LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp believes comparisons between Mohamed Salah and Barcelona’s five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi are premature, but that the Egyptian is on his way to one day becoming the best player in the world.
Salah’s stunning season continued with a four-goal haul in a 5-0 thrashing of Watford at Anfield to take his tally for the season to 36 on Saturday — the most goals ever scored by a Liverpool player in their debut year at the club.
Messi showed why he is still widely considered the world’s best by scoring his 100th Champions League goal in tearing Chelsea apart in a 3-0 win on Wednesday.
But Klopp believes Salah, 25, has time on his side to succeed Messi and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo, both now in their thirties, as the world’s best player.
“I think Mo is on the way (to being the best in the world),” said Klopp.
“I don’t think Mo or anybody else wants to be compared with Lionel Messi. He is the one who is doing what he’s doing for what feels like 20 years or so.”
And Klopp challenged Salah to maintain the standards he has set this season in the manner Messi and Ronaldo have for the past decade.
“As it always is in life, if you have the skills, you have to show that constantly, and consistently he is very good and he helps us a lot.”
Salah even defied the slippery conditions of a snow storm as he weaved his way past Jose Holebas to slot home the opener after just four minutes.
“Conditions were difficult. It was obviously slippery and everybody suffered, but not Mo in that situation. It was really special,” added Klopp.
Liverpool had to wait until two minutes before half-time to double their advantage, but there was no surprise who was on the end of a sweeping team move as Salah got his second of the evening from Andy Robertson’s inch-perfect cross.
Salah turned provider immediately after the break when his cross was wonderfully backheeled past Karnezis by Roberto Firmino.
The Egyptian made it 4-0 with 13 minutes remaining as, despite falling over, he managed to slide the ball past Karnezis.
And he then capped off a brilliant personal performance in the dying seconds, thrashing into the roof of the net after Karnezis had fumbled Danny Ings’ shot.
“Seems crazy to say that a £37.5m signing is an absolute bargain, but how much would Mo Salah cost now?” tweeted former England and Barcelona striker Gary Lineker. “What a player.”
Michael Owen scored 118 goals for Liverpool and you suspect it will not be long before the Egyptian is closing in on his tally.
“Scoring goals has always been regarded as the hardest part of the game,” tweeted Owen. “Mo Salah is starting to make me question that statement.”
Mohamed Salah invites comparisons with Lionel Messi after making it 36 goals in debut Liverpool season
Mohamed Salah invites comparisons with Lionel Messi after making it 36 goals in debut Liverpool season
PSG inflict humiliating defeat on Real Madrid to reach Club World Cup final
- Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele scored inside the opening nine minutes to stun Real and silence the majority of the 77,542 crowd
EAST RUTHERFORD, United States: Fabian Ruiz scored twice as European champions Paris Saint-Germain turned on the style in their reunion with Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday, thrashing Real Madrid 4-0 in the semifinals of the Club World Cup to set up a final showdown with Chelsea.
Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele scored inside the opening nine minutes to stun Real and silence the majority of the 77,542 crowd who were wearing white at the MetLife Stadium outside New York.
The Spanish midfielder added another before half-time and Goncalo Ramos got a late fourth as Luis Enrique’s side moved one game away from glory at FIFA’s new tournament.
Victory against Chelsea on Sunday would complete a campaign of unparalleled success for the Parisians, who won the French title and then the first UEFA Champions League in their history in May.
After blowing away Inter Milan 5-0, the biggest victory in European Cup final history, PSG began their Club World Cup bid by putting four past Atletico Madrid and the ease with which they disposed of Real here was striking.
PSG’s fluidity contrasted starkly with Madrid, who are a work in progress under new coach Xabi Alonso. Meanwhile Mbappe struggled to make any impact on his first start at the tournament and in his first game against PSG since leaving the French club a year ago.
The France captain was hoping for a different outcome against the team for whom he scored a club record 256 goals, and the defeat is a real blow to Real as they hoped to win the first 32-team Club World Cup to add to their record tally of 15 European Cups.
But PSG have improved without Mbappe and are now such a well-oiled machine that they appear unstoppable — it would be a big surprise if they failed to beat Chelsea.
Luis Enrique was without imposing center-back Willian Pacho due to suspension following his sending-off against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, but that did not matter.
Lucas Beraldo slotted into the defense with ease, and the rest of PSG’s first-choice line-up was there.
Real were missing central defender Dean Huijsen through suspension, while the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold was an added blow.
The return to the starting XI of Mbappe, who missed the entire group stage through illness, did not prevent young striker Gonzalo Garcia from keeping his place.
But the Spanish giants’ front line, completed by Vinicius Junior, made no real impact, such was the extent of PSG’s domination.
Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two superb saves inside the opening five minutes, the first to tip away a Ruiz shot, and the second to deny Nuno Mendes from point-blank range.
Yet Courtois could not prevent Paris from scoring in the sixth minute, as Dembele pounced on slack defending by Raul Asencio. The Real ‘keeper saved at the forward’s feet but Ruiz converted the loose ball.
Three minutes later and the contest was effectively over when Antonio Rudiger failed to control a simple pass from Jude Bellingham, allowing Dembele to run through before finishing low into the corner.
Like his friend Mbappe, Dembele was starting for the first time at the competition having been injured. That was a 34th club goal since August for a player who is a serious candidate for the Ballon d’Or.
It was turning into a humiliating afternoon for Real as PSG got their third midway through the first half.
A deflected shot by Mbappe was easily held by Gianluigi Donnarumma, and no Madrid player touched the ball again before they were picking it out of their own net a minute later.
Dembele released Achraf Hakimi on the right and he squared for Ruiz, the Spain star taking a touch to hold off Fede Valverde before finishing.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could have got a fourth before the interval, while Desire Doue had a goal disallowed for offside early in the second half.
But Real were not coming back, and Alonso opted to take off Bellingham and Vinicius just after the hour mark in a clear sign of surrender.
PSG then got their fourth after 87 minutes when Ramos controlled a pass from fellow substitute Bradley Barcola, turned and fired in.
Swiatek in first semifinal at All England Club, faces Bencic next
- The five-time major champion beat 19th-seeded Samsonova
LONDON: Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.
“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”
Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 US Open. The other semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.
Swiatek is a five-time major champion, with four of those titles on the red clay of the French Open, and the other on the hard courts of the US Open. She’s also twice been a semifinalist at the hard-court Australian Open.
The grass courts of the All England Club always had given her the most trouble as a pro, even though she did claim a junior championship there in 2018. In her five appearances in the Wimbledon women’s bracket before this year, she had made it as far as the quarterfinals just once, exiting in that round in 2023.
But the 24-year-old from Poland is enjoying a career-best run on the slick surface, thanks in part to being more comfortable with the footing required.
“I, for sure, feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface,” Swiatek said. “So this year, I feel like I can just work with it and work with myself. I’ll just keep doing that.”
Before the start of Wimbledon, Swiatek was the runner-up in Bad Homburg, Germany, her first final at a tournament played on grass — and her first final at any event in more than a year, a drought that resulted in her falling from the No. 1 ranking and being seeded No. 8 at the All England Club.
Her rough stretch included a one-month ban last season in a doping case after an investigation determined a failed out-of-competition drug test was caused by an unintentional contamination of non-prescription medication for issues with jet lag and sleeping. On the court, a semifinal loss to Sabalenka at Roland-Garros last month ended Swiatek’s 26-match French Open winning streak.
Swiatek led by a set and 3-0 in the second against Samsonova, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Soon, though, it was 4-all, then 5-all. But Swiatek held for a 6-5 lead, then broke to end it, and a smile spread across her face.
“I’ll just recover today, try not to celebrate too much, but already focus on the next one,” Swiatek said. “Prepare in the evening, and I’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Bencic, who at 28 is a decade older than Andreeva, is competing in her second major tournament since returning to the tour after giving birth to a daughter, Bella, in April 2024.
“I’m very proud, actually. All my career, I didn’t say it a lot to myself, but after having Bella, I really say it to myself every day,” Bencic said. “We are just enjoying life on tour with Bella, traveling. It’s been beautiful to create these memories together.”
“ And obviously, to play great is so amazing, but for me, it’s a bonus. I’m generally just really happy to be able to play again.”
Global Champions Arabians Tour returns to the Netherlands
- Total prize pool for the latest stage of the 2nd annual elite Arabian horse competition, which will take place in Valkenswaard on July 18-20, is $1.65m
DOHA: The second annual Global Champions Arabians Tour will ride into in the Netherlands on July 18.
The three-day event, at the Longines Tops International Arena in Valkenswaard, is the sixth stage of the 2025 Europe and Middle East Series, and the second European stop on the tour, after Cannes in France last month.
The total prize pool for this stage is €1.41 million ($1.65 million): €1.05 million for the championship and €360,000 for the qualifying classes. The results will also contribute to overall rankings ahead of the World Arabian Horse Championship Supreme in Doha this December.
“Returning to Valkenswaard is a true highlight of the season,” said Faleh Al-Nasr, chairperson of the Global Champions Arabians Tour.
“This stage reflects our commitment to excellence, bringing together top-tier competition, international audiences and the timeless beauty of Arabian horses in one of Europe’s premier equestrian destinations.”
Outside of the action in the arena, there will be a supporting program featuring cultural performances, special exhibitions celebrating the heritage and art of Arabian horses, and the event will conclude with what organizers say will be a memorable closing ceremony.
There will also be an exclusive shopping village showcasing a curated mix of local and international brands, artisan products, event merchandise, and gourmet food and drink.
The event begins on Friday, July 18, with an opening ceremony and qualifying classes for yearling fillies and colts, and junior fillies. Junior colts, senior mares and senior stallions will take to the arena on Saturday, July 19, and the action concludes on Sunday, July 20, with the championship competitions across all categories, followed by the closing ceremony.
After Valkenswaard, the focus shifts to the UK, where the seventh stage of the Europe and Middle East Series will take place in London from Aug. 14 to 17.
Aleksa Avramovic becomes Dubai Basketball’s second signing after EuroLeague entry
- Dubai Basketball and 30-year-old point guard reach an agreement for the next three seasons
DUBAI: Serbian Olympic bronze medalist Aleksa Avramovic returns to the EuroLeague with Dubai Basketball after a season with CSKA Moscow, making him Dubai’s newest addition to the 2025-2026 roster following Dzanan Musa.
The point guard and Dubai Basketball have reached an agreement for the next three seasons, until June 2028. The 30-year-old, who is 1.93 metres tall, joins from CSKA Moscow, where he averaged 12.2 points and 3.4 assists in 20 minutes per game.
Avramovic played 47 EuroLeague games with Partizan Belgrade between 2022 and 2024, where he led a championship-winning campaign — clinching the 2022-2023 ABA League title. In Europe’s top competition, the Serbian guard averaged 8.3 points in 16 minutes per game. His standout performance came on Feb. 29, 2024, against Anadolu Efes, where he scored 30 points and registered a performance index rating of 32.
In the EuroCup, Avramovic appeared in 26 games between his stints with Partizan and Unicaja.
Dubai Basketball’s newest addition has played in Serbia, Italy, Spain and Russia. In his home country, he played for his hometown team, Cacak, and OKK Belgrade from 2013 to 2016. He then spent three seasons with Varese in Italy, where his development drew attention from Spain’s ACB League, signing his first season with the Spaniards in 2019. In the 2020-2021 ACB season, he was one of the league’s top performers with averages of 16.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over 36 games.
His strong performances with Estudiantes in Madrid led to a move to Partizan, where he played from 2021 to 2024. Under coach Zeljko Obradovic, he posted regular-season ABA League averages of 10.4, 8.8, and 11.3 points per game over three seasons.
Most recently, he played the 2024-2025 season with CSKA Moscow, where he was one of the team’s key players and helped them to the VTB League title.
With the addition of Avramovic, Dubai Basketball continues to build an experienced squad ahead of their inaugural EuroLeague season. His elite-level exposure and adaptable skillset strengthen the team’s competitive edge, as the club lays the foundation for success, representing the Middle East on Europe’s biggest basketball stage.
Red Bull says longtime F1 team principal Christian Horner has been released from his duties
- Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005
- Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his work
MILTON KEYNES, England: Red Bull says Christian Horner has been released from his role as longtime team principal of its Formula 1 team.
Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his work and said he will “forever remain an important part of our team history.”
Laurent Mekies of sister team Racing Bulls will replace Horner in his role as team principal and chief executive of the racing team.
Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005. He had performed his team and media duties as normal throughout the British Grand Prix last week.
Horner oversaw eight F1 drivers’ titles — four for Sebastian Vettel and four for Max Verstappen — and six constructors’ titles during his time with the team.
But McLaren has dominated this season in F1, while Red Bull’s performance has dipped, though Verstappen remains third in the standings and the team is fourth.
Horner spent much of last week fielding questions over Verstappen’s future at the team after the Dutch driver declined to commit to stay with Red Bull for 2026.
“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive for corporate projects and investments said in a statement.
“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1. Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history.”
The announcement comes more than a year after Horner was accused of misconduct toward a team employee.
An investigation conducted on behalf of the Red Bull company dismissed the allegation, as did a further investigation conducted after the employee appealed against the initial ruling, Red Bull said at the time.
Horner remained in charge of the F1 team throughout the entire process.
