Jurgen Klopp hailed an "adult performance" from Liverpool after they claimed a 2-0 win over Inter at San Siro.

The Reds were far from at their sparkling best in the first leg of the sides' Champions League last-16 tie but still carved out an aggregate advantage thanks to late goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

And Klopp was delighted to see his team prove once again that they can pick up results from games where they do not find top gear.

He told BT Sport; "We had to fight. We started really well, played around their formation in the beginning, but then the direct play with the switches to the wing-backs we didn't defend too well. 

"Too often our full-backs were alone in the one-on-one situation, it doesn't work properly like that. 

"In a game like this you have to keep the ball longer and that's what didn't happen long enough. 

"But you cannot come here and hope that you have a brilliant day and that's the only chance to get a result. 

"We had not a brilliant day but a good enough day to be a deserved win. We scored two wonderful goals, yes they had their moments [and] counter-attacks, but mainly counter-attacks when we lost the ball in the wrong spaces. 

"It's another adult performance and I'm really happy about that."

The only downside for the visitors on a successful night was the half-time loss of the prolific Diogo Jota to an ankle injury.

Of that blow, Klopp said: "I'm really happy with everything apart from that Diogo had to go off with something around the ankle ligament, we will see. 

"We don't know exactly, he could play on, and that's maybe a good sign, but at half-time the ankle was swollen anyway, so we had to change."

However, the German was able to strike a more positive note when discussing his substitutes, who played a key role in Liverpool's strong finish to the game.

He continued: "That was perfect, how the boys reacted. 

"All of them want to start but, coming on, all my respect for Hendo's [Jordan Henderson's] performance today and Naby [Keita], who came on, and Luis [Diaz] is so natural so that helps as well. 

"That was all very helpful and at half-time when you can bring Bobby Firmino on."

Simone Inzaghi joked he was relieved Inter did not have to face Liverpool in every match after they suffered a late 2-0 loss in their Champions League encounter. 

The last-16 first leg at San Siro looked destined for a 0-0 draw but Roberto Firmino glanced home a header – the first effort on target of the match – in the 75th minute to put Liverpool in front. 

Mohamed Salah then marked his 50th Champions League appearance for the club with his 33rd goal for the Reds in the competition – only Cristiano Ronaldo (51 for Real Madrid) and Robert Lewandowski (36 for Bayern Munich) had managed more at the same point for a single team. 

Inter performed well until Firmino broke the deadlock. They looked more threatening and hit the crossbar through Hakan Calhanoglu in the first half. 

However, they were unable to stop Jurgen Klopp becoming just the eight coach to reach 50 wins in the Champions League, with Inzaghi pleased they do not have to lock horns too often. 

"We hope not to face Liverpool every game," Inzaghi told Amazon Prime. 

"I am happy and proud of the team. Unfortunately, during our best period of the game, we were not rewarded with the goal we deserved, then Liverpool scored at the first half-distraction we had. 

"We certainly deserved more, but this performance has to bode well for what is to come in the future. Liverpool are one of the two best teams in Europe in my view. We held out well and deserved more. 

"We know these evenings can be like this, but it has to give us a self-esteem boost because it was an excellent performance. 

"It's difficult to comment after a result like this, but it has to be a starting point for Inter at this level. I think this is the strongest opponent we've faced this season." 

Edin Dzeko, who had a goal correctly ruled out for offside in the 60th minute, also felt there were positives for Inter to take ahead of the second leg at Anfield on March 8. 

"We did well for 75 minutes, giving away very little to Liverpool. It's a shame to concede from a corner, where we are usually strong. But this is what happens with great teams; if you don't score, they'll punish you," said Dzeko. 

"Everyone gave their all for 90 minutes, but it wasn't enough. We come out of this defeat with our heads held high because we know we have given everything. 

"It's not a positive result for us, but first we have to focus on Serie A and then we'll see." 

Jurgen Klopp perhaps left San Siro with more questions about his Liverpool side than he might have expected following a crucial Champions League win.

Thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 victory in Milan, the Reds are in firm control of their last-16 tie against Inter prior to an Anfield rematch next month. 

And that it was secured thanks in no small part to Klopp being able to use the strongest squad he has ever had at his disposal is hardly cause for concern.

But there are some downsides to possessing such an embarrassment of riches, as was evident across the pitch in Italy.

For starters, a midfield blend that had been unavailable to Klopp during Harvey Elliott's lengthy injury absence did not stake a particularly strong claim for more starts here.

Meanwhile, selection decisions in attack were not made any easier by a mixed bag of performances from both starters and subs in forward areas.

There was, though, at least one man who showed why there should be no debate over his worth to a Liverpool team that is hoping to add yet more major honours this season: Virgil van Dijk.

Let's start with the numbers, which show that the Dutchman made more clearances (seven) than any other player on the pitch across the 90 minutes along with an impressive three interceptions.

He also surrendered possession on fewer occasions than any other starting player on either side (four).

But, what those statistics cannot convey is the wider influence Liverpool's number four had on a game that was far from as straightforward as the scoreline suggests.

It is impossible for any data to explain the first-half moment where Lautaro Martinez had Van Dijk isolated in a one-on-one situation but simply decided against trying to pass him because of his reputation. 

Nor can the figures sum up the sheer resignation on Edin Dzeko's face when he felt a familiar arm come across him just as he looked to be running in on goal during that same period of the game.

And all this is not to mention the effect Van Dijk has on his team-mates, who would not be able to keep that aggressive high line without their leader there to dictate it. 

Every single one of these qualities proved vital on a night when Inter would argue they deserved far more than they got.

Simone Inzaghi deserves credit for a front-footed tactical setup that saw the hosts aggressively harry one of Europe's most feared sides and give them countless uncomfortable moments as a result.

However, that they were unable to capitalise on those opportunities owed much to the man calmly marshalling their opponents' defence even when things weren't quite working perfectly in front of him.

Inter must quickly move on from that disappointment and regroup in time for a return leg that they will hope can provide one of the great comebacks in the history of two-legged European ties.

But the likelihood is that they will not be the last side to come away from facing Liverpool in the Champions League this season wondering what might have been if not for Van Dijk.

Lewis Hamilton appears to be back and ready to chase another Formula One title with Mercedes.

The contentious nature in which Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth drivers' championship in 2021 had prompted talk he would quit the sport.

Hamilton was pipped by Max Verstappen in the final seconds of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a controversial decision from race director Michael Masi to let the cars between the pair – running first and second but separated by a series of lapped rivals – pass a late safety car and allow one lap of racing.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff warned it was "not possible" for Hamilton to get over the nature of that result, and little has been heard from the Briton since.

But the former McLaren man ended his social media silence earlier this month when he posted: "I've been gone. Now I'm back!"

And Mercedes' own Twitter posts have now revealed Hamilton is back with the team ahead of the launch of their W13 car.

After sharing a picture of Hamilton with the caption "Year 16", the Silver Arrows uploaded footage of new team-mate George Russell being fitted in his seat.

Hamilton appears in the video and greets Russell, and the team added: "Oh wait, Lewis is in this?" A picture of Hamilton with Russell followed.

Hamilton last year signed a contract that ties him to Mercedes through the 2023 season.

Kingsley Coman scored a 90th-minute equaliser at Salzburg to salvage a 1-1 draw for a below-par Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Julian Nagelsmann's side received a wave of criticism after a sensational 4-2 Bundesliga defeat to Bochum at the weekend, and they were almost on the wrong end of another upset in Austria on Wednesday.

Junior Adamu looked to have scored the decisive goal after 21 minutes in what was the hosts' first ever game in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Salzburg were denied a famous win late on, though, as Coman stole in at the back post to put Bayern in control ahead of the return leg next month.

Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah struck late to put Liverpool in command of their Champions League tie with Inter thanks to a 2-0 win at San Siro. 

Inter looked the most dangerous of the two sides across the first hour, with Hakan Calhanoglu rattling the crossbar inside 16 minutes. 

However, after replacing Diogo Jota at half-time, substitute Firmino glanced an excellent header across goal to score with the game's first effort on target in the 75th minute. 

Salah doubled Liverpool's advantage eight minutes later with a deflected shot, leaving Inter with it all to do in the return leg of the last-16 showdown at Anfield on March 8. 

Jurgen Klopp's men had a chance to open the scoring in the 14th minute, but Sadio Mane was unable to keep his header from the edge of the six-yard box down. 

Inter went closer two minutes later, with Calhanoglu finding a pocket of space in the box before seeing his snapshot come back off the woodwork. 

Lautaro Martinez arrived just too late to turn in an Ivan Perisic cross as the hosts started the second half brightly, while Edin Dzeko saw a goal correctly disallowed for offside in the 60th minute. 

The introduction of Luis Diaz gave Liverpool fresh impetus, but it was Firmino who broke the deadlock with a fine header. 

Salah ensured the victory was beyond doubt when his shot squirmed over the line in the 83rd minute, putting a place in the quarter-finals firmly within Liverpool's reach. 

Andy Murray suffered one of the heaviest losses of his career in the second round of the Qatar Open, while Andrey Rublev escaped an early exit at the Open 13. 

Former world number one Murray went down 6-0 6-1 to last year's runner-up Roberto Bautista Agut in Doha on Wednesday. 

It was just the fourth occasion in which the three-time major champion has lost a match while winning only one game or fewer in his career – the last time being a defeat by the same scoreline to Roger Federer at the ATP Finals in 2014. 

Murray's fellow Briton Dan Evans also endured a second-round loss, going down 4-6 7-5 6-4 to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – Bautista Agut's next opponent. 

Denis Shapovalov bounced back from his first-round loss to Jiri Lehecka in Rotterdam last week by dropping just eight points on serve as he claimed a 6-4 6-0 victory over Alex Molcan inside 52 minutes. 

Next up for the Canadian will be Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman came from a set down to defeat seventh seed Alexander Bublik 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4. 

Nikoloz Basilashvili faced little trouble in overcoming Elias Ymer 6-4 7-5 and his reward is a quarter-final against Marton Fucsovics, who got the better of Kwon Soon-woo. 

Karen Khachanov and Marin Cilic will meet in the last eight after they respectively eliminated Emil Ruusuvuori and Botic van de Zandschulp. 

In Marseille, second seed Rublev was made to work hard for a place in the Open 13 quarter-finals by home hope Richard Gasquet. 

Gasquet went a break up in the third set and, after surrendering his advantage, stopped Rublev serving out the match to force a tie-break. 

However, the world number seven did not waste his next opportunity as he sealed a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) success. 

Aslan Karatsev also booked his place in the last eight, while there were wins for Frenchmen Benjamin Bonzi and Lucas Pouille too. 

Diego Simeone acknowledged Atletico Madrid were poor in Wednesday's shock LaLiga defeat to Levante.

Relegation-threatened Levante, who are bottom of the table, left the Wanda Metropolitano with a 1-0 win thanks to Gonzalo Melero's second-half goal.

Atletico were especially poor in the first half, offering very little attacking threat before improving slightly after the interval, but Levante proved more clinical despite their 0.7 expected goals (xG) being bettered by their hosts (1.2).

Levante had won one of their previous 23 league games this season – only Sporting Gijon in 1997-98 have picked up fewer victories at that stage of a campaign in LaLiga history.

And for Simeone, there was no hiding at full-time.

"We played a bad game," he said. "We lost a nice opportunity to put ourselves in a good position in the league and we will have to make a double effort.

"Losses always hurt. Now, we must calm down and tomorrow we will chat for a while to say what I think and see what [the players] feel.

"We lost a great opportunity. We have to seek to move forward with humility and with this reality that we have to live now."

Simeone refused to question the team's mentality, however, convinced Atletico go into every match with the right attitude.

"In the run-up to the matches, I see the team with hope and enthusiasm," he continued. "We came from a complicated victory.

"It could've been a boost to us, but we didn't know how to take advantage of it and that makes us need a double effort."

Atletico return to LaLiga action on Saturday as they face Osasuna in Pamplona. They host Manchester United four days later in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Joe Burrow will not require surgery on the right knee injury he sustained in the Cincinnati Bengals' Super Bowl LVI defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.

Burrow endured a punishing second half behind the Bengals' below-par offensive line in Sunday's 23-20 defeat to the Rams at SoFi Stadium.

The Bengals quarterback finished with seven sacks, tying Roger Staubach's Super Bowl X record.

One hit saw Burrow hobble away, appearing to be in real pain with his knee.

Although Burrow later said the issue "feels good", head coach Zac Taylor – speaking on Wednesday as his Bengals contract was extended – recommended a period of rest for the former first overall pick.

It was an MCL sprain but not a new issue, Taylor revealed, with Burrow having merely aggravated an injury sustained against the Los Angeles Chargers in the regular season.

"Joe had the sprained MCL and that's really an aggravation of something he did in late December," Taylor said. "Rest is the best thing for him."

Burrow also injured his finger in December, with Taylor quizzed on the possibility of surgery for that ailment, too.

"Not to my understanding, no," the coach said.

Burrow was ruled out in Week 11 of the 2020 season, his rookie year, due to ACL and MCL tears in his left knee.

Fabian Ruiz is flattered to be linked with a move to Barcelona and Real Madrid but insists he is happy at Napoli. 

Spain international Fabian will be out of contract at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at the end of next season. 

It was this week reported that talks over a renewal for the midfielder had broken down and Napoli would be forced to listen to offers for him, with Barca and Madrid the player's favoured potential destinations.

Asked about the situation ahead of Napoli's Europa League play-off meeting with Barca at Camp Nou on Thursday, Fabian admitted it was nice to hear of such clubs being interested in him. 

He told a news conference: "It's always nice to see yourself linked with great clubs, especially the Spanish ones. 

"However, I have another year on my contract. I'm happy at Napoli and concentrated on [Thursday's] match." 

Barca are contesting the secondary European competition for the first time since 2003-04, when they were eliminated in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup by Celtic. 

A run of 191 straight continental games in the Champions League was ended by their group-stage exit and quickly put pressure on head coach Xavi, who was in the starting line-up for both legs of the Blaugrana's loss to Celtic. 

However, Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti has no doubt Xavi will prove to be a success in the dugout, having cut his teeth with a successful spell at Al Sadd. 

"Xavi was already a real football connoisseur as a player, so naturally he will be as a coach too," said Spalletti. 

"They also brought in more unpredictable players in January who can change a game by themselves." 

The only previous meeting between the two teams in a major European competition occurred in the last 16 of the 2019-20 Champions League, when Barca won 4-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 win at Camp Nou. 

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza, 2021 finalist Barbora Krejcikova and top seed Aryna Sabalenka were all eliminated from the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

A day of upsets left Ons Jabeur, the eighth seed, as the top remaining player in the draw.

Some big names helped deliver the shocks, though, with world number two Sabalenka usurped by two-time Wimbledon champion and 2013 Dubai winner Petra Kvitova in straight sets.

Muguruza did not look like being one of the scalps as her title defence continued against Veronika Kudermetova.

But after taking the first set, the reigning WTA Tour Finals champion went down 3-6 6-4 6-4.

French Open champion Krejcikova, beaten by Muguruza in the final last year, also exited the tournament at the hands of Dayana Yastremska 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Iga Swiatek let a set lead slip to Jelena Ostapenko, while two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina collapsed to lucky loser Jil Teichmann 7-6 (7-0) 6-2.

Jabeur, a winner against Jessica Pegula, was the only seed to win in a ruthless round of 16.

However, her reward in a still stacked quarter-final draw is a meeting with Simona Halep, another who has twice won in Dubai.

Atletico Madrid's top-four chances suffered another blow as they slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Levante, who became the first away team to win two LaLiga games at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Diego Simeone's men were overtaken in fourth by Barcelona 10 days earlier and the champions will trail them by three points if the Blaugrana go on to win their game in hand.

Atletico remained level at half-time despite an underwhelming display, but they were punished in the 54th minute by Gonzalo Melero's crisp finish.

A penalty award in favour of Atletico was then reversed soon after and, although Simeone threw attacking players on towards the end, they could not salvage a point.

Atletico offered precious little in a first half that Levante dominated for spells with 60 per cent possession.

The hosts were indebted to Jan Oblak as Levante looked destined to take the lead in the 22nd minute, the goalkeeper making a vital one-on-one save to deny Jorge de Frutos after Stefan Savic's miscued header.

Levante deservedly went ahead early in the second half, De Frutos teeing up Melero for a first-time finish that beat Oblak at his near post.

Atletico thought they had the chance to level from the spot when Geoffrey Kondogbia's shot was blocked by an arm, but referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero overturned his decision due to Marcos Llorente straying offside in the build-up.

A chaotic end saw Angel Correa have an equaliser disallowed for an apparent foul on Martin Caceres by Jose Gimenez, before Mickael Malsa struck the crossbar for Levante from 40 yards – not that it mattered as the visitors clung on for a massive win.

What does it mean? Atletico's woes reach the stands

Atletico fans have had just cause for frustration in recent weeks given how leaky they have been at the back, but this was the first time a divide could be seen between the support and certain players.

Jose Gimenez made a couple of gestures towards the home fans in the second half, seemingly urging them to stop jeering the team.

He was subsequently whistled every time he got the ball, and it highlighted what is quickly becoming a toxic situation at Atletico.

Pepelu shows his class

In an otherwise difficult season for Levante, midfielder Pepelu has been a bright spark. He was lively again here, his two key passes the joint-most of anyone on the pitch, but he also worked hard off the ball, making a team-high three interceptions.

Atletico's creators lacking craft

Rodrigo de Paul's first season at Atletico has largely been a disappointment. He was again here, failing to lay on a single key pass – though he was not the only one.

Matheus Cunha's recent form has earned him a few more starts, but he was also withdrawn just after the hour having not registered a shot or key pass.

What's next?

Atletico face Osasuna in Pamplona on Saturday before turning their attentions to the Champions League and the visit of Manchester United next Wednesday.