LIVERPOOL EDGE INTER 1–0 AT SAN SIRO AMID SALAH-SLOT ROW

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Liverpool revived their UEFA Champions League campaign on Tuesday night with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro, bouncing back from a damaging public fallout with star forward Mohamed Salah.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty sealed the vital win for the Reds, who were without Salah after the Egyptian publicly criticised manager Arne Slot over the weekend and was left out of the squad.

The decisive moment came after referee Felix Zwayer awarded Liverpool a controversial spot-kick for a slight shirt tug by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz, a decision that infuriated Inter’s players. Szoboszlai made no mistake from the spot to hand Liverpool maximum points.

Before the breakthrough, both sides struggled for attacking rhythm in a largely drab encounter. Liverpool thought they had taken the lead in the 37th minute when Ibrahima Konaté headed home from close range, but the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review for a handball by Hugo Ekitike in the build-up.

Inter’s best chance of the first half fell to captain Lautaro Martinez, who headed Bastoni’s cross straight at goalkeeper Alisson Becker as the hosts finally came to life in front of a crowd of nearly 74,000.

The second half offered little in the way of quality chances as both teams appeared content with a draw until the late drama from the penalty spot.

The victory lifts Liverpool to 12 points from six matches, placing them inside the top-eight qualification spots for direct passage to the last 16 ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures. Inter remain fifth on the same points but have now lost their last two European matches.

Cristian Chivu’s side face a difficult road ahead, with fixtures against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund still to come, putting their top-eight hopes under threat.

Liverpool’s trip to Milan was dominated by the controversy surrounding Salah, who said he felt “thrown under the bus” after being benched for the third consecutive match in last weekend’s 3–3 draw at Leeds. Slot later admitted he had “no clue” if the winger had played his last game for the club.

Salah’s comments also sparked renewed interest from Saudi Arabia, with officials declaring on Tuesday their willingness to pursue the 33-year-old in January despite his contract renewal in April.

Liverpool entered the match having won just four of their previous 15 games in all competitions and were further weakened by the absence of Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo through injury. However, Inter failed to capitalise, managing their first effort on goal only in the 37th minute.

Despite an unconvincing display, the Reds held on for a crucial win that could prove decisive in their push for a knockout place.