Harvey Elliott keeps his head as Liverpool prevail in frantic Champions League battle

It was in midfield where the pace of Liverpool’s crucial away victory at Inter Milan was set, even if the protagonists had been removed by the time the winning goals were scored.

Two teams, simultaneously opposed and mirrored in systems and approaches, whirred and buzzed to the tune of a high intensity press. A matchup of individual duels and isolated battles, played at frantic speed and on a tightrope, as San Siro boomed at the sight of a Champions League knockout match returning to this famous stadium.

In the middle of it all was Harvey Elliott, who even if he wanted a moment to take in the sheer improbability of starting in this last-16 tie would have been denied both the time and the space to do so.

A Champions League debut? Not bad, but how about becoming the youngest player to start a Champions League match in Liverpool’s history? Make it a start at the San Siro, at the home of the Italian champions, in the first leg of a huge knock-out tie, and just two weeks after coming back from a five-month injury layoff.

While Elliott was going through his daily grind of rehabilitation and Liverpool qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League in December, Jurgen Klopp made a promise to the 18-year-old that he would experience the competition upon his return. And so, at the San Siro, he stayed true to his word in a seismic showing of faith from the Liverpool manager.

Only Elliott will know how he felt at the sound of the Champions League anthem, and the eruption of the San Siro that followed. What a place for his first appearance in the competition to arrive, in the boiler room of a match played at such physical and tactical intensity.

In some ways, it almost resembled a training ground drill in which the only