The Liverpool captain is often maligned but he outshone more expensive dishes such as Thiago and James in his side’s hard-fought 0-0 draw with Bayern MunichThey came to Anfield expecting fire and light and red-shirted vengeance. They came scenting one of those hair-raising nights when the air seems to throb with wild, skirling possibilities. They may, on reflection, have slightly misread the situation.In the buildup to this Champions League first leg against Bayern Munich Jürgen Klopp had promised “passion football”, presumably a sub-genre of the usual heavy metal style: speed-metal football, Lancashire pomp-rock. Related: Liverpool and Bayern Munich trade blows but draw leaves tie poised Related: Liverpool need more courage to beat Bayern Munich, says Jürgen Klopp Related: Liverpool 0-0...
England’s 18-year-old winger sparkled at times on his return to London, even if Tottenham’s Son Heung-min stole the showTwo lucrative transfers, two academy stints and one dramatic overseas switch into Jadon Sancho’s career the English football prodigy, a talent-riddle waiting to be solved, has finally played a club game in his home country.He might expect a few happier returns in future. They came to watch Jadon, or at least to gawp just a little. In the event it was an evening that offered glimpses of his talent in a fine first half but brought a chastening end for the Bundesliga leaders. Related: Jan Vertonghen inspires Spurs to take Borussia Dortmund to the cleaners Related: Tottenham 3-0 Borussia Dortmund: Champions League...
PSG forward shows his repertoire of speed and skill, including scoring the second goal that may have already ended the tieFor all the complexities of elite sport, some things don’t change. In his novel End Zone, Don DeLillo obsesses about the speed of NFL running backs. “Speed is the last excitement left,” he writes. “The one thing we haven’t used up, still naked in its potential.”In which case DeLillo could do a lot worse than have a peek at Kylian Mbappé, who glided around the edges at Old Trafford for half an hour; who scored a decisive second-half goal; and who by the end had provided some moments of exhilaration so natural and easy in among the collisions you could...
Press and possess is the method of many leading teams but Didier Deschamps’ side in Russia and Real Madrid before them picked up the biggest prizes playing in their own mannerThe same basics everywhere: it would be easy to believe that football in 2018 was about the victory of press and possess. Manchester City do it, Liverpool do it, Tottenham do it, Chelsea do it, Arsenal do it, Barcelona do it, Juventus do it, Napoli do it, Bayern Munich do it, Borussia Dortmund do it, even Paris Saint-Germain have been showing signs of doing it under Thomas Tuchel. Manchester United didn’t do it and José Mourinho was sacked after a grim opening to the season in which his ideas had...
Continuing our series of controversies that defined the year, Liverpool’s key player was fouled by Real’s controversial hard man in the 22nd minute of the Champions League finalIt was four minutes before the enormity of the situation truly sunk in and a communal gasp came from the sea of red inside Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium. Mohamed Salah was down for a second time in quick succession, only this time he was down and out of the Champions League final. A season of joy, brilliance and 44 goals had been brought to a premature, painful and tearful halt. Sergio Ramos shared a joke with an assistant referee as the idol of Liverpool and Egypt headed for the tunnel and the worst moment...