Liverpool to face Inter Milan in Champions League by the Liverpool ECHO

article taken from Dec 21 2007 Dan Kay, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL have been handed a long overdue reunion with Inter Milan in the last sixteen of the Champions League.

The Reds were paired with the Italian champions at the draw in Switzerland today and will face a tough test to progess to the quarter-finals, with Roberto Mancini’s enjoying another impressive season, currently lying seven points clear at the top of Serie A.

The two-time European Cup winners have only met the Reds once before in European competition but it proved to be one of the most controversial ties in Liverpool’s long decorated history.

Having disposed of Reykjavic, Anderlecht and Cologne during the club’s first season of continental action, reigning Cup holders Inter arrived at Anfield in May 1965 just days after the FA Cup had been secured for the first time against Leeds United at Wembley.

Amidst a tide of emotion, with Bill Shankly stage-managing the parading of the newly-acquired silverware by injured players Gerry Byrne and Gordon Milne to coincide with his side’s emergence from the tunnel, goals from Hunt, Callaghan and St John secured a 3-1 first leg advantage that could have been greater had a solo strike from Chris Lawler not been harshly disallowed.

The second leg in Milan was a different story as goals from Corso, Peiro and Mazzola ensured Inter would participate in the final on the own San Siro ground, which they won against Benfica and so retained the trophy.

But it was the decisions of Spanish referee Ortiz de Mendibil that dominated the thoughts of Bill Shankly and his beaten players, with the first two Italian goals judged by the most impartial of observers to have been hugely contentious.

Shankly later admitted that the Spanish referee’s actions that night had hurt him more than any other experience he’d had in the game but also revealed how the learning experience from that night in Italy helped shaped the Reds approach in Europe that was later to prove so successful.

Now, 42 years on, the sides are to face up again with the Reds having since won the Champions Cup five times whilst Inter have not added to that second win of theirs in 1965.

Speaking after the draw, Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said: "There are no easy teams to play at this stage of the tournament, so we'll take what we can get at this stage.

"We stopped a few hearts with the way we qualified this year, but we've shown in the last three games that we are scoring goals and are in form.

"We have done well in previous years and we want that to continue."
The first leg will be at Anfield on February 19/20 with the return at the San Siro on March 4/5.

The draw in full:
Celtic v Barcelona
Lyon v Manchester United
Schalke v FC Porto
Liverpool v Inter Milan
Roma v Real Madrid
Olympiacos v Chelsea
Fenerbahce v Sevilla
Arsenal v AC Milan