Diogo Jota, who was pulled off at halftime of Liverpool’s triumph over Inter Milan on Wednesday night, may have sustained ankle ligament damage, according to Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool won 2-0 thanks to late goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, and Klopp was overjoyed with the result, which gives them a huge advantage heading into the second leg at Anfield.
However, the fantastic result was tainted by Jota’s substitution at halftime due to a swollen ankle, with Klopp suspecting ligament damage.
Jota sustained the injury in the first half and continued playing until halftime, when it was decided he needed to be replaced, so Klopp is hopeful it isn’t serious but can’t be sure at this point.
‘I’m happy with everything apart from obviously that Diogo had to go off with something around the ankle ligament, we will see, we don’t know exactly,’ Klopp told BT Sport.
‘He could play on, which is maybe a good sign but at half-time the ankle was swollen anyway, so we had to change.’
‘Incredibly physical game and we had to find a way,’ he said. ‘I think we started really well. I think we started really well and played around their formation.
‘Then they came up a bit with the direct play and their switches to the wing-backs. We didn’t defend that too well and our full-backs were alone in a one-on-one situation. It doesn’t work properly like that.
‘In a game like this you have to keep the ball longer and that didn’t happen often enough. But you cannot come here and hope you have a brilliant day and that is the only chance to get a result.
‘We did not have a brilliant day but a good enough day to be a deserved winner because we scored two wonderful goals. Yes, they had their moments but mainly counter-attacks when we lost the ball in the wrong spaces.’
