Inter Milan vice-president Javier Zanetti has warned Liverpool that his team will be ready to take them on in the Champions League.
The Reds were paired with the Italian side at the second time of asking yesterday after the first draw was voided by UEFA.
It was an embarrassing sequence of events for the governing body at their Nyon headquarters as a technical problem forced the last-16 draw to be redone.
Villarreal were initially paired with Manchester United - which would have been an impossible tie given those teams were in the same group.
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There was then a brief delay to proceedings before Atletico Madrid were paired with Bayern Munich.
But it seemed those conducting the draw on behalf of UEFA did not put United's ball in the pot as one of the teams to potentially play Atletico.
Inter had initially got Ajax, while Liverpool were handed a clash with Red Bull Salzburg before clubs were informed the draw would be voided and done again.
But Zanetti has no hard feelings against UEFA over the call they made and admits his side will now start preparing to take on the Reds.
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He said: “It’s useless to comment because everybody saw what happened. We accept what we got and we are ready to face Liverpool.
“They are a top club, but we are the same. Inter have a great history. We have a lot of time to prepare for the game and we’ll be ready.
“It’s a great satisfaction to play in the Champions League knock-out phase for the first time in ten years.
“Inter have been missing it for too long and it’s great to be back. Liverpool are a top team, but we are Inter and we must face them in the best way.”
Stadiums in Italy are currently only open to 75% capacity due to the Covid pandemic, but Zanetti is hoping the San Siro will be back to full capacity for the game.
“I think that’s what everyone hopes, that would mean the situation has improved,” he said. “It would be important to have a sold-out stadium against such an important team.”
