions have only failed to reach the last eight once since 2011 and remain in control domestically, with a nine-point lead over Borussia Dortmund as they look to secure their 10th successive title.

Salzburg are similarly dominant in Austria, having been crowned champions for the last eight seasons in a row, but their European record couldn’t be more different from Bayern’s, with this season being the first in which they have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League.

What else has happened so far?

As well as wins for Liverpool and Chelsea, plus a draw for Manchester United, the first legs of the last-16 ties saw Kylian Mbappe – who was the subject of multiple offers from Real Madrid in August – score a 94th-minute winner against the Spaniards to hand Paris Saint-Germain a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes.