Liverpool were the only team to have won all seven Champions League matches they had played this season ahead of the second leg of the round of 16 against Inter Milan. They had also been on a run of 28 consecutive home matches without defeat. However, both those admirable runs were brought to a halt on Tuesday, courtesy of a proper thunderbolt by Lautaro Martinez.
The Alexis Sanchez decision(s)
Martinez’s goal aside, Alexis Sanchez proved the central figure of this particular show at Anfield. Somewhat of a surprise inclusion, the Chilean was given a place in the starting XI instead of Edin Dzeko, which meant manager Simone Inzaghi had instructed his team to play with the ball at their feet through Liverpool’s lines, and try to use pace and intricacy to hurt the home team’s high-line defending.
It didn’t work quite as planned. Players like Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip are obviously more than just tall defenders, boasting quite a lot of pace themselves and well-versed in springing offside traps, and it took the moment of individual inspiration from Martinez to finally break the deadlock in the 61′ minute. Who knows what might have been had there not been for Sanchez’s recklessness two minutes later – Inter would probably have done a lot more during the final half an hour, but as it was, Liverpool found it too easy to control the proceedings right down to the final whistle, not caring greatly about the prospect of a defeat which isn’t really a defeat.
As for Sanchez, he could easily have been sent off in the first half already. The stoppage time ahead of the break had already started when the former Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United player made an unnecessarily high tackle, studs-first into the knee of Thiago Alcantara. The Liverpool midfielder was fortunate to have avoided serious injury, almost as fortunate as Sanchez who was only booked for the offence.
However, the 33-year-old obviously hadn’t learned his lesson. In that fateful 63rd minute, while contesting the ball the ball with Fabinho, he got to it first but very recklessly left his studs showing again, catching the Brazilian and leaving referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz in no doubt about awarding him a second yellow and showing him the way to the dressing room.
The result – Inzaghi was left practically powerless to add to his attacking numbers and send his team in search of the all-important second goal, just as it started looking quite doable against a freshly shaken opponent. All in all, if the away supporters need to point the finger at a moment which bereft them of a proper chance for glory and the person responsible, they should look no further.
Liverpool, you’ve been thunderstruck
The folly of Alexis Sanchez cannot, however, take anything away from the beauty of the goal. Lautaro Martinez is known as a player who can produce pieces of magic out of nothing, and he entered this match on the back of a hat-trick scored a few days before in the 5-0 win over Salernitana. That kind of performance will always fill a forward with confidence, regardless of the prospect of players like Van Dijk and Matip facing him.
The two Liverpool centre-backs had an excellent game and they mostly dealt with everything Lautaro and Alexis threw at them, but there’s nothing they, or goalkeeper Alisson Becker, could have done about that shot. It was perfect – finely balanced between power and precision, hit suddenly and fiercely, with the right foot into the very top corner from around 20 yards at an angle, coming in off the left.
A truly beautiful goal.
Lucky moments for Inter
The visitors certainly didn’t come to Liverpool, as Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said they wouldn’t, as tourists. They came to do their best and made a brave attempt to overturn the negative scoreline from the first leg, when Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah dealt them, as it turned out, fateful blows.
But it would be folly to assume anything when a team plays against an opponent like Liverpool. Had the turnaround come much closer, the Merseysiders would have surely turned up the volume themselves and Samir Handanovic in Inter’s goal would’ve been facing a very challenging evening.
Even though they didn’t need to score at all at any point of the match, Liverpool actually created better chances than Inter and luck was very kind to Handanovic and his teammates on at least three occasions. Matip’s header in the first half hit the underside of the bar, and Salah struck first one post then the other, both from positions you’d normally expect him score from. Van Dijk also came close to scoring with a header, and Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped a powerful free-kick from just over 20 yards that narrowly missed the top corner.
So, for all their hard work, tactical discipline and obvious desire to pull off a surprise at Anfield, Inter were indeed lucky that the contest wasn’t fully settled earlier.
The Liverpool ‘quadruple’ still on?
Mathematically, yes, Liverpool can still go on to win all four competitions they’ve been involved in this season, or to be more precise, the remaining three after they already took the Carabao Cup.
However, this match should probably serve as a reminder that, no matter how good a team’s form is, something can still go wrong, if only for a split-second. That, given the nature of their Premier League title race against Manchester City, and the nature of the FA Cup and the Champions League as knockout competitions at this point, could be enough to see them bow out of one, two, or all three. There is still a long way to go.
In the Champions League, the opponents will only get tougher. Liverpool have reached the quarterfinals, and the draw is now completely open, which means that on top of the possibility of facing teams like Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus, they could also be put against Manchester City or Chelsea.
The draw takes place on March 18th at noon CET.
Inter and Scudetto
Meanwhile, Inter seem to be climbing the ladder again. Antonio Conte led them to the Serie A title last season, and Simone Inzaghi appears to be a great coaching prospect. If the Nerazzurri can tie him down for the long-term, exciting times will probably return in full for their supporters.
But for the moment, leaving the Champions League, particularly with their heads held high after this match, may prove to have been a blessing in disguise for the team whose biggest aim since the start of the season has been to defend the title in Italy and to prove that winning it in the first place wasn’t a fluke. AC Milan currently top the table with 60 points, Inter are second with 58, Napoli third with 57 and Juventus fourth with 53, but Inzaghi’s men have a game in hand on all three rivals.
The reigning champions are in a truly good position, but they will need to stay focused for the rest of the campaign.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
