Champions League: a guide to Liverpool v Inter

MILAN – Inter will walk out at Anfield in the return leg of the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday 8 March at 21:00 CET. Three weeks after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the San Siro, the Nerazzurri once again lock horns with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a bid to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament. 

LAST-16 RESULTS

First Leg Sporting CP 0-5 Manchester City PSG 1-0 Real Madrid Inter 0-2 Liverpool RB Salzburg 1-1 Bayern Munich Chelsea 2-0 Lille Villarreal 1-1 Juventus Benfica 2-2 Ajax Atletico Madrid 1-1 Manchester United

Return LegTuesday 8 March (21:00 CET) Liverpool v Inter Bayern Munich v RB SalzburgWednesday 9 March (21:00 CET) Manchester City v Sporting CP Real Madrid v PSGTuesday 15 March (21:00 CET) Ajax v Benfica Manchester United v Atletico MadridWednesday 16 March (21:00 CET) Lille v Chelsea Juventus v Villarreal

FORM

Mohamed Salah is Liverpool’s top scorer: the Egyptian forward has 27 goals in 33 appearances this season, eight in seven Champions League matches and 19 strikes in 25 games in the Premier League. 

The Reds - on a seven-game winning streak in the PL - take on Inter on the back of a narrow 1-0 win against West Ham courtesy of a Sadio Mane winner. The Senegalese forward is the third highest scorer for the Reds after Diogo Jota. 

They are six points behind league leaders Manchester City with a game in hand. Klopp’s team have the best attack (71 goals) and the third best defence (20 goals conceded) in the Premier League. 

Liverpool’s last defeat at home was a 1-0 loss against Chelsea in Matchday 29 of the 2020/21 season.

Inter travel to Anfield having returned to scoring and winning ways following a 5-0 victory over Salernitana in Serie A with a hat-trick for Lautaro Martinez and a brace for Edin Dzeko.

Simone Inzaghi’s team now have 58 points with a game in hand. 

El Toro is Inter’s top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals, two more than Dzeko, but the Bosnian is the Nerazzurri’s top scorer in Europe this campaign with three goals coming against  Sheriff Tiraspol and Shakhtar Donetsk. 

FIRST LEG AT THE SAN SIRO

On 16 February, Inter welcomed Liverpool to the San Siro for the first leg of the Champions League last 16. The result did not reflect an excellent performance from the Nerazzurri with Liverpool getting the win late on thanks to goals from Roberto Firmino in the 75th minute and Salah in the 83rd. Virgil van Dijk was voted Man of the Match following Liverpool’s seventh victory in as many Champions League matches this season. 

INTER AND LIVERPOOL’S RESULTS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Inter qualified for the last 16 after finishing second in Group D (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats: 8 goals scored, 5 conceded). Dzeko is the top scorer in Europe with three strikes. 

15/09/21: Inter 0-1 Real Madrid 28/09/21: Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Inter 19/10/21: Inter 3-1 Sheriff Tiraspol 03/11/21: Sheriff Tiraspol 1-3 Inter 24/11/21: Inter 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk 07/12/21: Real Madrid 2-0 Inter

Liverpool finished top of Group B (6 wins, 0 draws, 0 defeats: 17 goals scored, 6 conceded) and were one of three teams to win all of their group-stage matches along with Ajax and Bayern Munich. 

15/09/21: Liverpool 3-2 AC Milan 28/09/21: Porto 1-5 Liverpool 19/10/21: Atletico Madrid 2-3 Liverpool 03/11/21: Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid 24/11/21: Liverpool 2-0 Porto 07/12/21: AC Milan 1-2 Liverpool

SQUAD UPDATES FOR THE KNOCKOUT STAGES

INTER – In: Robin Gosens, Felipe Caicedo; Out: Aleksander Kolarov, Stefano Sensi

LIVERPOOL – In: Luis Diaz; Out: Nathaniel Phillips

NO MORE AWAY GOALS RULE

In the 67th edition of Europe’s most prestigious club tournament, the away-goals rule has been abolished. Games that finish level after two legs will go to extra-time and then penalties, regardless of goals scored away from home in either leg.

KNOCKOUT STAGE CALENDAR

Draw for the quarter and semi-finals: 18 March Quarter-finals first leg: 5/6 April Quarter-finals return leg: 12/13 April Semi-finals first leg: 26/27 April Semi-finals return leg: 3/4 May Final: 28 May