Liverpool are firmly in the driving seat to reach the Champions League quarter-finals after their last-16 first-leg 2-0 win at Inter Milan on Wednesday night.
Second-half goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah secured the Reds triumph, but Rio Ferdinand believes it was at the other end of the pitch which provided the platform for victory.
The BT Sport pundit singled out centre-back pairing Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as the two standout players for Jurgen Klopp's side at the San Siro.
Speaking about Liverpool's performance, Ferdinand said: 'I think 2-0 probably flatters them. But the bedrock of most performances away from home in this stage of the Champions League is a good defence and today that was true for Liverpool.
'The two centre-backs were immense, Fabinho too. You have to weather storms in games.
'They had long spells where they were under the cosh but they have that experience to navigate through games and wait for the opportunities that they got.'
Van Dijk is widely considered as the best centre back in the world, but Liverpool fans were quick to recognise the display of Konate on Wednesday night.
One euphoric fan wrote: 'Konate announced himself he was absolutely unbelievable.'
This sentiment was echoed by another who put: 'Alot of really good performances tonight but Konate has been an absolute rock at the back along with Van Dijk.'
'Konate will leave a similar legacy to Van Dijk,' said another fan post-match.
On this evidence, Liverpool fans will hope to see the pair work in tandem once more when they host Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday.
busclopsu
0
Where is Capello and Do canio, they were visibly present before the match and suggesting Inter Milan would cause us trouble but went back to their cave after the match. Liverpool my pride.
and they were right. Inter Milan caused us a lot of problems, they were better than us last night. Konate and VVD made me proud
Jicbcdemnz
0
konate performance was little bit not good for me .. made an error which was silly
Yebbciou
1
vvd
LumanaMandela
2
Where is Capello and Do canio, they were visibly present before the match and suggesting Inter Milan would cause us trouble but went back to their cave after the match. Liverpool my pride.
Dwightdawkins
1
the two cb was on fire
Hipbcdmrt
6
VVD and Konate are the beast at the back
YNWApool
7
They said VVD isn’t like before so say Capello n his novice Di Caneo Where are they now ??? best cb at the moment
Slim2dor
3
an overall good performance from the lads am proud to be a liverpool fc fan. indeed the Milan boys brought the heat however, we stood fame due to the performance from both wingers and central defenders as the strikers waited for an opportunity nailed it... wat a game 💯
Great game indeed! And yeah, inter deserved more from this game but Liverpool knew how to sustain the pressure and hit when they got the chance.
Mubarakrahim
5
What do you expect from never 👎 walk alone ❤️❤️
Jayinfinity
5
an overall good performance from the lads am proud to be a liverpool fc fan. indeed the Milan boys brought the heat however, we stood fame due to the performance from both wingers and central defenders as the strikers waited for an opportunity nailed it... wat a game 💯