Inzaghi: "An impressive win but we’re still disappointed"

LIVERPOOL – The 1-0 success at Anfield showcased the team’s heart, character and determination, but Inter fell just short of the two-goal win that was needed to force extra time on the night in the last-16 tie. Lautaro Martinez’s stunning goal is the last one of the club’s 2021/22 Champions League campaign, but it could’ve been a different story if Alexis Sanchez hadn’t been sent off straight after it, making it easier for Liverpool to protect their 2-0 advantage from the first leg and book their place in the quarter-finals.

“We turned in a top performance at a very difficult ground against a fantastic team,” explained Simone Inzaghi after the game. “The players did extremely well. There’s a feeling of disappointment linked to the first leg because the result was harsh on us.

“Liverpool seemed to be taken aback by our opening goal, but the sending-off of Alexis Sanchez had an impact on the final half an hour of the match. The team stayed in the game, held our shape well and dug in where necessary, which was only really from set pieces. We head back to Milan with an impressive win, but it’s unfortunately useless in terms of our aim to get through.

“These matches can allow us to take steps forward and make us stronger. After not getting through the group stage in 11 years, the draw handed us Liverpool, but we showed how much we wanted to be here and we went toe to toe with them.”

The boss also discussed the return to Serie A action on Sunday: “We know we have a tough game against an in-form Torino side coming up on Sunday. We’ll have to see how [Stefan] de Vrij and [Marcelo] Brozovic are doing, hoping that they can recover quickly because they’re two important players. We have to replenish our physical and mental energy levels because these last-16 ties have taken up so much of our resources, but we gave it a good go and turned in two top displays.”