Tag: Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp dismissed suggestions on Friday that Mohamed Salah could become the latest star name to depart European football for Saudi Arabia.

According to reports, Al-Ittihad are trying to lure the Egyptian to the Gulf state with a huge salary offer that would rival the deals that enticed Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to the Gulf kingdom.

Salah signed a three-year contract extension at Anfield just over 12 months ago and his agent has previously poured cold water on speculation of a move.

“If we considered leaving LFC this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer. Mohamed [Salah] remains committed to LFC,” Ramy Abbas posted on X, formerly Twitter, earlier this month.

Liverpool’s plans for the transfer window have already been thrown into chaos by the loss of midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi clubs and Klopp said the club would not consider any offers for Salah.

“Talk about media stories,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Newcastle. “Nothing to talk about from my point of view — Mo Salah is a Liverpool player.

“He is an essential player, was and will be. There is nothing there. If there was, the answer would be no.”

Japan captain Wataru Endo could make his first start for the Reds at St. James’ Park after the defensive midfielder appeared as a substitute in last weekend’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

Liverpool’s failure to beat Chelsea to the signature of Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia before turning to Endo has attracted criticism of their business in the transfer window and Klopp recognised he may need more reinforcements in the final week of the window — or luck with injuries — to get by in the coming months.

“We have to be lucky with injuries, I have no doubt of the quality of the boys we have,” added Klopp.

“In this moment we are covered, but it is not dreamland where you can be prepared with every situation, we have had to learn this is in the past.

“We have to try our best for next week. A squad where we can react on pretty much everything, is it possible?’. We will see.”

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MANCHESTER: Manchester City have condemned criminal damage to Liverpool’s team bus following Saturday’s clash between the Premier League rivals.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed they have opened an investigation over the incident which took place after City’s 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.

No injuries were suffered and the Liverpool bus was able to continue its journey back to Merseyside.

“Manchester City FC has been made aware that Liverpool FC’s coach sustained damage on its return journey,” City said in a statement.

“We understand an object was thrown towards the coach in a residential area.

“Incidents of this kind are totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn the actions of the individual(s) responsible.”

City also said they were disappointed by chanting from the home fans that made reference to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which led to the death of 97 Liverpool fans.

“The club is disappointed to have heard inappropriate chants from home fans during the game,” City added in a statement.

“We regret any offence these chants may have caused and will continue to work with supporter groups and officials from both clubs to eradicate hateful chanting from this fixture.”

Clashes between City and Liverpool have become heated in recent years as they have consistently gone head-to-head for major honours.

City’s bus was damaged by thrown bottles on its approach to Anfield ahead of a Champions League clash between the sides in 2018.

In December, a 15-year-old girl suffered a head injury after a plastic cup filled with coins was thrown from the Liverpool support into the City end during a League Cup tie at the Etihad.

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LONDON: Saudi Arabia would back private bids for Manchester United or Liverpool, its sports minister said, adding that the conservative kingdom was keen to host the World Cup.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal even said the Gulf state could be a new home for clubless superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Prince Abdulaziz said oil-wealthy Saudi Arabia, which has been on a buying spree of sports assets, would “definitely support” bids for the English Premier League giants, whose owners are canvassing investors.

“From the private sector, I can’t speak on their behalf, but there is a lot of interest and appetite and there’s a lot of passion about football,” he told the BBC.

“We will definitely support it if any private sector comes in, because we know that’s going to reflect positively on sports within the kingdom,” Prince Abdulaziz added.

“But if there’s an investor willing to do so and the numbers add up, why not?”

Saudi Arabia, much criticised by activists for its human rights record, last year snapped up England’s perennial under-achievers Newcastle, who are now third in the Premier League.

Manchester United’s American owners stunned fans this week by revealing they would consider selling the club — just hours after announcing the departure of Ronaldo, 37.

Liverpool’s owners, also American, have said they are open to new shareholders but stopped short of confirming reports the club is up for sale.

After Ronaldo told British TV that he had rejected a huge offer to join a Saudi club, Prince Abdulaziz said: “Anything is possible, I would love to see Ronaldo play in the Saudi league.

“It would benefit the league, the sports eco-system in Saudi and it will inspire the youth for the future. He’s a role model to a lot of kids and has a big fanbase in Saudi.”

Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s great rival on the global stage, is already the recipient of Saudi money as a tourism ambassador for the country, which is courting foreign visitors and businesses.

Prince Abdulaziz also said Saudi Arabia’s chances of bidding for the World Cup would increase if it wins hosting rights for the 2026 and 2027 women’s and men’s Asian Cups.

Saudi Arabia is in talks with Egypt and Greece about a continent-crossing bid for the 2030 World Cup, an Egyptian official said in September.

“Any country in the world would love to host the World Cup,” the prince said.

“We need to uplift some of our venues,” he added. “We have a lot of stadiums that meet the requirement that we need, but hosting such an event is not just about the stadiums, it’s about the infrastructure, the people, about preparing everyone (for) such an event.”

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PARIS: Liverpool will have the chance to avenge last season’s Champions League final defeat at the hands of Real Madrid after Jurgen Klopp’s side were drawn on Monday to face the holders again in the last 16.

Meanwhile, the other standout tie saw Paris Saint-Germain drawn to play Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2020 final which was won by the German club.

Liverpool won five of their six group games but missed out on top spot to Napoli after losing 4-1 when the sides met in Italy.

The Anfield club also lost the 2018 Champions League final to Real, who won their group ahead of RB Leipzig.

“They are two historic teams and the tie is going to be electric, fascinating for the fans,” said Emilio Butragueno, a great former Real player who is now the director of institutional relations for the 14-time European champions.

Current domestic form suggests Real should be favourites, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side unbeaten in La Liga while Liverpool are eighth in the Premier League despite winning away to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

However, both clubs will lose key players to the World Cup and Butragueno acknowledged much can change in the three months before the Champions League returns.

“The World Cup is going to condition the whole season. We will see how the players are when they return,” he said.

PSG only missed out on topping their group because Benfica scored more away goals across all matches after the sides remarkably finished level on points, goal difference, goals scored and head to head.

That left the Qatar-owned club exposed to a tough draw, a year on from their painful exit in the first knockout round at the hands of Real.

In terms of form they could not have got tougher than Bayern, who were the only side to win all six group matches, despite being in a section with Barcelona and Inter Milan.

The 2020 final was played behind closed doors in Lisbon at the height of the pandemic, with Bayern triumphing 1-0. PSG gained revenge the following season by beating the Bavarians in the quarter-finals.

Like PSG, Manchester City have never won the trophy but are also one of the leading contenders to do so this season.

Pep Guardiola’s side will be expected to dispose of Leipzig, who they faced in the group stage a year ago and beat 6-3 at home before a 2-1 defeat in Germany, by which time they had already secured first place in the section.

Chelsea, who defeated City in the 2021 Champions League final, also drew German opposition in the shape of Borussia Dortmund, with the clubs set to meet for the very first time in a competitive game in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park.

After topping their group thanks to a last-gasp winner away to Marseille last week, Tottenham Hotspur were given a tough draw against Italian champions AC Milan.

They have met at this stage of the competition before, with Spurs winning 1-0 on aggregate in 2010/11 thanks to a solitary goal at San Siro by Peter Crouch.

Inter will play Porto and last season’s Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt take on Napoli, while Benfica’s reward for winning their group was a tie against tournament outsiders Club Brugge of Belgium.

The first legs of all last-16 ties will be played in February with the return matches in March.

The final of this season’s Champions League will be held in Istanbul on June 10 next year.

The Turkish city was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again 2021, only for the game to be moved on each occasion to Portugal due to the pandemic.

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LAUSANNE: UEFA apologized for the first time over the distressful and chaotic events outside the Stade de France stadium on the day of the Champions League Final- a much-celebrated European football event of the year- between Real Madrid and Liverpool.

The European Football’s governing body in a statement issued on Friday offered an apology for the ‘frightening’ and ‘distressing’ events on the UCL final as thousands of spectators were denied entry into the stadium and witnessed the use of tear gas by the police.

“UEFA wishes to sincerely apologise to all spectators who had to experience or witness frightening and distressing events in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France on 28 May 2022 in Paris,” said UEFA in its published statement.

UEFA also published the terms of reference of the commission which it had announced immediately after the event for the independent review of the incident.

“UEFA commissioned an Independent Review to identify shortcomings and responsibilities of all entities involved in the organisation of the final, and has today published the Terms of Reference for this review.” further added in its statement.

The independent review announced by the UEFA will be led by Dr. Tiago Brandao Rodrigues from Portugal to determine what happened leading up to the final and what lessons should be learned to guarantee the acts and events of that day are not repeated.

The review will go through the planning, ticketing, and security of the final while also looking at fan meeting points.

It will engage with UEFA, fan groups, including the Liverpool and Real Madrid, the French Football Federation (FFF), the police, the stadium operator, and other public authorities.

“Further information on how relevant parties can submit their testimonies (via a dedicated email address or an online questionnaire) will be communicated shortly,” added UEFA in its statement.

The body also confirmed that the review would start immediately and would be concluded within the shortest possible time frame.

Once completed, the Report will be published on UEFA’s website.

It is pertinent to mention here that Real Madrid has defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Champion League final on May 29.

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LONDON: Liverpool won the League Cup final in dramatic fashion as Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missed the decisive penalty to give the Reds an 11-10 shoot-out victory after a pulsating 0-0 draw, here at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side clinched their first domestic knockout prize since the 2012 League Cup when Kepa blazed his spot-kick high over the bar.

It was the only miss in the nerve-jangling shoot-out, which saw Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher score his penalty just before Kepa failed.

Ironically, Kepa was sent on at the end of extra time to replace Edouard Mendy given his reputation as a penalty-saving specialist, but the Spaniard was unable to repel any of Liverpool’s kicks.

Kepa had already endured penalty misery in the 2019 League Cup final when he petulantly refused to be substituted before a shoot-out defeat against Manchester City.

Liverpool saw Joel Matip’s second-half goal controversially disallowed for a marginal offside against Virgil van Dijk, while Chelsea had three goals ruled out for offside later in the match.

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