Category: Football

Mohamed Salah played a key role in Liverpool’s vital win against Brighton on Saturday after an explosive interview raised questions over his future at the club, as Arsenal avoided a major embarrassment against Wolves.

The Egypt forward, the subject of intense scrutiny in the build-up to the game at Anfield, came off the substitutes’ bench to huge cheers in the first half, replacing injured defender Joe Gomez.

The home team, whose Premier League title defence has collapsed after a shocking run of results, were leading 1-0 at the time, with France forward Hugo Ekitike on the scoresheet after just 46 seconds.

Brighton squandered a number of opportunities to level, and Ekitike scored his second with half an hour to go, heading home Salah’s corner.

The Egyptian superstar now has 277 goal involvements for Liverpool in the Premier League — 188 goals and 89 assists — a new record by a player for a single club in the competition, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s mark for Manchester United.

Saturday marked a dramatic change of mood around Salah, who last week accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was left on the bench for the 3-3 draw at Leeds.

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That was the third match in a row that he had been named among the replacements.

The 33-year-old winger also said he had no relationship with manager Arne Slot in his extraordinary outburst and was omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0.

After Saturday’s win, Slot said there was “no issue to resolve” with Salah, though uncertainty remains over his long-term future at the club.

“For me he’s now the same as any other player,” said the Dutchman.

“You talk to your players if you’re happy or unhappy with things, but there’s nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds, after the game.”

He added: “I spoke to him yesterday and I think, as I usually never say anything about (what) we talk about, I’m not going to make an exception now, but I think actions speak louder than what has been said.

“He was in the squad again and when I had to make my first substitutions, I brought him in. And he performed as I think every fan, including me, would like him to perform today.”

Salah will now depart for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and could potentially be absent for five weeks.

The 2-0 win — Liverpool’s first at Anfield since November 4 — lifts Slot’s men to sixth in the table.

But their title defence is in ruins after a terrible run of just two wins in 10 league matches before the visit of Brighton.

READ: WATCH: Chaos in Kolkata as fans vandalise stadium after Messi exit

KOLKATA: Angry spectators broke down barricades and stormed the pitch at a stadium here after football star Lionel Messi, who is on a three-day tour of India, abruptly left the arena.

As a part of a so-called GOAT Tour, the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami superstar touched down in the eastern state of West Bengal early Saturday, greeted by a chorus of exuberant fans chanting his name.

Hours later, thousands of fans wearing Messi jerseys and waving the Argentine flag packed into Salt Lake stadium in the state capital Kolkata, but heavy security around the footballer left fans struggling to catch a glimpse of him.

Lionel Messi walked around the pitch waving to fans and left the stadium earlier than expected.

Frustrated fans, many having paid more than $100 for tickets, ripped out stadium seats and hurled water bottles onto the track.

Many others stormed the pitch and vandalised banners and tents.

“For me, to watch Messi is a pleasure, a dream. But I have missed the chance to have a glimpse because of the mismanagement in the stadium,” businessman Nabin Chatterjee, 37, told AFP.

Before the chaos erupted, Messi unveiled a 21-metre (70-foot) statue which shows him holding the World Cup. He was also expected to play a short exhibition game at the stadium.

Another angry fan told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that people had spent “a month’s salary” to see Messi.

“I paid Rs 5,000 ($55) for the ticket and came with my son to watch Messi, not politicians. The police and military personnel were taking selfies, and the management is to blame,” Ajay Shah told PTI.

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State chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she was “disturbed” and “shocked” at the mismanagement.

“I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident,” she said in a post on X, adding that she had ordered a probe into the incident.

Lionel Messi will now head to Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi as part of the four-city tour. His time in India also includes a possible meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Messi won his second consecutive Major League Soccer (MLS) Most Valuable Player award this week after propelling Inter Miami to the MLS title and leading the league in goals.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) attacker will spearhead Argentina’s defence of the World Cup in June-July in North America.

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Mohamed Salah has been included in Liverpool’s squad for their Premier League match at home to Brighton on Saturday following talks with manager Arne Slot, according to several British media reports.

Both the BBC and Sky said the decision was made with Slot, who had made it clear he would have the final say on whether to recall Salah, wanting to act in the best interests of the club.

The Dutchman had previously said he would speak to Salah on Friday morning following the Egypt striker’s outburst last weekend that raised doubts about his Anfield future and saw him omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy for a Champions League win over Inter Milan in midweek.

Salah accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was left on the bench for last week’s 3-3 draw at Leeds — the third match in a row that he did not start.

He also said he had no relationship with Slot when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road.

On Tuesday, Liverpool won 1-0 at Inter Milan, while the 33-year-old Salah posted a picture on social media of himself alone in a gym at the club’s training ground.

“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning — the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow,” Slot told his pre-match press conference.

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“I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying, but there is not much more to say about it.

“After the Sunderland game (a 1-1 draw on December 3 in which Salah came on as a second-half substitute) there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, between him and me.”

Slot batted away further questions from reporters about the forward, but said: “I have no reasons not wanting him to stay, and that is a little bit of an answer to your question.”

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, is due to join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations after Saturday’s Brighton game at Anfield.

The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final taking place on January 18.

Salah, third in Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts with 250 goals in 420 appearances, has won two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his spell on Merseyside.

He scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals in 13 appearances this season.

Liverpool are 10th in the table after a shocking run, with two wins in their past 10 Premier League games.

Salah has been linked with a move to the lucrative Saudi Pro League.

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Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said he was “completely relaxed” about his side’s dip in form as he seeks greater consistency ahead of Saturday’s home match against Everton.

The Blues thumped Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League on November 25 and earned an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal days later.

But they have not won since, losing at Leeds and Atalanta and drawing with Bournemouth.

Chelsea boss Maresca was Friday named Premier League manager of the month for November, in recognition of his side’s unbeaten record.

“We are in December now,” he said, laughing, at his press conference.

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“This kind of thing is because you do the right things in terms of performance and results,” he added.

“For us, November was fantastic. December, we didn’t start in the way we would like, even if it’s just one week ago, we played Leeds (a 3-1 defeat on December 3).

“So it’s just three games in a row in one week that we didn’t get the results that we expect but we are now focused on the next one.”

Chelsea, who won the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup last season, are fifth in the Premier League, eight points behind Arsenal.

Maresca said he was relaxed about Chelsea’s mini-slump.

“It’s football, it’s completely normal,” he said. “I understand most of the time we are always looking for problems or things we need to solve.

“The Leeds game was last Wednesday, eight or nine days ago. We are not going to change our season because we didn’t get the points that we expect.

“But I’m completely relaxed, I’m completely OK because I’m sure that at the end of the season we’re going to be where we have to be.”

The Italian admitted that improving consistency was the next step for his young squad.

“In terms of human beings, it’s impossible to be all season at the same level but for sure probably we need to learn things and to avoid that in the the future,” he said.

Maresca said forward Cole Palmer should be available to face Everton after missing Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Atalanta.

READ: Liverpool boss Slot to hold talks with unhappy Salah

Liverpool boss Arne Slot said he would speak to Mohamed Salah on Friday morning before deciding on the forward’s availability for this weekend’s match against Brighton.

The Egypt international accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was left on the bench for last week’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, the third match in a row that he did not start.

Salah also said he had no relationship with the Dutch manager when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road.

The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match at Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0, posting a picture on social media of himself alone in a gym at the club’s training ground.

“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning; the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow,” Slot told his pre-match press conference.

“I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying, but there is not much more to say about it.

“After the Sunderland game (a 1-1 draw on December 3 in which Salah came on as a second-half substitute), there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, between him and me.”

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Slot batted away further questions from reporters about the forward, but said: “I have no reason not wanting him to stay, and that is a little bit of an answer to your question.”

Salah, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, is due to join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations after Saturday’s Brighton game at Anfield.

The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final taking place on January 18.

Salah, third in Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts with 250 goals in 420 appearances, has won two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his spell on Merseyside.

He scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals in 13 appearances this season.

Liverpool are 10th in the table after a shocking run, with just two wins in their past 10 Premier League games.

Salah has been linked with a move to the lucrative Saudi Pro League.

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Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada said the latest financial results released on Thursday show “strong progress in our transformation of the club”.

The Red Devils reported a £13 million ($17.4 million) operating profit for the three months until September 30, compared with a £6.9 million loss in the same period last year.

United’s total revenue for the 2026 fiscal first quarter dropped by two percent to £140.3 million due to the lack of European competition for the men’s team, who are sixth in the Premier League under manager Ruben Amorim.

The women’s team, coached by Marc Skinner, are third in the Women’s Super League and are competing in the Women’s Champions League.

“These robust financial results reflect the resilience of Manchester United as we make strong progress in our transformation of the club,” said Berrada.

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“The difficult decisions we have made in the past year have resulted in a sustainably lower cost base and a more streamlined, effective organisation equipped to drive the club towards improved sporting and commercial performance over the long term.”

United’s financial statement said the club continues “to see the impact of operating cost and headcount reduction programmes implemented during the previous year”.

Co-owner Jim Ratcliffe oversaw wide-ranging, and often unpopular, cost-cutting measures, including widespread job cuts.

The statement said “employee benefit expenses” for the quarter were £73.6 million, a decrease of £6.6 million, primarily due to the impact of job cuts.

United says they remain on track to record revenues of between £640 million and £660 million for fiscal 2026.

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Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season to give Manchester City a 2-1 win at Real Madrid on Wednesday as Arsenal maintained their perfect group stage record with a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge.

It was a second successive home defeat for Real following their 2-0 reverse against Celta Vigo at the weekend, and heaped more pressure on coach Xabi Alonso, whose side have won just two of their last eight in all competitions.

For Haaland, though, this was a 21st goal in 21 City games this season and a 51st in 50 Champions League starts, while Nico O’Reilly scored his first goal in the competition.

Rodrygo gave Real, who were missing Kylian Mbappe, the lead just before the half-hour mark with a crisp shot across Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.

But academy product O’Reilly equalised just seven minutes later, reacting quickest to prod home the loose ball from inside the six-yard box after Thibaut Courtois had saved Josko Gvardiol’s header.

And Haaland was able to fire City in front from the penalty spot on 43 minutes after VAR intervened to punish Antonio Rudiger for wrestling the Norwegian forward to the ground to prevent him reaching a cross.

It could have been worse for Real, but Courtois redeemed himself somewhat for flapping at Gvardiol’s header with a crucial double save to deny Haaland and Rayan Cherki in quick succession as the half drew to a close.

It was a breathless end-to-end second half, and Jude Bellingham could have done better than chip over the bar with only Donnarumma to beat, while Courtois made a fingertip save to deny Jeremy Doku.

Vinicius Jr. had a late chance to equalise but skied his volley after Donnarumma had come for and missed an inswinging corner.

Substitute Endrick also clipped the top of the bar with a header as Real pushed for a late equaliser.

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Noni Madueke’s double helped Arsenal win a sixth straight Champions League match this season and close in on the last 16.

The Premier League leaders already have more points (18) than was needed last season to secure a top-eight spot and direct qualification for the last 16, and they have two matches still to come.

Madueke’s two goals could not have been more different. The first was a wonder goal in which he beat two players and scored with a long-range strike.

For the second, he was teed up by Martin Zubimendi for a simple finish.

Brugge had put the Gunners under fierce first-half pressure, but they crumbled after the second goal as Gabriel Martinelli added to their misery, bending the ball around the goalkeeper from outside the box.

Elsewhere, reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao but stayed third, behind only Arsenal and Bayern Munich, with City fourth.

Weston McKennie and Jonathan David scored the goals as Juventus overcame Pafos 2-0, while Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle shared a 2-2 draw, as did Borussia Dortmund and Bodo/Glimt.

Goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro gave Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s Napoli in a battle of the former Chelsea bosses.

Oscar Gloukh scored a brace as Ajax hit three late goals to claim a 4-2 win at Qarabag to finally open their account in the competition this season.

Victory took them off the bottom of the table and kept alive their slim hopes of making the play-offs, while Villarreal slumped to last position after a 3-2 home defeat to FC Copenhagen.

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Liverpool great Steven Gerrard believes the club still needs Mohamed Salah as he urged the star forward to “reverse away” from an extraordinary outburst where he accused the faltering Premier League champions of “throwing him under the bus”.

The Egypt international was omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy for Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan following a blistering attack on manager Arne Slot and the club hierarchy after being left on the bench for last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Salah a “disgrace” for his comments, but Gerrard urged the player and management to reunite for the good of everyone at Anfield.

“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect,” former Liverpool captain Gerrard told TNT Sports.

“A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus, wrong. Need to reverse a little bit away from that, to deal with that with the manager.”

Gerrard added bust-ups between players and management were nothing new.

“I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it with (Luis) Suarez when he fell out with Brendan (Rodgers) face to face.

I’ve been there and done it myself. I did the Salah statements in 30 seconds against (Manchester) United and got sent off,” he explained.

“So no one’s perfect and we’ve all had head loss as players, where we’ve done emotional things,” said Gerrard, who hoped Salah would eventually realise he had been a “bit emotional and a bit hasty”.

Salah’s remarks sparked reports that Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer in history could leave Anfield in January despite signing a lucrative new contract in April.

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The 33-year-old posted a picture of himself training alone in Liverpool’s weights room on Tuesday.

Salah’s outburst has piqued interest in Saudi Arabia, with a source at the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) telling AFP it will do “whatever it can” to buy him.

Gerrard, however, said: “At the end of the day, Liverpool need Mo Salah back playing well, scoring goals because he is the best player, the best scorer, and he will help them get out of this.

If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”

Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home Premier League match against Brighton.

An unused substitute at Leeds, Salah told reporters at Elland Road: “I said many times before that, I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship.

“I don’t know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”

Salah made his explosive comments in the midst of a dismal season for both him and Liverpool.

He has played a key role in Liverpool’s two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his iconic spell on Merseyside.

But he has scored just four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season, with Liverpool 10th in the table.

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Liverpool bounced back from a damaging row with Mohamed Salah by beating Inter Milan 1-0 on Tuesday and kicking their Champions League campaign back into life thanks to a late penalty which left the Italians baffled and livid.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s spot-kick in the 88th minute gave the Reds a huge win at the San Siro in the absence of Egypt star Salah, who was left in England after publicly criticising manager Arne Slot at the weekend.

Liverpool fans loudly chanted Slot’s name at the end of a largely drab match which was decided by Felix Zwayer’s decision to give the English champions a perfect chance to snatch the points which Szoboszlai gobbled up.

“The penalty did look soft but that’s given anywhere else on the pitch,” said Andy Robertson to Amazon Prime.

“We all needed it. We know the results and performances aren’t good enough. It’s important this club is in the Champions League. It was a huge result for all of us.”

Inter’s players were enraged at the awarding of the penalty for a light shirt tug by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz, but it gave Slot a happy end to a troubled few days.

The closest either team came to scoring before then was when Ibrahima Konate had his close-range header ruled out, after a lengthy VAR check, for a Hugo Ekitike handball in the 37th minute.

“We are disappointed, angry, a bit of everything,” said Inter midfielder Piotr Zielinski to Sky Sport in Italy.

“It was a good performance, we lacked a little something in the final third to put it into the net, but the refereeing decisions… If they give penalties for this, then everything will be a penalty.”

Tuesday’s win puts Liverpool on 12 points from six games and inside the top eight positions which offer direct qualification for the last 16, ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures.

Inter, meanwhile, are fifth on the same tally but have lost their last two European fixtures and created nearly nothing against an injury-hit Liverpool who were missing not just rebel star Salah but also unfit Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo.

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Last season 16 points was enough to skip the play-offs and Cristian Chivu’s team are by no means guaranteed that as they host Arsenal before travelling to Borussia Dortmund in their final two league phase fixtures.

And another defeat in a big game means dropping out of the top eight is a real prospect.

Liverpool’s trip to Milan has been dominated by Salah’s extraordinary criticism of Slot, who on Monday admitted that he had “no clue” as to whether the rebel attacker had played his last game for the Reds.

Salah sparked a firestorm when he said he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club and no longer had a relationship with Slot after being left on the bench for Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, the third match in a row for which he has been relegated to the role of substitute.

His outburst led to Saudi Arabian sources saying on Tuesday they wanted to recruit the 33-year-old in January, even though he signed a new contract in April.

“It’s difficult but it’s a collective difficult situation that we’re all in,” said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.

“Between Mo and the club, things are going on and he’s not here today, that’s the reality. I don’t think anything has changed in terms of our focus and determination.”

Liverpool had won just four times in 15 matches in all competitions coming into Tuesday’s match but Inter failed to pile any early pressure on their opponents.

Inter didn’t have their first shot of any description until the 37th minute while Liverpool, who were nowhere near their best, had good attempts from Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch before Konate’s header was eventually ruled out.

That woke up both Inter and a strangely flat home crowd of nearly 74,000 and Lautaro Martinez ended up wasting the best chance of the first half when he headed Bastoni’s cross too close to Alisson Becker.

But the second half was a total flop and as the minutes passed, it became clear that a stalemate was fine for both teams until Szoboszlai rifled home his controversial winning penalty.

READ: Kounde double helps Barcelona claim Frankfurt comeback win

Jules Kounde bagged two headers to help Barcelona beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 on Tuesday in the Champions League and bolster the club’s chances of a top-eight league phase finish.

Ansgar Knauff sent the visitors into a surprise lead, but French defender Kounde’s brace early in the second half put last season’s semi-finalists in control.

In the club’s first Champions League match back at Camp Nou since 2022, they gained revenge against a Frankfurt side who humiliated them in the Europa League in that same year.

The Bundesliga team packed the Camp Nou with their own fans and knocked Barca out of that competition at one of their lowest ebbs under Xavi Hernandez.

With a domestic treble and a run to the final four of the Champions League, Xavi’s successor, Hansi Flick, has changed the mood around Barca, but this season the team have struggled at times.

Defeats by Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain left Barca in a difficult position in Europe, but by beating Frankfurt, they are still hopeful of avoiding the play-off round.

“I wasn’t surprised (it was hard), the Champions League is different… I am very proud,” Flick told reporters.

The coach said making the comeback “shows a lot about our attitude”, but accepted it would be “a better situation” to take the lead in games.

Barcelona made tickets harder for Frankfurt fans to obtain this time around by delaying their sale, and beyond a small number of visiting supporters who appeared to be ejected from home areas, there was little trouble.

Barcelona controlled the opening period, pinning the visitors, who lost 6-0 against RB Leipzig on Saturday in the Bundesliga, back in their own territory.

Veteran striker Robert Lewandowski put the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for an offside earlier in the move.

Despite their dominant start, the Catalans fell behind after 21 minutes, caught out by a rapid Frankfurt counter-attack.

Lamine Yamal dribbled into trouble, and Nathaniel Brown surged forward from the back before dropping a ball in behind Barca’s high defensive line for Knauff to charge on to.

Gerard Martin tried and failed to intercept it with a flick of the leg, and the German striker held off Alejandro Balde before finishing neatly.

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Frankfurt defenders scrambled to block a Fermin Lopez effort, as Barca struggled to create clear openings.

Teenage star Yamal could not find a way past Brown in one of his more erratic outings for Barca.

Ellyes Skhiri slammed a shot just over the bar as Frankfurt missed a good chance to extend their lead before half-time, and it came to cost them.

Barcelona came out all guns blazing in the second half and were helped by the introduction of on-loan Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford.

The England international teed up Raphinha, who blazed over, before whipping in a cross for Kounde to head home in the 50th minute.

“It was important Marcus was on the pitch, he gave us the width,” explained Flick.

Kounde, who has particularly struggled this season, was Barcelona’s hero against Frankfurt as he grabbed his second of the night three minutes later.

Yamal slung in a high, looping cross, which Kounde nodded back across the goal, and it dropped in at the far post.

“Kounde is a guy who works a lot; he deserves these goals,” said Pedri.

“I think he wasn’t trying to score with the second goal, but I’ll ask him.”

Kounde admitted he was a bit surprised when the ball made it into the net.

“I tried to put it back into that zone (at the far post),” he said. “So I was surprised, sometimes you need to have a bit of luck.”

Unable to procure a third goal to kill off the game, Barcelona had to sweat through the final stages, but Frankfurt did not come close to finding an equaliser.

The win left Barcelona 14th in the table, two points behind Liverpool in eighth, while Frankfurt are down in 30th.

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