.png)
Inter Milan will bow out of this season's Champions League with their heads held high after ending Liverpool's perfect run in the competition with a 0-1 victory at Anfield amidst the echoes of "You'll never walk alone" chants by the Liverpool fans.
Lautaro Martinez's stunner just after the hour mark looked to have set up for an interesting night until Alexis Sanchez's red card moments later drowned that possibility.
After winning the first leg by two goals, it looked like Liverpool were going to run away in the second leg. However, with the away rules canceled, Inter Milan definitely came into the game with every bit of hope.
Their hope could have been trashed early on when Joel Matip's header from a Trent Alexander Arnold free kick from the left came off the post. It was a sweet header as hthe defender was drifting away from goal.
Inter have not really been in good form lately, only recording their first win in six games over the weekend, but like they did in the fist leg at the San Siro, they put up a spirited performance.
As Liverpool tried to keep them at bay with their intense offside trap, Inter had to rely on other options, one of which came when Hakan Cahanoglu hit the target from a free kick on the right which Alisson Becker had to react quickly to parry away from danger. It was a scare that Liverpool survived as there had nobody at the near post to block the pending threat. The Reds despite their excellent showing in the final third all season have always exhibited frailty at the back.
The visitors' luck was almost ruined again when Mohammed Salah struck the foot of the post after Samir Handanovic had spilled a looped ball into the 18-yard box by Thiago Alcantara that fell to the Egyptian.
Trying to play from the back, Liverpool dug their own grave when Joel Matip tried to pass out from the back and poorly did so which allowed Lautaro Martinez to shoot a stunner from right outside the box into the right top corner to reduce the deficit to one goal on aggregate.
The Liverpool defence should have done better with that goal, particularly Virgil van Dijk who was right in front of Martinez, but stood aback from the striker, leaving too much room for him to engineer something when he only required a yard and they were punished for that.
Expectedly, momentum spun the way of Inter Milan and the atmosphere was gearing up for an intense final 30 minutes. Sadly, this hope was cut short just two minutes after Inter had pulled one back when Alexis Sanchez caught Fabinho with a trailing stud.
I feel that sending off was a bit harsh considering the fact that Sanchez clearly won the ball way before Fabinho arrived, but he could do nothing about his follow through. The tackle in any way didn't look malicious and given that the Chilean won the ball first and clearly, he should have been given a softer landing, also considering that he was already on a yellow card.
That definitely changed the dynamics of the game as Inter had a higher mountain to climb playing with 10 men and chasing a goal to at least push the game into extra time.
Unlucky on the night for the second time, Mohamed Salah was played through on goal by Sadio Mane deep into additional time, but his right-footed effort came of the base of the other post on the far side.
Pride was definitely restored for Inter Milan with that win. They'd pat themselves on the back for putting up spirited performances over the two legs and Arturo Vidal, despite his age was immense over the tie. He covered almost every blade of grass and even blocked a goal-bound chance from Luis Diaz late on in the game.
Liverpool would have loved to match the record of the 2002/2003 Barcelona team as well as the 2019/2020 Bayern Munich team of winning their first eight Champions League games, but would definitely not care about the loss as they progress into the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last five years, still with their record of being the first English side to win their first seven games in the competition.
