Arne Slot said he "loves" Luis Díaz just like fans in Liverpool and Colombia after the forward scored a Champions League hat trick in a 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield.

Liverpool moved clear at the top of the Champions League table with a fourth straight win in this season's competition following Díaz's hat trick and a Cody Gakpo header. But with Díaz being handed an unfamiliar central role by Slot, the Colombia international took advantage by scoring three times in 29 minutes against the German champions.

Manchester City's shock 4-1 defeat away at Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday has left them in a "dark place," according to captain Bernardo Silva.

A hat trick by Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres saw Sporting hit back from a goal down to stun Pep Guardiola's 2022-23 European champions who have now lost three games in a row in all competitions for the first time since 2018.

"In the beginning of the second half, we just gave them too many opportunities to be there and to score goals," the Portugal midfielder said. "Disappointing, because we're a bit in a dark place right now, and everything looks to be going the wrong way even when we play well.

"Definitely, we need to look inside, check what we're not doing well and start being better very quickly. Otherwise it will be difficult to come back from these losses."

While injury-hit City are certainly not in a crisis, the English champions have experienced a humbling week.

First they were knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur, then their 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League was ended by Bournemouth at the weekend.

When Phil Foden gave them an early lead in Lisbon on Tuesday they seemed to have clicked back into gear and but for some wayward finishing they might have been out of sight.

But the way they lost control of the match after Gyokeres equalised close to half-time was completely unexpected.

They fell behind immediately after the interval and then conceded two needless penalties, both converted by Gyokeres, either side of Erling Haaland blasting a spot kick against the crossbar.

"It's football, and look, as I said, it's difficult to find reasons for what's happening right now to us," Bernardo Silva said. "I don't remember in seven and a half seasons this team losing three games in a row. It just looks like everything is going in the wrong way right now.

"Obviously, we need to do better. Our injured players need to come back because we need them. And it's just not good enough at the minute."

City, who were without the likes of Rodri, Jack Grealish, Rúben Dias and John Stones and gave a first start to 19-year-old defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, are away at Brighton and Hove Albion at the weekend in the Premier League.

Christian Pulisic hailed AC Milan's win at the home of Champions League holders Real Madrid as a "really special night" after the United States star helped put the Italian side on the path to a memorable 3-1 victory at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

Pulisic sent in a corner for Malick Thiaw to head the visitors into a 12th-minute lead before subsequent goals from Álvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders ensured back-to-back wins for Milan.

"Amazing result for us," Pulisic told CBS Sports. "I mean to come here and play is of course not easy [because of] their history in the Champions League.

"A tough place to come and play, so for us to put on a performance like that and win the game, obviously a really special night for us."

Vinícius Júnior had equalized from the penalty spot in the 23rd for Madrid after he'd been tripped in the box.

But Pulisic again played a role as Milan went back ahead. His pass into the box found Rafael Leão, whose shot was saved by Andriy Lunin only for Morata to pounce on the rebound and restore the visitors' lead against his former club.

Morata had already been given a hostile reception from the home fans, who evidently remember the goal he scored to take Juventus through to the 2015 final at their team's expense.

Reijnders scored Milan's third goal as the home fans made their frustrations known at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Milan now have six points and sit 14th after four of their eight games of the new Champions League league phase, which would be good enough for a spot in the playoffs for the quarterfinals.

It has been a tough start to the season in Serie A, however, with Paulo Fonseca's side sitting seventh ahead of a trip to Cagliari on Saturday.

"Our coach just said enjoy tonight, we got to rest up tomorrow because we've got a big game coming this weekend and if we don't win that one then this doesn't mean anything," Pulisic said.

"So were going to try to enjoy as a team tonight have a little celebration, but tomorrow it's right back to work."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MADRID -- Ten days after losing 4-0 in El Clásico, Real Madrid did not just need to beat AC Milan on Tuesday, they needed a statement win. There needed to be proof that this team was starting to gel, that coach Carlo Ancelotti had the answers, and that the new, Kylian Mbappé-led project was headed in the right direction.

Instead, Tuesday's 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu was more of the same: more evidence that something has gone badly wrong for the Spanish and European champions, and another hint that the kings of Europe might just, unthinkably, struggle to progress from the Champions League 36-team phase after two losses in four games.

Madrid's performance against Milan was reminiscent of what we saw in their 5-2 comeback win against Borussia Dortmund two weeks ago. But it was just the bad parts, with none of the good. There was another disappointing, disjointed first half, going 2-1 down. But this time, there was no spirited, Vinícius Júnior-inspired second-half fightback to emerge victorious.

Instead, the night got worse and worse. Ancelotti tried everything, making five substitutions -- throwing on Eduardo Camavinga, Brahim Díaz, Dani Ceballos, Rodrygo and Fran García in the second half -- in a bid to jolt the team into life. It only added to the confusion. By the end, Madrid had created plenty of chances -- 23 shots, 10 of them on target -- and an xG (expected goals) of 2.44, but just one goal scored.

There were moments when it felt like a different outcome was possible, that might have sparked yet another Madrid turnaround. Antonio Rüdiger had a second-half goal -- which would have made it 2-3 with 10 minutes left -- disallowed for offside. Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan made a late, point-blank save from Diaz's header. But overall, this was a night to forget for Madrid.

Nothing quite came off. There were wildly, almost comically off-target shots from players as gifted as Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham. There was Mbappé, missing chance after chance. He ended the game with eight shots, but just three of them on target, and an xG of 0.54. There was frustration from the Madrid fans, in particular at some individual performances, with whistles for out-of-form midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni when he was withdrawn at half-time.

Should it really be this hard? This is a team with Vinícius and Mbappé in attack, Bellingham and Federico Valverde in midfield, Rüdiger and Éder Militão at the back. The names are elite. The team performances, at least this season, are absolutely not. And on the touchline, the pressure is growing on Ancelotti.

Madrid's Champions League performances this campaign have all been varying degrees of unconvincing. Against VfB Stuttgart, they needed late goals from Rüdiger and Endrick to give them a 3-1 win. At Lille, they lost 1-0, having missed numerous chances. The 5-2 comeback against Dortmund was thrilling, powered by a career-best second-half display from Vinicius, but it came after an equally troubling first half.

It's hard to ignore the impact that Mbappé's long-anticipated arrival has had on this team, and its knock-on effect, the uncertainty it has bred in the positioning and status of Vinicius and Bellingham. Vinicius has still, largely, starred this season. Here, he won and scored a "panenka" penalty which made it 1-1, getting Madrid back into the game after Malick Thiaw's header had put Milan ahead.

Bellingham's season so far is baffling. His all-round game hasn't been bad. But by Nov. 5, 2023, in his debut season, he had scored 13 goals for Real Madrid. He has none this campaign. Ancelotti doesn't seem sure what to do with Bellingham, returning him on Tuesday to the left-midfield berth he occupied for much of last season, having played on the right in recent weeks, including against Barcelona. Bellingham's last goal for his club came 176 days ago.

Madrid's defence, one of their great strengths last season, is now porous. They have shipped 10 goals in their last four games. Here, Andriy Lunin's goal was repeatedly left exposed, a wide-open midfield as much to blame as the backline. Milan's Rafael Leão, in particular, enjoyed himself up against back-up right-back Lucas Vázquez.

And then there was Álvaro Morata, playing the role of arch-nemesis for the Bernabéu crowd, scoring against his former team -- his seventh goal against Madrid, having previously found the net for Juventus and Atletico Madrid -- to ensure Milan went in 2-1 up at the interval. After his goal, there was a hint of a smile, a finger to his lips, before a more traditional non-celebration against a former club. Morata worked hard for Milan, dropping deep, an all-round centre-forward, the kind of role that Mbappé has never enjoyed.

Things could have been even worse for Madrid. Lunin saved at full stretch from Leão in the 52nd minute. As Madrid looked for an equalizer, creating chances, Milan were every bit as dangerous on the counterattack. Tijjani Reijnders' goal on 73 minutes made it 3-1, and any comeback unlikely.

Madrid now have a long, month's wait to play again in the Champions League, facing Premier League leaders Liverpool. Before that, there's an international break, and games with Osasuna and Leganés in LaLiga. Winnable games, or potential banana skins? By the time they go to Anfield, the pressure building on the team and its coach might be ready to reach boiling point.

Unbeaten Oregon is the No. 1 team in the first rankings released by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday.

The Ducks were followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Miami and Texas in the top five.

Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, BYU, Notre Dame, Alabama and Boise State round out the top 12, which would compete in the newly expanded playoff at season's end.

Because the top four seeds must be conference champions under the new CFP format, Oregon (Big Ten), Georgia (SEC), Miami (ACC) and BYU (Big 12) would receive first-round byes if the initial rankings were used for the 12-team bracket.

The first-round games would look like this: Boise State at Ohio State, Alabama at Texas, Notre Dame at Penn State and Indiana at Tennessee.

The SEC and Big Ten each had four teams in the top 12. Undefeated BYU is the lone Big 12 program in the top 12, and unbeaten Miami is the only ACC team in the top 12 after Clemson suffered its second loss last week, 33-21 to Louisville at home.

Boise State, whose only loss of the season was a 37-34 defeat at Oregon on Sept. 7, was the highest-ranked team from a Group of Five conference.

SMU was No. 13 in the selection committee's rankings, followed by Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Kansas State and Colorado.

Washington State, Louisville, Clemson, Missouri and unbeaten Army rounded out the top 25.

The Black Knights would have to jump Boise State to get an automatic selection as the fifth highest-ranked conference champion. Army (8-0) hasn't yet defeated a ranked opponent. It plays Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in New York on Nov. 23.

The four first-round games will be played at the higher-seeded teams' home campus on Dec. 20-21. The four quarterfinal contests will be played at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

The two semifinal games will take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 9-10.

The CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T is scheduled for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

LeBron James could be working with a new group of teammates off the court.

James' SpringHill Company entertainment and production company is in merger talks with the British television, film and music production company Fulwell 73, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

The source told ESPN that the combined entity aims to be one of the most important companies in sports content globally. Discussions, earlier reported by Bloomberg, have been ongoing for the past few months, the source told ESPN. The impetus for the mutual interest came from the shared desire to reach scale across television, film and advertising together.

SpringHill was founded by James and his longtime friend and business partner, Maverick Carter in 2020 when SpringHill Entertainment, Uninterrupted and The Robot Co. merged.

Located in Los Angeles and run by Carter as the CEO, SpringHill has produced notable sports content themed titles such as "Hustle" (starring Adam Sandler), "Space Jam: A New Legacy" (starring James and Don Cheadle) and the recent Netflix docuseries, "Starting 5," which chronicled the lives of five NBA stars throughout the 2023-24 season.

Fulwell 73, founded in 2005, with former late night host James Corden joining as a partner in 2017, claims many live and unscripted projects in its production history, including "The Kardashians," the "Grammy Awards" and Corden's "Carpool Karaoke: The Series."

It also produced the concert feature, "Adele One Night Only," showcasing a concert by the eponymous singer who is engaged to James' longtime friend and agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.

James and Klutch also have ties to the Kardashians. Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, who is represented by Paul, has two children with Khloe Kardashian and Corey Gamble, the boyfriend of Kris Jenner, can often be seen courtside at Los Angeles Lakers games with Paul and Lakers governor, Jeanie Buss.

San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan suffered a fractured left thumb and is scheduled to have surgery this week, the team announced Tuesday.

Sochan was injured in the second quarter of Monday's 113-104 loss to the LA Clippers and missed the rest of the game.

The Spurs said Sochan suffered a fracture in the proximal phalanx of his left thumb. They did not announce a timeline to return.

Sochan, 21, was averaging a career-high 15.4 points per game in his third season with the Spurs to go along with 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal in 29.3 minutes.

The Spurs selected Sochan with the No. 9 pick in the 2022 draft out of Baylor.

Shohei Ohtani underwent shoulder surgery Tuesday to repair a labrum tear sustained during the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced, adding that they expect him to be ready for spring training.

Ohtani suffered what the Dodgers initially described as a subluxation -- or slight dislocation -- of his left shoulder on an attempted steal of second base in Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 26. He then played the next three games at Yankee Stadium in noticeable pain, wincing after some of his swings and recording just one hit in 11 at-bats while Los Angeles clinched the championship.

Before the injury, the Dodgers were hoping Ohtani could restart his throwing program earlier than usual this offseason in anticipation of him returning to a two-way role in 2025. It is unclear how this surgery, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, might impact the timing of that, but it was done on Ohtani's non-throwing shoulder.

Ohtani was throwing his regularly scheduled bullpen sessions, the last step in his rehabilitation from a second major elbow surgery, leading up to the time when he was injured.

The last time the Dodgers won the World Series, in 2020, Cody Bellinger suffered a similar injury while celebrating with Enrique Hernandez and underwent labrum surgery that November. Bellinger was in the lineup for Opening Day in 2021, though his offensive numbers dropped dramatically over the next two seasons.

However, Bellinger injured his right shoulder, which he leads with when hitting. Ohtani injured his back shoulder, considered to be less of an issue in the batter's box.

Liverpool's Luis Díaz scored a hat trick as they maintained their perfect Champions League campaign with a barnstorming second-half display in a 4-0 victory over Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield on Tuesday.

Arne Slot's men, who top the Premier League table, provisionally lead the standings of Europe's elite club competition with their fourth win in four matches, with Aston Villa, the only other team with a 100% record, playing Club Brugge in their fourth game on Wednesday.

Leverkusen's loss spoiled the return of manager and former Liverpool hero Alonso, who hoisted the Champions League trophy with the Reds in 2005 and was heavily touted as a replacement for former manager Jürgen Klopp before ruling himself out of the running.

"It's painful the result more than the performance, probably," Alonso told Amazon Prime. "But this is the Champions League, this is the highest level, and today it wasn't enough for us.

"I tried to separate the game and the pain from the result from the nice feelings to come back. I'm really happy and thankful for that reception," he added on the warm greeting he received from the Anfield crowd.

Slot, however, has proved a worthy replacement for Klopp, recording his 14th win in 16 games on Tuesday.

Diaz broke the deadlock of what had been a sluggish affair in stunning fashion in the 61st minute, timing his run onto Curtis Jones' pinpoint pass through the heart of Leverkusen's defence before lifting the ball over keeper Lukas Hradecky.

Gakpo doubled the Reds' lead two minutes later when he dived to head Mohamed Salah's cross home at the back post. The goal was initially ruled offside but the decision was overturned by VAR.

Diaz netted his second in the 83rd minute when he latched onto a cross from Salah, and then held off a challenge before slotting past Hradecky.

"We have top quality players all over the pitch, but actually, I really enjoyed playing in that position today, and wherever I'm playing on the pitch, I'm going to work hard, and I hope I can help the team," Diaz said, adding he planned to go and search for the match ball.

He completed his hat trick with a tap-in from close range in stoppage time after Darwin Núñez's shot was blocked in a statement victory for the six-times winners of Europe's top competition against the Bundesliga champions who lost just once in all competitions last season.

"Four-nil, good result against a very good team, I don't know if it's the best result [this season], but it's a good one," Gakpo told Amazon Prime.

Both teams were lacking quality in the final third in a dull first half. Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong had an effort shortly before half-time chalked off for a handball in the build-up, while Gakpo squandered a terrific chance for Liverpool, shooting straight at Hradecky after working the ball up the left side.

Alonso's Leverkusen are provisionally 11th in the Champions League standings with a pair of wins, a draw and a loss.

The 42-year-old Alonso played 210 games for Liverpool in a five-year spell from 2004, and was part of the side that completed a miraculous comeback in their Champions League final win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

Sporting CP marked the final home game of coach Ruben Amorim's reign in stunning fashion as Viktor Gyokeres' hat-trick saw them come from behind to thrash Manchester City 4-1 and maintain their superb start to the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Portuguese league leaders were outplayed for most of the first half and should have trailed by more than Phil Foden's early goal, but Gyokeres levelled it up before the break.

City were caught cold at the start of the second period as Maximiliano Araujo finished a flowing move straight from the kickoff, before Gyokeres put Sporting further ahead minutes later from the penalty spot.

Erling Haaland had the chance to drag City back into the game but struck the crossbar with a penalty before Gyokeres wrapped it up for the hosts with another spot kick to send the Estadio Jose Alvalade crowd into raptures.

Amorim, who will take over as Manchester United manager on Nov. 11, leaves Sporting in a fantastic position in the Champions League group phase with 10 points from four games. City's first defeat leaves them on seven points.

"When you lost 4-1 you can't say too much," City manager Pep Guardiola said. "We made a fantastic first half but we struggled to score, we missed the simple passes.

"The second half we were emotionally not stable enough."

All eyes were on Amorim before kickoff after he accepted United's offer to take over from the sacked Erik Ten Hag.

The highly-rated 39-year-old has landed two Portuguese titles in four years with Sporting and they have started this season's domestic championship with 10 wins from 10 games.

Up against City's master tactician Guardiola, however, he was given an uncomfortable taste of what he can expect in the Premier League during a first half in which his side could have been blown away by an injury-hit City side.

Foden struck after four minutes when Sporting lost the ball inside their own half and the England forward advanced to smash his shot past Franco Israel.

Haaland, who had an off night, had several chances and Bernardo Silva also went close for City, while Gyokeres made a hash of a gilt-edged opportunity shortly after Foden's opener.

But Gyokores made no mistake when he was played through in the 38th minute by Geovany Quenda, dinking his shot in.

City never got going in the second half and were sloppy at the back as they went on to concede four goals in the Champions League for the first time since 2016.

Araujo was played in by Pedro Gonçalves to score in style then Josko Gvardiol shoved over Francisco Trincão in the area for Gyokeres to beat Éderson from the spot.

Gyokores completed City's misery with his hat-trick-sealing penalty, awarded for a foul by Matheus Nunes on Geny Catamo, to put Sporting second in the table.