UCL Round 16 Day 2 Wrap: Liverpool shine in Italy as Salzburg hold Bayern
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah struck in the closing 15 minutes to earn Liverpool a 2-0 win away to Inter in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
The Reds looked set for a goalless draw in the first leg in Italy until Brazil forward Roberto Firmino got on the end of Andrew Robertson’s corner to head his side into the lead.
Mohamed Salah added a second with a deflected effort from inside the box which means Jurgen Klopp’s side take a sizeable advantage into the second leg at Anfield on 8 March.
Liverpool scored from their only two attempts on target and will be firm favourites to progress when the two sides meet in the deciding leg next month.
The only negative on an otherwise upbeat night for the Reds was an injury to Portugal forward Diogo Jota, who was replaced by goalscorer Firmino at the start of the second half after taking a knock.
Liverpool have now won seven matches in all competitions, with this arguably the most impressive of the current run.
But Jurgen Klopp’s team had to dig deep as Inter looked the more threatening side after a strong start by the Premier League club.
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Former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko found himself clean through in the first half before a vital challenge by Virgil van Dijk, who was captaining the Reds in the absence of Jordan Henderson.
The hosts went close again when Ivan Perisic whipped in a cross, but Lautaro Martinez was unable to give Inter the lead.
In a fascinating match, Liverpool took the lead through Firmino’s glancing 75th-minute header before Salah doubled the lead eight minutes later.
There is still work to do for Klopp’s team but it is going to require something extra special from Inter to turn this tie around.
Elsewhere in Austria, Bayern left it late as Kingsley Coman’s late tap-in cancelled out Chikwubuike Adamu’s first-half goal to deny Salzburg a famous UEFA Champions League victory in this round of 16 first leg.
Coman ghosted in at the far post in the 90th minute and converted following Thomas Muller’s flick after Salzburg substitute Chukwubuike Adamu had netted the opener with a delightful curling finish into the corner before halftime.
The hosts could have nicked a second at 1-0, but Karim Adeyemi’s shot was saved and Adamu’s follow-up was blocked.
The vibrant home side were appearing in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time, but did not look out of place against an often flat Bayern side.
The Bundesliga champions suffered a stunning 4-2 home loss against Bochum at the weekend and avoided back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2019.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side cruised through the group stage by winning all six games, but found it difficult to deal with the youthfulness and pace of their opponents.
Salzburg, fielding the youngest average starting side in the Champions League since Ajax in 2003, took the lead on 21 minutes through Adamu’s lovely effort.
Brenden Aaronson cut onto his left and forced a smart save from Sven Ulreich, while Germany international Adeyemi’s effort was straight at the Bayern understudy keeper.
Bayern improved in the second half and Leroy Sane was denied by Philipp Kohn’s sharp save, before Frenchman Coman drew his side level late on.
