MILNER, A SUBSTITUTE AGAINST INTER

Veteran midfielder James Milner came off the substitutes’ bench to help Liverpool see out the Champions League round of 16 first leg clash with home team Inter Milan on Wednesday night. The retired England international started the game against the Italian champions on the bench as Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp opted for the midfield trio of Harvey Elliott, Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara.

The Inter Milan players gave a good account of themselves especially in the first quarter of the second half, but they could not sustain the momentum as the Reds scored twice in the last fifteen (15) minutes to put themselves in a fantastic position to qualify for the quarterfinals as far as this season’s Champions League is concerned. The two Liverpool goals came in the space of eight minutes.

Inter Milan came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when Turkish playmaker HakanCalhanoglu crashed a shot off the crossbar. It was the closest that either side came to scoring before Brazilian substitute Roberto Firminoscored the first goal of the match on 75 minutes. Firmino came off the bench to replace Portugal international Diogo Jota at the start of the second half after the former Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker picked up an able problem and he glanced a header into the back of the net off the corner kick taken by  Scottish left-back Andy Robertson with fifteen (15) minutes left to play. Eight minutes later, Liverpool doubled their advantage through star player Mohamed Salah eight minutes later after his shot deflected into the back of the Inter Milan net.

James Milner came off the bench for the last four minutes of the game in the place of Spanish international Thiago Alcantara to make his 800^th career appearance. England midfielder James Milnercame on for his 25^th appearance of the season during the Inter game.