Liverpool travel to Milan on Wednesday for a league blockbuster champions between Premier League heavyweight and Serie A champions Inter Milan.
The San Siro will be a familiar stadium for Liverpool. After all, the six- European time champions have already played there this season after being drawn with AC Milan in the group stage.
Liverpool beat Milan 2-1 away in December in the final group game at complete a sweep of six wins, becoming the first English team do this.
This cemented Liverpool’s status as one of favorites for a title on club last won in 2019, in particular with Mohammad Salah back in its ranks after the Africa Cup of nations.
Inter is also a multiple European champion – the last of his three titles came in 2010 – but is playing in the last 16 for the first time since 2011-12.
Salah scored 11 goals in his last 11 Champions League matches and 23 goals in 27 games in all competitions this season.
The Egyptian will meet son former son teammate Edin Dzeko on the field of San Siro, a reminder of the havoc the pair used to cause together in Rome.
After an anonymous stint at Chelsea and signs of promise to Fiorentina, Salah’s career really started to take off off After arriving in the italian capital in 2015.
Once firmly established as strike partners under Luciano Spalletti, Dzeko and Salah hit this off in a big way scoring 58 goals in all competitions in 2016-17 and helping Roma to second in Serie A as an aging Francesco Totti has been sidelined.
Salah is inconsistent but at times unstoppable performance earned him a move in Merseyside, where under Jurgen Klopp he quickly became one of the world is best, for what now looks like 50 millions derisory euros (56.70 millions of dollars).
“I must say, in kinda way I helped Momo become who he is now,” Dzeko said. in an interview published by the Daily Mail last the week.
“We had a great time together in Rome…i’m so happy for him, a great guy who deserves everything he’s done.”
Dzeko, in in the meantime, watch a player reborn since he made the move north from Rome in the summer and was such hit with Inter fans that they have largely forgotten Romelu Lukaku, the key man behind last seasons league triumph.
Kahn demands response from Bayern
Bundesliga leader travels to Salzburg on Wednesday for his League of champions last 16 first leg.
Bayern Munich chief executive Oliver Kahn has ordered son players at show a reaction in the League of champions after the 4-2 Bundesliga defeat at Bochum at the weekend.
“I guess the players know one first half like the one in Bochum is unacceptable. We were far below our capabilities,” he told reporters. on Monday.
“Sometimes it is good that you can play few days later now in Salzburg and quickly forget such a result,” the former bavaria goalkeeper added.
He recalled that the team had already bounced back back good from a heavy defeat in the German Cup face at Borussia Monchengladbach in October.
“We showed the right reaction after the 5-0 loss to Gladbach and won the next game clearly. And I guess it will be the same now,” he said.
Kahn doesn’t believe Bayern have a mentality problem but recognized Julian Nagelsmann defense Needs work.
“When you lose big, people are always too quick to bring up the object of mentality,” Kahn said.
“However, I believe that defensively, not only this season but in last seasons, we are missing a few things in our movement and in our work against the ball. We conceded too many goals.
“This is where it takes start. We must work with more discipline and more passion against the ball. Otherwise, errors – and even more so in Europe – will be punished without mercy.”
