It was in midfield where the pace of Liverpool’s crucial away victory at Inter Milan was set, even if the protagonists had been removed by the time the winning goals were scored.
Two teams, simultaneously opposed and mirrored in systems and approaches, whirred and buzzed to the tune of a high intensity press. A matchup of individual duels and isolated battles, played at frantic speed and on a tightrope, as San Siro boomed at the sight of a Champions League knockout match returning to this famous stadium.
In the middle of it all was Harvey Elliott, who even if he wanted a moment to take in the sheer improbability of starting in this last-16 tie would have been denied both the time and the space to do so.
A Champions League debut? Not bad, but how about becoming the youngest player to start a Champions League match in Liverpool’s history? Make it a start at the San Siro, at the home of the Italian champions, in the first leg of a huge knock-out tie, and just two weeks after coming back from a five-month injury layoff.
While Elliott was going through his daily grind of rehabilitation and Liverpool qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League in December, Jurgen Klopp made a promise to the 18-year-old that he would experience the competition upon his return. And so, at the San Siro, he stayed true to his word in a seismic showing of faith from the Liverpool manager.
Only Elliott will know how he felt at the sound of the Champions League anthem, and the eruption of the San Siro that followed. What a place for his first appearance in the competition to arrive, in the boiler room of a match played at such physical and tactical intensity.
In some ways, it almost resembled a training ground drill in which the only rule is you can’t let your opposite number score. And so the battle for space began.
Liverpool’s full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson cancelled out Inter’s wing-back pair of Ivan Perisic and Denzel Dumfries. Mohamed Salah was kept quiet by Allessandro Bastoni, Sadio Mane by Milan Skriniar. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate took on Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko. The pitch was stretched and formations were pulled, and in midfield gaps opened.
Elliott drifted right, as he tends to do to allow Salah to come inside, but his battle was with Hakan Calhanoglu. Elliott made a good start, the pockets of space there to be exploited, but there was a sharp intake of breath as Calhanoglu ran off his shoulder and smacked the underside of the bar for Inter’s best chance of the opening half.
Amidst the chaos, Fabinho stood a head above. Even with Thiago also starting, it was the presence of the Brazilian midfielder that allowed Klopp the security to trust Elliott on such an occasion. In came the challenges, although with Fabinho he regains possession with a forward step rather than a tackle, and those long legs and sound positional sense provided the screen for Liverpool to have their most settled period of the match.
“We have to play in the half-spaces,” Klopp said before kick-off, before adding specifically of Elliott, “[He is] exactly the type of player we need tonight.” It was in the channels behind Perisic and in front of Bastoni in which Elliott asked his own problems of Calhanoglu.
A run off the back of Mane’s header led to space out wide, and with Salah waiting in the middle Elliott sized up a cross with his right foot, only for Calhanoglu to recover in time to make the interception. A turn after receiving a pass from Alexander-Arnold before slipping in Salah was another sign that there was joy to be had, even if there was torment to go through first.
Elliott was never likely to last the full 90 minutes, especially with Klopp having five substitutes at his disposal. The changes flowed, just as Liverpool found that they needed stability. Fabinho made way too, with Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita arriving along with Luis Diaz and the half-time change of Roberto Firmino, the eventual match-winner.
It turned the tide, but that is what a Liverpool squad of unprecedent depth gets you if you’re Klopp. It was probably a match won by his substitutes, but that should not diminish the role played by a certain Champions League debutant in getting it over the line.
