The key talking points from Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan

Liverpool have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after defeating Inter Milan 2-1 on aggregate.

The Reds won the first leg 2-0 at the San Siro back in February. However, the second leg at Anfield, which occurred last night, was not as smooth-sailing for Liverpool.

Inter Milan took the lead through forward Lautaro Martinez 61 minutes into the clash. The Serie A side pushed to level the tie up, but the Reds were able hold on and secure a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Below are the key talking points from the second leg.

Inter Milan gave Liverpool a reality check

Until last night, Liverpool had not lost since the 29th of December (Leicester City 1 Liverpool 0, King Power Stadium, Premier League).

Therefore, the 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan is a reminder that the Reds are not unstoppable.

Back in November 2021, pundit Michael Owen said that Liverpool would be hard to stop at home in the Champions League knockout stages due to the atmosphere.

As quoted by The Sport Review, the 42-year-old told BT Sport: “You look at the Anfield factor, I just can’t get that out of my head. Good luck going there in the second leg of a European tie. They are almost unbeatable at Anfield."

But, as we saw last night, if the Reds are slightly off, anything can happen.

But, Liverpool did create enough chances to win

There is no denying that Liverpool did create enough opportunities in front of goal against Inter Milan, but they simply could not take them.

Mohamed Salah hit the post twice and Luis Diaz missed from point-blank range. It was just one of those nights for the Reds.

Alexis Sanchez red card a massive moment

Directly after Martinez scored against Liverpool, Sanchez was shown a red card for a tackle on Thiago Alcantara.

As soon as the 33-year-old was sent off, Liverpool's chances of progressing to the quarter-finals were enhanced.

Inter Milan had all the momentum, but the moment Sanchez was sent off, everything changed.

The Serie A side did not seriously threaten Liverpool's goal afterwards.

Jurgen Klopp's assessment sums everything up perfectly

Liverpool boss Klopp has made it clear that he was not thrilled with the performance from his side against Inter Milan. But, he did state that it was a good game to lose.

“These things can happen, but you have to make sure you don’t do it again and be better next time,” Klopp said post-match, as quoted by The Guardian.

“We could have played better, but not too much better because the opponent was really good. The art of football is to lose the right games. If there was any game we could have afforded to lose it was tonight, because the main target of this competition is to get through. But it’s not that I’m sat here over the moon.”

The German added: “It’s fair we’re through against a really strong opponent and now, let’s carry on. Over the two legs we deserved to go through, but we had some problems tonight, and one of those was the quality of the opposition."

Former Red Adam Lallana shared the same view post-game.

As quoted by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, the Englishman said the following during his punditry stint for the BBC: "It doesn't matter that Liverpool have lost. It doesn't feel like a defeat. They've gone through over the course of two legs and they were relatively comfortable tonight."

We completely agree with Klopp and Lallana. Losing that particular match changes nothing for the Reds. Therefore, it was a good game to be slightly off the pace.