“Mohamed Salah was back at Liverpool’s Kirkby training complex on Sunday afternoon. How much longer it remains his base is shrouded in doubt. The Egyptian attacker was involved in a light session indoors with the other members of Arne Slot’s squad who didn’t feature in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United. For Liverpool, there was a sense of letting the dust settle following the incendiary post-match interview Salah gave at Elland Road, but some huge decisions lie ahead. The most imminent was whether to include Salah, the third-highest goalscorer in the club’s history, in their travelling party for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter. On Monday, The Athletic reported he would not be part of the squad for that fixture, a decision subsequently confirmed by Liverpool. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic: Arne Slot retains support after Mohamed Salah comments, but his credit in the bank is not endless (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Analysing every word of Mohamed Salah’s explosive interview – and were his criticisms justified?
YouTube: I’VE BEEN THROWN UNDER THE BUS! 🔥 | Mohamed Salah FULL EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW on Liverpool future
The inside story of Mohamed Salah’s incendiary interview – and what Liverpool do now
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“Emiliano Buendia crashed home a stoppage-time winner to stun leaders Arsenal and end their 18-match unbeaten run. Trailing at half-time to Matty Cash’s opener at Villa Park, Arsenal were far from their best but looked set to take a point thanks to substitute Leandro Trossard’s 52nd-minute equaliser. But Villa were not to be denied, with Buendia coming off the bench to hammer a shot beyond David Raya following an almighty scramble. …”
“When you are called out by your head coach for the ‘ridiculous’ number of goals the team has conceded so far this season, the ideal response is not to let in another four in the next game. Arne Slot did not mince his words when talking about his Liverpool side’s defensive record this season ahead of the Champions League tie against Dutch visitors PSV on Wednesday. …”
“Declan Rice took the captain’s armband after Bukayo Saka was substituted, charged down a loose ball and seconds later Arsenal were ahead through Noni Madueke in the 69th minute. Gabriel Martinelli then made it 3-1 seven minutes later, with Bayern Munich cut apart by a through ball and the substitute doing the rest. 
“Liverpool fell to a shock 4-1 loss to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night to make it three defeats in a row. After a handball by Virgil van Dijk, Ivan Perisic scored a sixth-minute penalty to put PSV Eindhoven ahead. But the hosts levelled in the 16th minute after Cody Gakpo dribbled down the left before cutting inside on his right foot. His shot was saved, but the ball fell to Dominik Szoboszlai, who fired home to level the game. …”
“Tottenham may have put in a more positive display against PSG than against Arsenal on Sunday, but they came away from Paris defeated in an eight-goal thriller despite twice taking the lead. Richarlison headed in during the first half after a great team move from Spurs before an incredible strike from Vitinha just before half-time drew the hosts level. Randal Kolo Muani, playing against his parent club, put Spurs back in front before Vitinha again drew the teams level with another lovely finish. Two poor goals to concede followed, though, as the early promise from Spurs evaporated. Kolo Muani made it 4-3 before Vitinha completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after a handball. PSG then had Lucas Hernandez sent off in stoppage time. …”
“Barcelona came from behind three times against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, drawing 3-3 in Belgium in what will surely be one of the games of the season. Sometimes matches take a while to get going, but not this one. Nicolo Tresoldi put the hosts one up after six minutes, only to see Ferran Torres equalise two minutes later. But the home side quickly realised that Barcelona’s defensive line was very much there to be got at, and the excellent Carlos Forbs restored Club Brugge’s lead after 17 minutes thanks to a swift transition. …”
“If 
“‘I don’t read the papers,’ Igor Tudor insisted. But the Juventus coach clearly does pay attention to what is said about him and his team. An innocuous question about how he planned to approach Wednesday’s game against Real Madrid got a six-minute answer. Tudor wanted “intellectual honesty” from the press pack that followed Juventus from Turin. Analysis of a six-game winless streak had, in the papers he doesn’t read, been unfair and lacking in context. …”
“Mohamed Salah didn’t hang around. The Egyptian attacker briefly applauded Liverpool’s jubilant away end inside Deutsche Bank Park after the final whistle before turning and making a beeline for the tunnel as the celebrations continued. His body language spoke volumes. 
“After half an hour of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool were facing the prospect of losing five straight matches for the first time in 72 years. Trailing to a crisp strike from former Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen, Arne Slot’s decision to make five changes and leave Mohamed Salah on the bench looked questionable. But three goals in nine first-half minutes transformed this match, which Liverpool’s head coach will hope can be a defining moment for a team that has been struggling to find its identity after a summer of change. One of the new arrivals, Hugo Ekitike, drew Liverpool level, scoring on the counter-attack after a piercing through ball from Andrew Robertson. …”
“This season, Arsenal’s in-possession shape has mainly featured a 
“The advanced plans to stage a La Liga match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December spectacularly and suddenly crumbled on Tuesday. Villarreal executives learned the game would no longer take place in the middle of their 2-0 home Champions League defeat by Manchester City, while Barcelona were shocked out of their celebrations having just beaten Olympiacos 6-1. …”
“Chelsea thrashed Ajax in the pouring rain in London on Wednesday night to record back-to-back wins in the Champions League. Manager Enzo Maresca rang the changes and he was rewarded with a superb attacking display, though the visitors were reduced to 10 men early in the first half after a wild challenge from Kenneth Taylor on Facundo Buonanotte. Goals from Marc Guiu, Moises Caicedo and a penalty apiece from Enzo Fernandez and Estevao had Chelsea 4-1 up at half-time before Tyrique George added a fifth after 48 minutes. In what was Chelsea’s 200th Champions League match, it was as comfortable an evening as they could have imagined — though still one packed with incident. Here, Mark Carey and Simon Johnson analyse the action. …”
“Matchday 2 of the 2025-26 Champions League provided us with the season’s first taste of jeopardy. The 
“The Champions League is back in Barcelona, but not where the club wanted it to be. Barca had planned for tonight’s match with Paris Saint-Germain to be played at the Camp Nou. Instead, the team is back at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, their temporary home over the past two seasons, with the re-opening of their iconic home ground now almost a year behind schedule. The continual delays have led to many embarrassing moments, the most recent coming last Tuesday, when, after Barca officials told the media the Camp Nou was ready, the Barcelona city council arranged a press conference of their own in reply. …”
“Jose Mourinho seems to love these returns to old haunts right up to the moment the football actually starts. This was the Portuguese’s eighth return to Stamford Bridge either side of his two stints in the home dugout, and he has still only won once — with that powerful Inter with whom he went on to win the Champions League back in 2010. He spent much of the second half here scowling at perceived injustice as Benfica, impressive for periods, fell marginally short. He was booked late on, too, for good measure. …”
“It wasn’t pretty but Tottenham Hotspur’s return to the Champions League was a winning one. A calamitous own goal by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior in the fourth minute proved enough for Thomas Frank’s side in a low-key encounter in north London, although few Spurs fans were complaining at the relative lack of fireworks. Here, we analyse the major talking points. …”
“Harry Kane scored twice as Chelsea’s return to Europe’s top table ended in defeat despite a promising performance in Munich. The England forward scored a penalty for Bayern before adding a second in a 3-1 victory at Allianz Arena in the first match of the Champions League league phase. A Trevoh Chalobah own goal from a Michael Olise cross after a drop ball had put the home side ahead before Kane doubled the lead from the spot after being fouled. …”
“Eddie Howe said it will be ‘magical’, ‘
“Less than four months after Paris Saint-Germain lifted their inaugural Champions League title by thrashing Inter, the 2025-26 edition is upon us. The 36-team league phase of Europe’s premier club competition kicks off on Tuesday, with Arsenal facing Bilbao’s Athletic Club in one of the two early kick-offs. There are plenty of other highlights this week too, with Bayern Munich facing Chelsea in a 
“The league phase of the UEFA Champions League begins soon in what is the 70th year since the competition first took place. The first game took place on September 4, 1955 between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Partizan Belgrade, a 3-3 draw in Lisbon and the first British club to participate, Hibernian, made their bow on September 14 with a trip to Rot-Weiss Essen. … Meanwhile, Hibernian, who had finished fifth in the Scottish League in 1954-55, were confirmed as Scotland’s representative. Some sceptics wondered if Hibs were equipped to play in the competition, but Partizan had finished at the back end of their domestic top six. …”
“There was something quite poignant in Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, two of the managers who ultimately tried and failed to make sense of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United, both being sacked by Istanbul clubs within 12 hours of each other. 
“‘Let’s hear it for the boys — make some noise!’ cries the voice over the public address system at Park Hall Stadium on a beautiful summer evening. It’s July 8, in Oswestry, an English market town that’s only three miles from the Welsh border and where the whistle has just sounded to start a Champions League first qualifying round first-leg tie between The New Saints (TNS), the Cymru Premier title winners, and KF Shkendija of North Macedonia. Typically, the kick-off in these early Champions League fixtures is regarded as the curtain-raiser to the new season and a sign that club football is finally back. Except club football never went away this summer. …”
“Forget the scoreline in the top corner of the screen. The image of the distraught Inter Milan supporter who flashed up on television screens around the world, as his team prepared to take a meaningless corner in the 76th minute, told the story of the Champions League final. Crestfallen and broken, his bottom lip was quivering and tears were streaming down his face. A fourth Paris Saint-Germain goal had not long been scored at the other end of the stadium and it was all too much for a man who looked like his world had come to an end. … It’s hard to explain to people who have no interest in the game why so many of us are so immersed and emotionally invested in this sport that it leads to the kind of behaviour — uncontrollable tears (of joy as well as despair), hugging total strangers, or even turning the air blue after something totally innocuous — that would be almost unthinkable in a public space anywhere else. …”
“On November 23, 2010, a lunch was hosted at the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the French president. Among President Nicolas Sarkozy’s guests that day were Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, now the Emir of Qatar, and Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister at the time. Also in attendance was the legendary French footballer Michel Platini, then-president of UEFA, European football’s governing body, and a member of the FIFA executive committee that was about to hold a vote to decide which countries would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. …”
“From the dugout at San Siro, Lautaro Martinez and Federico Dimarco were helpless. The Inter captain and his team-mate — a hometown hero and lifelong fan of the club — had already been taken off against Barcelona. A 2-0 first-half lead had been cut to 2-1, the visitors equalised soon afterwards, and then, with only three minutes remaining, Inter’s dream of reaching the Champions League final was apparently shattered, as Raphinha completed a remarkable remontada. …”
“In a period when a small handful of superclubs regularly win the league, it can be difficult to differentiate between various title-winning campaigns. But Barcelona’s 2024-25 La Liga victory — albeit not yet mathematically certain — will live long in the memory. There are certain elements of this Barca season that are very specific to this particular title success. They’re playing in the city’s Olympic stadium rather than the Camp Nou. They’re using a new generation of world-class teenagers, led by Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi. The thrilling victory over Real Madrid on Sunday completed a clean sweep of 
“The last time Inter visited Barcelona for a 
“Arsenal face a trip to the French capital next week with a one-goal deficit after losing at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Just like the tie against Real Madrid in the quarter-final, the Emirates crowd created a raucous atmosphere before kick-off for their side’s first Champions League semi-final in 16 years. But Ousmane Dembele put PSG in front after four minutes to quieten the home support with his 25th goal in 2025. …”
“You see the bus at the stop. It’s just over there. You can obviously make it. You quicken your step. As you do, you hear the engine start. The doors fold closed. You could sprint for it — you’re fast enough — but the idea is unappealing. The sweat, sure, but also just the indignity of it. You don’t need this bus. There will be others. The doors reopen. Someone else is now getting on. It’s extremely makeable now, you could probably just jog. But something stops you. You have already committed to not going for it, your nonchalance now non-negotiable. It could linger there for 20 or 30 more seconds for all you care. You’re walking slowly, you’re missing that bus and that’s the end of the matter. …”
“At the end of the first half of extra time against Lyon, the TV cameras caught Ruben Amorim with his tactics board out. You might not be far wrong if you believed that the board merely had one straight line on it, bottom to top, indicating for Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire to move to centre-forward, and little else. ‘We’re probably short on attackers,’ 
“When Virgil van Dijk is mentioned in the pantheon of great Premier League defenders, it occasionally comes with a caveat. Yes, he has the trophies, the class and the longevity that are the traditional hallmarks of all-time greats. But has he always been confronted by the very best? Football has changed and even before his emergence at Liverpool it was said that the classic No 9 was disappearing from the game. Van Dijk has not had to deal with an Alan Shearer-type, a human cyclone who would wear his opponent down, going one-to-one, testing them physically as much as technically. …”
“Historically, Bayern Munich have always had the upper hand over Inter at San Siro. In their previous four competitive matches in Milan, the German side were victorious in each one of them. That’s why Harry Kane’s opener in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie gave the impression that history might be repeating itself. …”
“Aston Villa are out of the 
“Declan Rice stunned Real Madrid with two brilliant free-kick goals to help 
“Fifteen of the 16 clubs left in the 
“Wojciech Szczesny returns to the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday — the place where, only five weeks ago, his short Barcelona career must have flashed before his eyes. His first Champions League start of the season, in 
“If Liverpool’s loosely-defined ‘luck’ in the Premier League is a real thing then consider the not-so-compelling narrative in the 
“The 
Leeds striker Joel Piroe celebrates with a young fan after scoring against Hull. Daniel Farke’s side currently top the Championship ahead of Sheffield United.
“The Champions League’s new format may have given every team only two possible opponents in the round-of-16 draw but that has done little to dampen the excitement now that we know the eight ties. 
“One of the most successful and lucrative commercial rights partnerships in football is ending. On Tuesday, it was announced that 
“Lloyd Kelly’s first start of 2025? Against Bromley of League Two, English football’s fourth tier, in the FA Cup’s third round on January 12 as one of nine Newcastle United changes to their previous line-up as coach Eddie Howe fielded a largely second-string side. Kelly’s second start of 2025? Against Dutch title holders PSV on February 11 in a Champions League play-off to decide who goes forward to the round of 16 next month as the 26-year-old defender made his home debut for Juventus, 36-time champions of Italy and two-time winners of the European Cup/Champions League (among their nine appearances in the final). …”
“Football very rarely goes to plan. AC Milan’s new strike force were supposed to quickly start scoring a lot of goals. Feyenoord selling their best player was supposed to mean their season was over. Bayern Munich were supposed to crumble away from home again. Oh, and VAR was supposed to eradicate horrendous refereeing decisions. As you can see from last night’s Champions League play-off knockout clashes, the sport rarely fails to disappoint when it comes to predictability. Here Tim Spiers analyses the key talking points from Wednesday evening’s matches. …”
“Erling Haaland scored against Real Madrid for the first time in his career. And then scored another. But Manchester City still lost at home to the Champions League holders. It will have felt all too familiar for Pep Guardiola and his team as they threw away a 2-1 lead with four minutes of normal time to play at the Etihad, being stung first by one of their former players, Brahim Diaz, and then the tireless Jude Bellingham, who steered the ball home from close range in added time. Oh, and earlier in the game Kylian Mbappe had scored with his shin. …”
“Diego Simeone’s super-charged Atletico Madrid were just too much for Xabi Alonso’s eventually overwhelmed 
Scissors Kick 