Jurgen Klopp worried about Diogo Jota’s injury as he admits the first leg victory is just like first half as Inter Milan won’t be underestimatted.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he worried with the injury Diogo Jota sustained in the Champions League game against Inter Milan.
The Portuguese was withdrawn in the their away 2-0 victory over the Italian side last night in the first leg of the tournament.
Speaking with Skysports after the game Klopp admitted that Jota would have played on but his ankle was swollen and he needed to be taken off.
“I’m really happy with everything, apart from that Diogo had to go off with something around the ankle ligament. We will see, we don’t know exactly.
“He could have played on, maybe that’s a good sign, but at half-time, the ankle was swollen anyway so we knew we had to change.”
Klopp further stated that the victory against Inter Milan in the first leg was just half time for them.
He added that Inter Milan are good and must not be underestimated in the return leg of the competition.
Klopp said: “It’s half-time, nothing else. It will be a tricky one and we have to be ready for that. They played good, they played differently, but they are really good and that’s why it is half-time, 2-0.
“If it is a proper half-time, Like today, if it was 2-0 at half-time I don’t tell my boys ‘Job done, put your legs on the table’. It is a tricky result so why should we think about it now.
“It was an incredibly physical game so we had to find a way… We didn’t have a brilliant day but a good enough day to be deserved winners because we scored two wonderful goals. They had their moments, but mainly counter-attacks when we lost the ball in the wrong spaces.”
Inter Milan ended the match with no shots on target – with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate imperious at the back to see Liverpool keep their sixth clean sheet in eight matches – but a lack of shots on target is something that does not bother Klopp now the game has concluded.
He added: “After the game, I couldn’t care less, but during the game, we didn’t finish the situations often enough.
“Bobby needed time to get into the game because he got the balls in the most difficult areas… After he scored the goal, you could see the confidence back all of a sudden, the ball was our friend again and we won the game.
“We defended really well, the way you have to defend. We like to win the ball early but sometimes it is not possible.
“You have to defend with passion, organisation helps as well. Defensively it was a really strong performance but it would be silly if we didn’t defend well as it means a lot to us this competition and we invested a lot.”
