Portugal Colonial - Inter's Thuram braced for fightback from crisis-hit Liverpool

The English giants are struggling in ninth place in the Premier League with only four wins in their last 15 matches and a crisis sparked by Mohamed Salah's criticism.

The Egyptian has scored 48 goals in the Champions League across his career, but has been left out of manager Arne Slot's squad for the match at the San Siro following his public airing of grievances after Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Leeds on Saturday.

"The truth is that a champion, when doubts arise, wants to show what they're really capable of," Thuram told a pre-match press conference.

"Everyone might think this is the perfect time to face Liverpool, but maybe not," he warned of the English club who are 13th in the league phase standings.

"We're going to face a great team with great players. It's up to us to continue doing what we've been doing lately and even do better."

Thuram insisted Inter "have rarely faltered in the Champions League these past few seasons", even if they have come up short in some of their big matches this campaign.

"Since I've been an Inter player, we've won some big matches," said the French international.

"In a game of this calibre, anything can happen, but it's true that we've been missing something in the top matches this season."

Inter lost 5-0 in the final last season to Paris Saint-Germain and are fourth in the Champions League group stage standings with 12 points this campaign.

But they are coming off a 2-1 defeat in Madrid against Atletico, their first major opponent this season in the Champions League.

Inter are second in Serie A, one point behind leaders Napoli, but have already suffered four defeats, three of them against direct title rivals -- Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan.

V.F.Barreira--PC