"A dangerous one" - John Aldridge reminds Liverpool of Barcelona lesson ahead of Inter Milan clash in the UEFA Champions League
Liverpool legend John Aldridge has warned the Reds against taking Inter Milan lightly in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie. Jurgen Klopp's side enjoy a 2-0 goal lead over the Italian champions, but the Englishman wants his former employers to learn from Barcelona's experience in 2019.
The Merseyside-based club host Inter at Anfield in the second leg of their Champions Round of 16 tie later tonight. They go into the game as favorites to progress into the next round as they currently boast a two-goal lead.
Aldridge, though, feels Liverpool's home clash with the Serie A champions could be a 'dangerous one'. The Anfield great has thus stressed the need for everyone in Klopp's team to be focused tonight.
The former striker recalled how the Reds overturned a major goal deficit against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals of the 2018/19 season. The Blaugrana took a three-goal lead in the first leg of the tie, but Klopp's side earned a 4-0 victory at Anfield to progress into the final. They went on to beat Tottenham Hotspur to win the Champions League that year.
Looking ahead to the Reds clash with Inter, Aldridge wrote in his column for The Echo:
"Liverpool play the second leg of their Champions League tie with Inter Milan on Tuesday night and I think it could be a dangerous one. We’ve seen it many times, a turnaround. We saw it with the Barcelona one. That in itself should be a lesson to us. Look what we did to them, no one thought that could happen but it can."
"They [Inter Milan] could get a goal early on, or a penalty and the ‘keeper gets sent off. There you go - you’re 1-0 down with 10 men. Everyone has got to concentrate and focus and do the right job."
Today’s column folks https://t.co/aZMcUbjM4J
It remains to be seen if the Merseyside-based club can get the job done against Simone Inzaghi's side tonight.
Liverpool back in full strength
The Reds have no fresh injury concerns ahead of their Champions League meeting with Inter Milan. Jurgen Klopp also confirmed on Monday that Thiago Alcantara, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip have returned to training following their injuries.
Thiago, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip were all back in full training yesterday. 🔴
Watch a portion of the session here: youtu.be/hErSBQzAaCg https://t.co/EPVRDLKqDM
Klopp thus appears to have all of his senior players available for team selection tonight. He will be keen to ensure that there are no hiccups and the Anfield outfit book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.