Jurgen Klopp has revealed he promised Harvey Elliott minutes in the Champions League as he prepared to make his first-team comeback.
The 18-year-old midfielder returned for the Reds during an FA Cup win over Cardiff City earlier this month, having been sidelined since September until this point.
Elliott has since been eased back into the squad after playing 31 minutes against Leicester City last Thursday and being left on the bench against Burnley.
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But the ultimate compliment was paid to the talented teenager after he was selected to start against Inter Milan, ahead of the likes of James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
This represented a first start in Europe for the former Fulham midfielder, who is without doubt highly-rated by those at the club.
Explaining his decision to place trust in Elliott for a game of this magnitude, Klopp told BT Sport: "When we finally qualified for the knockout stages, whatever game that was, directly after it, I went over to Harv on the pitch.
"[I] told him that 'we still have Champions League when you're back so come on, we don't have to wait too long'.
"There is no pressure on his shoulders, it is just an opportunity so see how it goes. If it goes well it’s all on him, if not then it's my fault."
Expanding on his team selection to face their Italian opponents, the Liverpool boss added: "We picked a team that we thought makes sense for tonight.
"We have to play in the half spaces, be good in one-versus-one and from there we can go from there, so that is why we thought this makes sense - we want to share the intensity."
