Champions League: Liverpool start as heavy favorites against Inter Milan in the Champions League, buoyed by recent success.
Liverpool are heavy favorites to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday — 2-0 up against Inter Milan after the first leg of their last-16 tie
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp continues to laugh off the idea that his team could win a historic quadruple of trophies, but he does admit that he has the best squad he has had at Anfield during his tenure.
The recent arrival of Colombian winger Luis Diaz, who has bolstered the German’s attacking options for the second half of the season, is one of the reasons for that bold statement.
The Reds won the League Cup on penalties last week, ending a 10-year wait to win a domestic cup competition.
They are heavy favorites to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday, with a 2-0 lead over Inter Milan after the first leg of their last-16 tie, while a heavily rotated team breezed into the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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A seven-game winning streak in the Premier League has reignited the title race with Manchester City, which appeared to be over at the turn of the year.
With Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations, where Senegal beat Egypt on penalties in the final, January could have ruined Liverpool’s season.
However, Diaz arrived from Porto near the end of the transfer window for a fee that could reach £50 million ($66 million), giving Klopp’s attacking options a boost.
Triumvirate
The attacking triumvirate of Salah, Mane, and Brazil forward Roberto Firmino has been crucial to Klopp’s success.
All three, however, will be out of contract at the end of next season, when they will all be over 30.
“We can’t rely on these boys,” Klopp said after Diaz’s performance in Saturday’s 1-0 win over West Ham.
“You must bring in high-quality, new energy. That’s what we tried, and it appears to have worked.”
Klopp had the luxury of leaving 17-goal Diogo Jota on the bench at the weekend, while Salah was replaced late in the game to give him a rare rest ahead of Inter’s visit.
Diaz’s introduction helped turn the tide three weeks ago at the San Siro, as Klopp made four changes before the hour mark.
For much of the first 75 minutes, Inter was the better team, but the financial disparity between the top of the Premier League and Serie A became apparent in the closing stages.
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The Italian champions, who were forced to sell Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi due to financial difficulties last season, faded in the closing stages as Firmino and Salah scored to make the tie look one-sided heading back to Merseyside.
“The boys now have proper depth in quality, but we can’t play all competitions and go far in competitions unless we have this depth — there is no way we can go far in competitions unless we have this depth — there is no way we can go far in competitions unless we have this depth — there is no way we can go far in competitions.
“It’s possible to do it for a year if you’re lucky with injuries, but I believe we had years where Bobby, Sadio, and Mo played almost every game.”
Diaz, 25, has only scored once in eight appearances for Liverpool, but he has been on the winning side in every one of them, thanks to his direct running with the ball and pressing off it, which has fit in perfectly with Liverpool’s style.
Even players like Andy Robertson and Fabinho, who have gone on to have huge success at Anfield, were given months to settle in and meet Klopp’s demands.
“We thought that’s exactly what we wanted him to do when we saw him play for Porto,” Klopp said. “He has the appearance of a Liverpool player.”