The Times - UK (2022-02-16)

60 Wednesday February 16 2022 | the times

SportFootball

Klopp said. “It helps we have solutions

for different problems, options for

different situations. We need fresh legs

for this game, but much more impor-

tant is that we have the chance to make

five changes, a massive boost for foot-

ball.

“It is good but the boys have to deal

with it as well. I cannot play always the

same line-up just because we won the

last game. It is something we have to

learn.”

Uefa has scrapped the away goals

rule for the first time this season and,

although Klopp explained how he liked

the tension it created, the Liverpool

manager said that he never wanted a

team to rely on it.

“I liked the rule as a supporter before,

I don’t know why they scrapped it but it

is gone but not a massive impact on how

we play,” he said. “We don’t go there to

try and get something but to try and

play our best game and win it.”

Klopp described Inter, second in the

Serie A table but with a game in hand

on their rivals AC Milan, as the best

team in Italy.

He addressed the benefit to Liverpool

of Nicolò Barella being absent through

suspension but underlined the depth

of Simone Inzaghi’s squad by pointing

to Ivan Perisic, who was part of Klopp’s

Borussia Dortmund squad who won

the double in Germany ten years

ago.

Tonight will be Liverpool’s second

trip to the San Siro this season, having

beaten AC Milan in December’s group

stages. Klopp said that the recent visit

did not give Liverpool any advantage

but warned his team not to slip up and

have to rely on the home support for the

second leg on March 8.

“We don’t want to rely too much on

Anfield,” he said. “It is fine when we

need it and Anfield can push us but

we don’t want to rely too much.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold has thrown
down the gauntlet to Manchester City
by highlighting the failure of Pep
Guardiola’s team to win the Champions
League.
Alexander-Arnold, 23, was part of
the Liverpool side who were crowned
European champions in 2019 and who
followed it up by lifting the Premier
League title the next season.
Guardiola’s side were runners-up to
Chelsea in last year’s final and
Alexander-Arnold suggested that
City’s trophy collection lacked silver-
ware of the highest order when
compared with the one in the Anfield
cabinet.
“We don’t feel disappointed that we
haven’t won enough trophies because
we feel the ones we have won are the
biggest and the best,” the England
player said. “Not making any digs [but]
you look at Man City’s amazing team
[and] they haven’t been able to win the
Champions League and we have won
both.”
Before the last-16 first leg away to
Inter Milan, at the San Siro tonight,
Alexander-Arnold also applied pres-
sure to his own dressing room by
insisting that Liverpool’s quality should
deliver at least one piece of silverware a
season.
“There is an expectation now as a
team, as players, to win trophies,” he
said. “One trophy a season is the
minimum we need to be achieving.
With the squad we have got, the
manager, we should be winning
trophies, we expect that, and if we don’t
it’s a massive disappointment. We are
not in that phase now where we are
happy just to get to finals and it is a day
out.”
Alexander-Arnold admitted that the
Premier League title was out of Liver-
pool’s hands, as City hold a nine-point
lead over the Merseyside club, but he
said that Jürgen Klopp’s side must
reduce the gap and be prepared for
their opportunity.

The Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount
is expected to be sidelined for at least
two weeks after suffering an ankle
injury that is likely to keep him out of
the Carabao Cup final.
The England player, 23, suffered a
ligament injury in Saturday’s Club
World Cup final victory in Abu Dhabi.
The damage is not as bad as first feared
but Mount is likely to miss the
Champions League last-16 first leg
against Lille next week as well as the
Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Chelsea face Jürgen Klopp’s side at
Wembley on February 27, which is like-
ly to come too soon for Mount, who is
expected to be out for up to three weeks.
The injury occurred in the early
moments against Palmeiras on Satur-
day when Mount was contesting a cross

Tom Roddy

CHARLOTTE WILSON/OFFSIDE

Uefa’s cryptocurrency

deal appals fans’ groups

Fans’ leaders have said they are

appalled by Uefa’s decision to

announce a sponsorship deal with the

cryptocurrency-based platform Socios

(Martyn Ziegler writes).

Uefa has appointed Socios

as an official partner of its club

competitions for the next three years

but there has been controversy

around the platform because its main

aim is to persuade fans to buy tokens

using cryptocurrency whose value

can rise and fall dramatically and

which is unregulated.

Football Supporters Europe said in

a statement: “We are appalled by

Uefa’s decision to team up with

Socios, a company that monetises

fan engagement at the expense of

match-going fans. This is an

incomprehensible move at a time

when football needs protection from

crypto-mercenaries.”

Robinho arrest warrant

after gang rape conviction

Italian prosecutors yesterday issued

an international arrest warrant for

the former Brazil forward Robinho

and asked for his extradition after

confirmation of his conviction for

gang rape, news agencies reported.

Judges at Italy’s top court, the Court

of Cassation in Rome, last month

upheld a nine-year sentence for the

footballer’s part in an attack on a

young woman in January 2013, when

Robinho was playing for AC Milan.

Yesterday prosecutors in Milan

forwarded the request for extradition

and the arrest warrant to the ministry

of justice, two of Italy’s news agencies

reported. Neither the prosecutors nor

the ministry responded to a request

for comment.

While Brazil’s constitution bans the

extradition of its citizens, the warrant

means Robinho, 38, could be at risk of

arrest if he travels elsewhere.

Zouma set for West Ham

return after stomach bug

Kurt Zouma is expected to return for

West Ham United at home to

Newcastle United on Saturday. The

centre back, 27, who sparked outrage

after being filmed kicking his cat, has

recovered from a stomach bug that

he suffered in the morning before

the 2-2 draw away to Leicester City

on Sunday.

He was named in the starting side

but withdrew after feeling unwell in

the warm-up and returned separately

from the squad to London to try to

prevent the bug spreading.

Zouma’s two cats have been seized

by the RSPCA, which is investigating

the incident, and he has been fined

two weeks’ wages, totalling £250,000,

by West Ham.

West Ham plan to open contract

talks with Jarrod Bowen to prevent

the attacking midfielder from leaving

this summer.

Mount doubt for Wembley

and turned his ankle. He played on

until the 31st minute, when he was

replaced by Christian Pulisic and left

the ground with strapping on his ankle.

“He made a run with César Azpili-

cueta and they fell and his opponent fell

on his ankle and he hurt his ligaments

badly,” Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea

head coach, said. “He came straight to

me and said, ‘It does not feel good, it

feels very stiff and painful,’ so we had to

make the decision.”

Chelsea’s first fixture without Mount

is Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace,

when Reece James will be hoping to

make his comeback from injury.

James, the England right back, has

missed Chelsea’s past ten games with a

hamstring injury. He had been in excel-

lent form for Chelsea this season with

five goals and six assists — only Mount

has more, with eight.

ing the cap-

tain, Jordan

Henderson,

who suffered a

gash to his knee

in Sunday’s 1-0

victory away

to Burnley in the

Premier League.

“The knee in the

game was defi-

nitely not com-

fortable, a

proper

wound, you

can see it,

looks like

lips, should

not be there,”

“It is important for us to keep win-

ning games,” he said. “I don’t think

a nine-point gap is much pressure,

but we need to keep as much pres-

sure on as we can, make sure we win

the game in hand and take it to six.

“There is not much in our hands but

anything can happen in this league so

we must make sure we are in a position

to pounce if they slip.”

Alexander-Arnold has been a

leading force in that, having already

provided 15 assists this season, but the

creative full back believes the best years

of his career lie ahead.

“I still see it as early days,” he said. “I

don’t class myself as a young player but

a career [is] 15 to 20 years, hopefully, so

I feel I am still in the early stages. There

is a lot more room for improvement, I

am not thinking about what I have

done but what more I can do and win-

ning things every season.”

Klopp has a fully fit squad includ-

‘We’ve won all

the biggest and

best trophies

• City haven’t’

Inter Milan v Liverpool

(4-3-3)

Liverpool

Inter Milan

(3-5-2)

Champions League last 16 first leg, 8pm

Stadio San Siro

Ref: S Marciniak (Poland)

S Handanovic

M Skriniar S de Vrij F Dimarco

Alisson

A Robertson

V van Dijk J Matip

T Alexander-

Arnold

S Mané R Firmino M Salah

D Dumfries

A Vidal

M Brozović

H Calhanoglu

I Perisic

E Dzeko L Martinez

J Henderson N Keita Fabinho

Tom Roddy

Inter Milan

v Liverpool

Round of 16, first leg

Tonight, kick-off 8pm

TV: BT Sport 2

Radio: talkSPORT

Alexander-Arnold

believes Liverpool

should win a trophy

every season

Alexander-Arnold parades the European Cup after Liverpool’s 2019 final victory overTottenham