Virgil van Dijk has admitted that Liverpool had to suffer a lot to win 2: 0 against Inter in Giuseppe Meazza, in the first match of the 1/8 finals in the Champions League.

Inter had dominated Liverpool most of the time and hit the post through Hakan Calhanoglu in the first half, until a goal by Edin Dzeko was disallowed for offside position.

However, the Reds held up well and reaped the victory in the end, thanks to goals from substitutes Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

The Dutch defender, who was among the best on the field, praised the Inter team for the game shown.

“This is a difficult place to visit, a very good team, hard to break and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the fans,” said Van Dijk after the match.

He added: “Everyone expects you to be under pressure. This is the Champions League. The message before the match was, you have to be ready to suffer and work hard. It was a very good performance, without conceding a goal and happy.”

Liverpool will host Inter at Anfield for the return match next month, and it is enough to maintain the two-goal lead to advance to the quarterfinals.