By their own admission, Liverpool weren't at their best in their victory over Inter Milan on Wednesday night.
Andy Robertson suggested he and his teammates were "sloppy with the ball," with Inter on top for periods at the San Siro before the introduction of a number of substitutes swung the tie in the Reds' favour as Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah found the net.
There were moments in the game when Simone Inzaghi's hosts looked the most likely to open the scoring, but they have instead been left with an uphill battle just to stay in the Champions League.
And the reaction in the Italian media paints a picture of a night of poor fortune which ended in a "cruel" outcome for the Serie A title-holders after Inzaghi's men held their own for the first hour.
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"In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, the Nerazzurri held up well, but in the end they fell under the blows of Firmino and Salah," Filippo Conticello wrote in La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
"The San Siro score, as cruel as the men dressed in red, says 0-2: one could think of an English tide that has come to submerge Milan, a Champions League round already decided, but Inter lose to Liverpool well beyond their own demerits.
"[Inter] comes out with his head held high despite the bloody score. After all, the atrocious double joke in the final quarter of an hour does not cancel a courageous and proud test: before [the goals from Firmino and Salah], Inzaghi's men had only missed the scratch under the goal.
"However, to win and prolong hope, Anfield will need something more: greater luck, of course, but also greater cynicism."
After a goalless first half, Klopp reaped the benefit of a series of changes, beginning with the enforced introduction of Firmino when Diogo Jota went off injured.
The Liverpool manager revealed the Portuguese forward was suffering from a swollen ankle, and the Reds will hope Jota recovers in time for the Carabao Cup final at the end of the month.
And, despite the important victory in Italy, Klopp isn't getting ahead of himself with another 90 minutes standing between the Reds and the quarter-finals.
“It’s half-time, nothing else. It will be a tricky one and we have to be ready for that,” the Liverpool boss said.
“They played good, they played differently, but they are really good and that’s why it is half-time, 2-0.
“If it is a proper half-time, Like today, if it was 2-0 at half-time I don’t tell my boys ‘Job done, put your legs on the table’.
“It is a tricky result so why should we think about it now.”
