Liverpool's Klopp warns against complacency ahead of Inter second leg

Liverpool must forget its 2-0 advantage over Inter Milan when they face the Italian side in the return leg of its Champions League last-16 tie, manager Jurgen Klopp said on Monday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool must forget its 2-0 advantage over Inter Milan when they face the Italian side in the return leg of its Champions League last-16 tie, manager Jurgen Klopp said on Monday.

Inter, second in the Serie A standings, has won one of its last six games in all competitions but thrashed bottom side Salernitana 5-0 on Friday.

Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a win over the Italians in February, putting it in a commanding position for Tuesday's game, but Klopp warned against complacency.

"2-0 is probably the lead that has been turned over most often in the history of football," Klopp told a news conference. "If you are (at) halftime and two up and you think you are already through then you are already on the wrong path.

"The result (in the first leg) was much better than I expected. It was a really tough tie and a difficult game to play. We know they have real quality. They won their last game 5-0... it was really impressive.

"It's an experienced team, and they don't come here as tourists. They want to attack the game, and we are not a team who defends results and tries to scrape through. Let's see what we can get from it."

 

The German also gave an update on the injured trio of Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip and Firmino, who all missed the 1-0 Premier League win over West Ham United on Saturday.

"All of them trained fully yesterday," Klopp said. "We have to see how they react, but Thiago will probably be fine since he was only out for a week. With Joel it was just three or four days, so he should be fine too.

"Bobby has been out for longer, so we have to see if it makes sense to give him just a few more days with proper training."

Klopp also repeated his call for Premier League clubs to be able to use five substitutes, saying the rule change was necessary to help teams deal with a congested schedule.

"We played on Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and (now) Tuesday. That's a horrible schedule," Klopp said. "It's essential that we go again for five substitutes in the Premier League.

"In one competition we don't have that. It makes so much of a difference. I don't see why it takes so long to understand that. The Premier League has to save their top-class players as well. It's not an advantage."