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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has said he is "very, very proud" of becoming the first player in the club's history to score 50 goals in European competition following his strike in the 2-1 win over Lille.
Salah opened the scoring at Anfield on Tuesday night as Arne Slot's side guaranteed automatic qualification for the Champions League Round of 16.
Substitute Harvey Elliott made sure of the victory for Liverpool in the second half after Jonathan David had restored parity for Lille, who were reduced to 10 men after Aïssa Mandi was dismissed for a second yellow card offence.
"Of course it is something I'm very proud of and it comes with a win so that's great," Salah told TNT Sports after the game.
"It's something incredible. To be the first player to achieve that makes me proud. Very, very proud. I've worked so hard for that so I'm glad to achieve it."
Salah has scored 45 goals for Liverpool in the Champions League (including one in the qualifying rounds) and five in the Europa League. In total, he has scored 61 career goals in European competition across spells at FC Basel (7), Chelsea, Fiorentina (1), Roma (3) and on Merseyside.
Liverpool have now won all seven of their games in the Champions League this season and are also six points clear the top of the Premier League table .
Their form is such that Brentford boss Thomas Frank described Slot's side as the "best team in the world" following their 2-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium at the weekend, but Salah believes they still have work to do to earn that tag.
"I wouldn't say the best, I would say one of the best," he said.
"The way we play, the way we help each other. We have a very good gameplan but so far this is nothing because we are still in January so we need to carry on like this and we'll see at the end of the season."
After Salah's latest moment of brilliance this season, Slot piled more praise on his striker.
"Special, I think is the word that describes Mo's performance at this club the best - or maybe there are even better words to use, but he's been outstanding for this club for so many years," Slot said.
Information from ESPN's Global Sports Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Match winner Raphinha baited by Benfica 'insults'
Match winner Raphinha said Benfica insults sparked a scuffle in the tunnel after his stoppage-time goal earned Barcelona a remarkable 5-4 comeback win at the Estádio da Luz in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Raphinha's 96th-minute strike was just one part of a sensational ending in the pouring Lisbon rain, with Benfica coach Bruno Lage then dressing his players down on the pitch at full time after they had led 3-1 and 4-2.
The drama continued as the players headed down the tunnel, with Raphinha at the center of the commotion as both teams clashed.
"I'm someone who respects everyone," Raphinha, who previously played for Benfica's rivals Sporting CP, told reporters after the game. "When I was leaving the pitch, people were insulting me. I returned the insults. I know I shouldn't. It got heated with the Benfica players ... they preferred to insult me.
"I'm someone who doesn't let anything lie. I respect them if they respect me, but I don't shut up if they insult me. It's normal after an ending like that to a match."
A barely believable night had preceded those events, with Raphinha saying he's in the best form of his career after scoring twice as Barça made it six successive wins in the Champions League to book their passage directly to the round of 16.
Raphinha's winner was his eighth in Europe this season -- only bettered by teammate Robert Lewandowski's nine -- and took his tally in all competitions for the campaign to a career-high 22.
"I think I am in the best moment of my career, yes," the Brazilian international added. "We knew it would be hard here, we knew how good they were, especially playing in front of their fans, their players individually and as a team, but what matters is that we knew to keep our focus during the entire game.
"We had the mindset that we could turn the game around after the break, scoring a second to get back into the game and we managed to do it in the end. We never gave up and grabbed a win."
Benfica had earlier taken advantage of several Barça mistakes to lead 3-1 at half-time courtesy of a hat trick from Vangelis Pavlidis.
The Greece international opened the scoring in the second minute and completed his treble inside half an hour after Lewandowski had briefly levelled from the penalty spot.
Pavlidis rolled his second goal into an empty net after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny had taken out his own defender, Alejandro Balde, when coming for the ball.
He then completed his hat trick with a penalty after Szczęsny fouled Kerem Aktürkoğlu.
"It was a crazy game," Barça coach Hansi Flick said in a news conference. "Benfica did really well, especially in the first half, but we made a lot of mistakes. We didn't defend very good.
"It's important we speak about this. The next opponents will look at this match and we have to make it better. We will do that.
"At half-time we said we wanted to change something; we need better positioning. And we said we want to come back."
Another goalkeeping error gave Barça a route back into the game, with Anatoliy Trubin's drilled pass ricocheting off Raphinha's head 20 yards out and rebounding back into the goal.
A Ronald Araújo own goal looked to have sealed the points for Benfica, but a second Lewandowski penalty and an Eric García header inside the final 12 minutes set up a grandstand finish as both sides went all out for the win.
Szczęsny made a super save from Ángel Di María and minutes later, as Benfica appealed for a penalty, Raphinha was sent through at the other end to seal the win.
"The best thing is the mentality of the team in the second half, they always believe in themselves," Flick added. "It's unbelievable. I was happy with one point, but with three it's much better. It was a great finish. We invest a lot in the second half, we create more chances and we deserved it."
The victory means Barça have booked their place in the round of 16 with a game to spare, at home to Italian side Atalanta next week.
Therefore, they dodge two extra fixtures in February, when teams that finish between 9th and 24th will take place in a two-legged knockout tie for a place in the round of 16.
"Reaching directly the final 16, this will help us a lot for the rest of the season, I am 100% sure about that," Flick said. "The most important thing is we need time to train. This is very important. You can see in the match we are making mistakes, but there is no opportunity to train things in the two days or one day we have.
"It's all about recovery, getting back the energy and to be fit for match day. For the players it's really tough."
Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said he has given little importance to Lionel Messi's provocative celebration following his goal against Club América on Saturday, before claiming that Liga MX teams have always been "hostile" against Argentinians.
Messi incited the Club América fan base attending the friendly at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas after scoring in the 34th minute and making a "3-0" hand gesture in reference to Argentina's three World Cup victories against Mexico's zero.
"No, the truth is that I have not spoken to Leo, so I have not given it more importance," Mascherano said on Tuesday.
"I think that we have more important issues to deal with, yes and logically I have had to play against Mexican teams and against the Mexican national team, we know that they are usually hostile towards us Argentines and well I think that also after the World Cup that wound is still open."
Mexico lost to Argentina 2-0 at the 2022 World Cup as El Tri were eliminated from the tournament at the group stage.
Club América head coach Andre Jardine and the team has not publicly commented on the situation, but instead were seen hugging with members of Inter Miami following the match. Miami won the match 3-2 on penalties.
"We obviously faced a rival who is the three-time champion of Mexico, a rival who has been playing the same way for years, who has a very clear style and that is why they have achieved the successes they have in Mexico. And the truth is, it's a very good feeling, I think defensively, how we worked in that middle block of waiting positions in which we had planned the game," Mascherano said.
"Perhaps, obviously, if there is some aspect we are going to focus on is having the ball more, we weren't able to, especially at the beginning of the game, to have a clean start and that perhaps did not allow us to have the possession that at least we as a coaching staff like.
Inter Miami will now prepare to embark on the South and Central portion of their preseason, traveling to Peru to face Universitario at the Estadio Monumental "U." Mascherano expects to have a full squad with no injuries.
"We resume training today because we arrived on Sunday very, very late and we prefer to rest both Sunday and Monday so from what I understand, the doctors told me they are all available to be able to train -- even Facundo Farías. He's going to be part of the training; he had a problem last week, but everything is fine."
Inter Miami will also travel to Panama to play against Sporting San Miguelito and Honduras to face Olimpia before concluding the preseason on Feb. 14 in Tampa vs Orlando City.
Barcelona's Raphinha scored deep into stoppage time to hand his side a dramatic 5-4 comeback win at Benfica to seal a place in the top of the Champions League table on Tuesday. This came after a hat trick from Vangelis Pavlidis gave the hosts a two-goal half-time lead.
The Catalans continued their recent poor La Liga form with a shaky start at the Estadio da Luz, while coach Hansi Flick's decision to start goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny raised questions after the Polish keeper's mistakes led to two Benfica goals.
But Flick's team fought back late in the game to secure their spot in the next round, sitting second with 18 points from seven games heading into next week's final group-stage fixtures.
Benfica missed out on a win that would have brought them closer to the top eight, who automatically qualify for the last 16, and instead dropped to 18th with 10 points among the playoff spots.
"We knew it was going to be a difficult game. I know how difficult it is to play here against Benfica. They have players of the highest level," former Sporting forward Raphinha told Movistar.
"We didn't let ourselves get carried away when we were 3-1 down. It was a spectacular match for the spectators. Anyone could have won."
Greek striker Pavlidis opened the scoring after two minutes with a tap-in before Robert Lewandowski equalized from the spot as the VAR awarded Barca a penalty for a Tomás Araújo foul on Alejandro Balde in the 11th minute.
Pavlidis restored Benfica's lead, capitalizing on a poor run out by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who left the forward with an open goal. The 26-year-old bagged his third with a penalty after Szczesny fouled Kerem Aktürkoglu on the half-hour mark.
Getty Images
A blunder by Benfica keeper Anatoliy Trubin also proved costly as he cleared the ball straight onto Raphinha's head and into the net for a bizarre goal as the visitors pulled one back in the 64th minute to make it 3-2.
Barcelona's defensive misfortune continued, however, and Benfica extended their lead again four minutes later thanks to an own goal from Ronald Araújo before Lewandowski scored his second with another clinical penalty in the 78th.
Substitute Eric García then equalized with a towering header from a fine Pedri cross three minutes from time. Raphinha then found the winner six minutes into stoppage time from a quick counter-attack that stunned the home crowd.
"It was an incredible victory. The team didn't lose their heads throughout the game," defender Garcia said. "When you start the game losing, it messes your plans.
"It's important to qualify for the next round. We came with this objective in mind."
Barça host Atalanta in their final first phase game next Wednesday when Benfica will look to bounce back at Juventus.
Eden who? Salah's UCL exploits leave little doubt about his quality
LIVERPOOL, England -- It took Mohamed Salah just 34 minutes to weigh in on a debate that had been raging for days in the build-up to Liverpool's UEFA Champions League clash with Lille.
After the Egyptian's teammate Curtis Jones, during a grilling by former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, admitted that he believed Chelsea legend Eden Hazard to be the superior footballer, Salah's online critics wasted no time holding those comments up as vindication.
"It's a talk I've had with Mo and all the lads," Jones told TNT Sports. "As a footballer, is he better than Mo? In my opinion, yes. But who would you rather have in your team?"
Certainly, Jones left the watching world in no doubt about which of the forwards he would rather share a pitch with on Tuesday night, celebrating feverishly with Salah after teeing him up to score the opener in a 2-1 win which guaranteed Liverpool will progress automatically to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Salah's goal -- an exquisite finish after a lovely through-ball from Jones -- was a rare moment of quality in a first half which took some time to spark into life.
The Lille fans arrived at Anfield in fine voice, whirling scarves and setting off flares in the away end as their team prepared to take on the Premier League leaders. Bruno Genesio's side were unbeaten in 21 games ahead of their clash with Liverpool, and it was easy to see why as they frustrated their hosts in the opening exchanges on Merseyside.
But few teams in world football can suppress Salah at the moment, and so it proved when the Egyptian tucked the ball past Lucas Chevalier to register his 50th European goal for Liverpool. It was yet another milestone in a season that has been littered with them for the 32-year-old, who marked the achievement by perching on the advertising hoardings in front of the Anfield Road Stand and basking in the adulation of his supporters and teammates alike.
Salah could have had a hat trick, such was the scale of the threat he posed to the Ligue 1 side for much of the match. The Egypt international looked destined to score when he raced onto a superb pass from the industrious Luis Díaz on the stroke of half-time, holding off his man brilliantly before sending an effort trickling just wide of the post.
In the second half, too, Salah delighted in tormenting the Lille defence, curling another shot narrowly wide and forcing a fine save from Chevalier. But it was substitute Harvey Elliott -- a player who has, at times, been viewed as Salah's protegee since his arrival from Fulham in 2019 -- who scored Liverpool's second of the night, restoring the hosts' lead after Jonathan David had brought Lille level in the 62nd minute.
It was an equaliser that had arrived against the run of play, just minutes after Lille had been reduced to 10 men after Aïssa Mandi picked up a second yellow card for a cynical challenge on Diaz. For that very reason, it felt like it would only be a matter of time before Liverpool got their noses back in front, and their dominance was rewarded when Elliott's strike rippled the back of the net after taking a wicked deflection off the foot of Ngal'Ayel Mukau.
While Slot will surely have been frustrated to see his team concede, Liverpool's defensive strength in the Champions League this season is evidenced by the fact they set a new club record on Tuesday night for the most minutes without conceding a goal in Europe, beating the 572 set under Rafael Benitez in the 2005-06 edition of the competition.
The victory also saw Liverpool equal their best ever sequence of seven wins in a row in the Champions League era, having won their opening seven matches of the 2021-22 campaign. Pair that with the fact Slot's side are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, and still in both domestic cup competitions, and it is hard to overstate the magnitude of the Dutchman's achievements since he replaced Jurgen Klopp in the dugout last summer.
Of course, every scintillating Salah performance serves as an ominous reminder that his days at Liverpool are -- at least for now -- numbered. The forward, alongside teammates Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, is out of contract in the summer and while he has made no secret of his affinity with the Anfield club and its fans, the prospect of a future without him continues to loom large on Merseyside.
"Special I think is the word that describes Mo's performances at this club the best," Slot said after the game. "He has been outstanding for this club for so many years."
Indeed, with every passing week, Salah's continued importance to this team becomes clearer. Debate over where he ranks among the world's elite forwards will persist, but there can be no denying that Liverpool would be wise to ensure that he commits his future to Slot's side sooner rather than later.
Brendon McCullum begins his tenure in charge of England's white-ball teams with T20I and ODI series in India ahead of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. On the first pod of 2025, Alan Gardner was joined by Matt Roller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to discuss how McCullum might overhaul their fortunes. Topics include reinvigorating Jos Buttler, bringing back Joe Root and a focus on pace in the seam attack.
T20 heavyweights look to draw first blood ahead of five-round bout
Big picture: Teams in transition
Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum have many things in common. They were both stellar openers, they were both captain and coach of Kolkata Knight Riders at different times, they're both known for their "aggressive" mindsets when it comes to approaching the game from the dugout, and, now, they both find themselves trying to shepherd teams in transition.
India's has been easier, at least in this format, with three superstars calling time on their careers with T20 World Cup medals around their neck, and others fitting in smoothly over the course of wins against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. England's has been trickier, with one of the most exciting white-ball teams in world cricket struggling in ICC tournaments since their T20 World Cup win in 2022.
This has meant McCullum enters the India T20I series as England's white-ball coach for the first time, with ambitions of maximising the team's unfulfilled potential. And for Gambhir, the aim is to show that the T20I team remains unaffected by the poor Test results that have shaken the establishment.
Five potentially delectable T20 batting surfaces await the two sides across the next fortnight, and the first salvo in Kolkata will give a glimpse of what to expect.
Form guide
India WWLWW (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
England LWWWW
In the spotlight: Bethell and Shami
Team news: Archer, Wood combine, but what of Bishnoi?
England captain Jos Buttler said he was especially pleased at having every first-choice T20I player available for this series. They have named their XI already, with Phil Salt taking the gloves and Ben Duckett opening alongside him. Buttler himself will be at No. 3, with England also having the searing pace and fit bodies of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to attack India. While Wood is the only one in the XI without a century in senior cricket, even he can crunch big shots, and that makes England one of the most dangerous batting outfits at the moment.
England: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood
India have two major decisions to make: how many spinners to play, and how deep their batting should look. Arshdeep Singh, Shami and Hardik Pandya should be be the seamers, while Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel could be the two spin options. That probably leaves India deciding between seam-bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, spin-bowling allrounder Washington Sundar, and an outright wristspinner in Ravi Bishnoi. England are right-hander-heavy, and struggle against fingerspinners, two factors that could decide India's eventual choice.
India (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar/Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
Pitch and conditions: Dew and runs aplenty
Kolkata is going to offer a hard deck with true bounce. The boundaries are small, and the ball in January will get wet very quickly. That means Eden Gardens should be a paradise for batting. Suryakumar and Buttler both felt conditions would be the same irrespective of the toss result, so expect a belter with dew around.
Stats and trivia: Arshdeep closes in on Chahal
- Among Full Members, England have the second-worst batting average against fingerspin since the start of 2024: 26.8. Against top sides like Australia, South Africa and India, it drops to 13.88 at a run rate of only 6.74.
- With 95 wickets in 60 T20Is, Arshdeep is only one wicket behind Yuzvendra Chahal, who leads the pack for India in the format. If Arshdeep gets to the landmark of 100 wickets in this five-match series, he'll become the fastest bowler to get there in T20Is. Currently, Haris Rauf is the quickest T20I bowler to the landmark of 100 wickets, having achieved it in 71 games. Also, since Arshdeep's T20I debut, no bowler has taken more wickets in the powerplay (40) or in the last five overs (46).
- India have not lost a bilateral T20I series at home in the last six years. Their last defeat was against Australia in February 2019. In the 16 series since, India have won 14 and drawn two.
- Since the T20 World Cup 2024, India have scored at 9.2 runs per over in the powerplay, an astonishing 10.3 from overs 7-15 and 10.9 in the last five overs. In this period, no team has had a better run rate between overs 7-15 or a better ball-per-boundary ratio (4.7).
- Archer has the wood over both Suryakumar and Hardik, with both batters striking at only 116 against him while averaging 14.5 and 19 runs, respectively.
Quotes
"It's a really exciting tour coming to India with what I'd say is a full line-up for us. Sometimes there's so much cricket that certain players have to be rested or managed. But that's certainly not the case for us at all in in this series."
Jos Buttler believes England have all bases covered
"Eden Gardens is a special feeling, because this is where I played when I started playing regularly."
Suryakumar Yadav, who first became an IPL regular at Kolkata Knight Riders, wants to make the most of the occasion on Wednesday
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
Smith feared significant elbow injury after outfield throw
But after advice from a specialist Smith was cleared to join the training camp in Dubai where he arrived on Tuesday and is planning on resuming batting in the next couple of days. He is Australia's captain for the two Tests in Galle with Pat Cummins on paternity leave.
Smith's scare came to the same elbow he had ligament surgery on in 2019 - which required lengthy rehab - and it was memories of that which were at the forefront of his mind at the SCG last Friday.
Outlining how the problem occurred, Smith explained he had taken a catch off David Warner, flicked it back inside the rope and was then throwing the ball in when he felt the pain.
"Straight away I thought 'oh jeez, that hurt'," Smith said. "That was a similar sort of feeling to when I ruptured my ligament back in 2019, so I was a little bit worried for a little bit. But scans showed fortunately my ligament is still intact, the one that I got repaired. I've got a little bit of muscle damage, and it's a small millimetre of the ligament on the bone that's doing something.
Smith added he believes the issue may have stemmed from a blow he took on the shoulder from Jhye Richardson earlier in the BBL which left a significant bruise on his right shoulder and led to him adjusting his throwing technique to compensate.
While he has been cleared of major problems with the elbow, Smith may be limited in how much he can throw in the field although as he will largely be a close catcher in a series where spin is expected to dominate that shouldn't be a huge issue.
"In terms of batting I'm pretty comfortable I'll be able to get into it and play with some tape on it," he said.
Smith will start the Sri Lanka series on 9999 Test runs having twice been dismissed within touching distance of the 10,000 landmark during the final Test against India at the SCG.
"I was watching a bit there and there was a lot of variation in the spin and some bounce as well," Smith said. "That's the reason we are here in Dubai, we are able to do what we want to do with these wickets, try and help guys develop game plans when it does get extreme. Guys are going to learn over this week and hold us in good stead for the tour."
An update on Kuhnemann's availability is expected in the next couple of days after he underwent surgery on a compound fracture-dislocation in his right thumb suffered in the BBL last week.
A year ago, they were preparing for a post-mortem on the equal-worst season from any BBL team in a decade. Not since the Thunder outfit of 2013-14 had a side won only one match in a BBL summer.
But led by new captain Warner, they have surged to third place on the ladder this summer with a 5-3 record, easily securing a top-four spot and knockout date with Melbourne Stars on Wednesday.
He would likely have sat atop the batting rankings if not for rain; wet weather meant the Thunder played one fewer game than the Perth Scorchers, whose star allrounder Cooper Connolly scored only five more runs. But Bayliss has noticed Warner's impact stretch beyond the playing field.
"The job he's done as captain, it's not just about his batting for example, it's his personality," he said. "He's always up for it, he's a positive character. Loud, obnoxious sometimes, but the boys love it.
"I think it's the confidence that he gives his team-mates, and their belief then that they're good enough to do the job. They're all good players, they sometimes just need that belief. Certainly I think the results have shown this year."
"People have this perception around him, but he's incredible in terms of the conversations he has with individuals and the consistent drive," Billings said. "You see why he's one of the best players in the world, still at the age of 38. I'm learning off him every day."
"The batters haven't all gelled together and gotten big partnerships," Warner said. "We talk about bowling partnerships as well, one has leaked at one end and then the other has taken wickets. We still haven't played a complete game yet, which for me is scary."
Sources: Patriots to bring back McDaniels as OC
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots are expected to hire Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
McDaniels will return to the franchise for a third time, this time to work under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel and help tutor promising quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft.
The Patriots interviewed McDaniels on Tuesday. They also spoke with Bears passing game coordinator Thomas Brown and Chargers passing game coordinator Marcus Brady for the position, sources said.
McDaniels did not coach in the NFL in 2024 after serving as Las Vegas Raiders head coach in 2022 and into the 2023 season.
He has never coached on a staff with Vrabel, but the two have a connection from the time Vrabel played for the Patriots (2001-2008) as a member of three Super Bowl championship teams.
McDaniels broke into the NFL in 2001 as an assistant coach under Bill Belichick in New England. After leaving in 2009 to become Broncos head coach until his firing in December 2010 and serving a year as Rams offensive coordinator in 2011, he returned to New England from 2012 to 2021.
In 2021, McDaniels mentored quarterback Mac Jones to a successful rookie season that resulted in him being named an alternate for the Pro Bowl, and now he'll look to duplicate that with Maye, who started 12 games as a rookie in 2024 and went 225-of-338 for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Maye added 54 rushes for 421 yards and two touchdowns.
Barstool Sports first reported that McDaniels' hire was imminent.
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