Rio Ferdinand believes Liverpool's 2-0 win over Inter Milan was flattering for the Reds, but has praised the defensive effort of the team.
The match at the San Siro was a slog at times, with the home side putting Liverpool under pressure with flurries of attacks.
However, Jurgen Klopp 's outfit eventually had the decisive quality in the final third, as Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah scored in the final stages with what were the first two shots on target in the contest.
The victory now gives Liverpool a massive chance of progressing into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with the second leg of the last-16 tie to be played at Anfield on March 8.
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Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Ferdinand praised Liverpool's ability to get a result even when they were not at their best from an attacking perspective.
"I think two-nil probably flatters them a little bit but you take that," he said. "I think the bedrock of most performances away from home, this stage of the Champions League, is a good defence and I think today that was proved.
"The two centre-backs were immense. Fabinho in front of them as well. You go to ride your luck as well, weather the storm in games.
"You can’t go into a game and expect it to be perfect from one minute to 90 minutes, you got to expect a little five-minute spell - they had big spells, long spells in this game where they were under the cosh.
"But they got that experience, that nous to be able to navigate through games and then you get the opportunities that they got and they punished Inter Milan."
*RATE THE LIVERPOOL PLAYERS FOR THE WIN OVER INTER MILAN:
Liverpool were rock-solid at the back throughout the contest, with the centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate shutting down Inter when they did venture into promising positions.
Fabinho has made headlines for his goalscoring in recent weeks, although he was back to doing what he does best on Wednesday, expertly shielding the back four at the base of the Liverpool midfield.
Although Inter had encouraging moments in the game - Hakan Calhanoglu struck the bar in the first half -, they didn't register a shot on target.
