Jurgen Klopp says he is "not surprised" by Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane 's swift returns from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool play Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on Wednesday, with Salah and Mane both starting Sunday's 1-0 victory over Burnley less than a week after playing 120 minutes in the AFCON final.
Ahead of the trip to the San Siro, the Reds boss also revealed a key reason behind the pair's recovery; not drinking alcohol.
"A week is no problem. Both boys don't drink alcohol at all, so that's a major problem you have if you celebrate a big thing - that kills or extends recovery time," Klopp explained in his news conference.
"They were fit the day after the game. They are both a force of nature, hopefully it stays like this forever. They recovered extremely quickly.
Join the debate! Who will reach the quarter-final - Liverpool or Inter? Comment your prediction below.
"For Mo, it was only a few days and for Sadio, it was a week - he had some celebrations in between. Again, I'm not surprised by that."
Mane was the happier of the two Liverpool players after the AFCON, having scored the winning penalty in the final shoot-out to help Senegal lift their first title.
Salah, meanwhile, was Egypt 's talisman throughout their run in Cameroon, but was unable to work his magic at the last hurdle.
After bringing the latter in for his first appearance since the tournament last Thursday against Leicester City, Mane was called back into the fold for Sunday's Premier League clash.
But Inter are set to pose a greater threat than Burnley, as Klopp labelled the Italian champions - who sit one point behind league leaders and rivals AC Milan in the Serie A table with a game in hand - a "top-class team."
"With respect for other teams, I think they are the best in Italy again this year," the Reds manager added. "We need to show a top-class performance to even have a chance but why shouldn't we try?
"There are a lot of talks about reforms in the Champions League.
"You have Man City v Sporting Lisbon and PSG v Real Madrid in the first games of the round, our game in the second day, that is massive, that is proper European football royalty and we are looking forward to it.
"I don't think history will be decisive in this game. I don't believe in these types of things. I think you can use history but you don't have to suffer from it. It is not our history and other things have happened.
"We just know we are facing an incredibly strong team and that is enough."
