Leo received the ball behind Dimarco, forcing him to sprint back.
Leo didn't even try to attack. He simply carried the ball and made Dimarco chase him.
From that point on, every time Dimarco pushed forward, Leo would move into Inter's left midfield area.
Eventually, one of Inter's passes was bound to miss its target. That happened to every player and every team, because nobody could complete one hundred percent of their passes over the course of a match.
And whenever Liverpool cut out one of those passes, they would immediately give the ball to Leo.
Leo would then carry it forward and wait for Dimarco to sprint back.
The energy on Inter's left side was visibly draining away.
Dimarco's stamina was limited, no matter how good a runner he was.
There was no way he could keep making repeated full-speed sprints like this.
And because Leo was so dangerous with the ball, Dimarco couldn't afford to jog back either. Every recovery run had to be made at full speed.
In the end, Dimarco was sprinting at maximum effort whether Inter were attacking or defending.
It was almost as if Leo had taken all the running Inter's entire team was supposed to do and dumped it onto Dimarco alone.
Before long, Dimarco could no longer contribute to the attack.
At least not for the rest of the first half.
When halftime arrived, Inter were still one goal behind Liverpool.
"Just imagine how exhausted Dimarco must be."
"Leo's central-to-wide midfielder tactic isn't really designed to attack or defend. It's specifically designed to drain one particular player's stamina."
"Leo has already worn Dimarco down below his normal physical level. Are Inter really going to keep using him as an attacking outlet in the second half?"
"I think they need to consider another approach."
Even when Simone Inzaghi was angry, he never let anyone see it on his face.
He simply straightened his shirt, put an arm around Dimarco, and headed back toward the Inter dressing room.
Klopp, meanwhile, was discussing with Zubizarreta how Liverpool should approach the second half and continue shutting down Inter's attack.
Winning 2-1 at Inter's home ground would already be a very good result for Liverpool.
But the away goals rule had been abolished starting this season.
That meant if Inter won the second leg 1-0 at Liverpool, the tie would still go to a penalty shootout, and Inter could even eliminate them.
So Klopp's thinking was simple.
If Liverpool had another chance to score, they had to take it.
A two-goal or three-goal advantage would give them a much stronger chance of knocking Inter out.
Klopp had originally expected Inter to shift their attacking focus from the left to the right in the second half, because Dumfries was also capable of contributing going forward.
But when the second half began, Klopp had no idea what Inzaghi had told his players during the break.
All he could see was Inter attacking with everything they had.
It wasn't just Dimarco and Dumfries.
Çalhanoğlu was pushing forward too, and even Vidal had stopped focusing solely on defending Leo.
Whenever Inter attacked, Vidal used his strength to occupy Rodri and clear space for Çalhanoğlu, giving Inter more opportunities to advance.
"This is how Inter Milan should play at home against Liverpool!"
"Çalhanoğlu carries the ball forward! Vidal holds off Rodri, and Szoboszlai is tracking back!"
Szoboszlai tried to close down Çalhanoğlu, but Leo spotted Dumfries advancing to Szoboszlai's right.
There was clearly some kind of understanding between Dumfries and Çalhanoğlu.
Leo immediately sprinted back.
But Çalhanoğlu still managed to play the ball out to Dumfries.
Džeko held off Konaté while moving into position to receive Dumfries' pass.
Once the ball reached him, he actually managed to withstand Konaté's pressure before slipping a pass past Konaté's right side toward Lautaro Martínez.
Lautaro Martínez had already shaken off Van Dijk.
He ran away from Van Dijk and into the space behind Konaté, meeting Džeko's pass.
It was the two-striker combination play Simone Inzaghi used so well.
The moment Lautaro began his run, Alisson had already charged toward the path of Džeko's pass.
By the time Lautaro reached the ball, Alisson was directly in front of him.
Lautaro didn't take a touch.
He struck the rolling ball first time toward Liverpool's goal.
The shot smashed into Alisson's left knee and bounced upward.
But it was still heading toward the net.
Just as Inter's home supporters thought the ball was going in, Gvardiol came flying across and blocked it on the goal line with his left leg.
Robertson immediately followed up and cleared it away.
"Liverpool's two fullbacks have just helped their two center backs defend the middle!"
"Gvardiol and Robertson were absolutely crucial there!"
"But Inter's attack is looking better and better now!"
"Dumfries has suddenly started getting forward just like Gvardiol did earlier. He's using his power and pace, and he's already helped Inter create an excellent chance!"
Simone Inzaghi finally understood.
If Inter had focused almost entirely on Dimarco attacking down the left in the first half, then adding Dumfries as another attacking outlet changed everything.
Leo could no longer use his central-to-wide midfielder tactic to focus entirely on draining Dimarco's stamina.
More importantly, attacking with both sides allowed Inter to play better as a team.
Inzaghi had spent so much time thinking about how to defend and how to stop Leo.
But now he suddenly realized something.
If Inter simply played better themselves, then they wouldn't need to obsess over defending Leo or worrying about Liverpool's attack.
Instead, Liverpool would have to start worrying about Inter.
"No matter the situation, Inter Milan always play to win."
"That attitude has represented the Nerazzurri throughout so many Serie A seasons."
"Even when their squad wasn't particularly strong, Inter never gave up."
"And now that they have Lautaro Martínez, Dimarco, and so many other excellent players, they're obviously going to fight for the victory!"
Leo watched Dimarco and Dumfries.
Their attacking patterns were basically the same.
They would accelerate forward, then suddenly cut inside with an off-the-ball run before Çalhanoğlu or Brozović looked to find them with a pass.
Leo didn't know what Klopp was thinking.
But he knew exactly what he wanted.
He wanted a substitution.
Even if he wasn't the manager.
"Liverpool are taking Szoboszlai off! Mac Allister is coming on!"
Almost the moment Leo thought it, Klopp made the change.
Mac Allister was coming on to help Rodri.
That gave Liverpool two defensive midfielders.
Mac Allister could help Konaté deal with Dumfries and also cover Džeko.
Rodri could focus more freely on Dimarco.
And Gvardiol and Van Dijk could work together against Lautaro Martínez.
More importantly, Mac Allister's arrival meant Klopp wanted Leo to devote himself entirely to attacking.
From this point on, Liverpool were going to fight Inter Milan at full strength on their own ground until the final whistle.
...
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