04/11/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | NOV 4, 2025

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R EAL MADRID coach Xabi Alonso returns to Anfield to face his former side Liverpool in the Champions League tomorrow (4am malaysian time) after a nearly immaculate start to life in the Spanish capital. While Premier League giants Liverpool have just two wins in their last eight games, Alonso’s Madrid are on a high, transformed from last sea son and improving weekly under the Basque manager. The 15-time European champions beat Clasico rivals Barcelona the previoust weekend in La Liga and aim to flex their muscles in another high-calibre match against Arne Slot’s Liverpool. Their only defeat this season came in a 5-2 derby humiliation by Atletico Madrid and Alonso’s side have progressed rapidly since. Many Liverpool fans hoped the Spaniard would take the reins at Anfield when Jurgen Klopp announced he would leave the club at the end of the 2023/24 season. Elegant on the ball, Alonso was the brains of Liverpool’s midfield between 2004 and 2009. He

Real X factor Alonso shaping new Madrid on Liverpool return

matches, whereas Ancelotti’s side were more pre dictible. The coach decided his team will train before heading to Merseyside, so Liverpool get no hints to how he will approach the match. “It’s my decision (not to train at Anfield), we prefer to do it at home, in our space, so they don’t put 200 cameras on us,” said Alonso. Alonso has also got the best out of his team’s star players, with perhaps one exception. Winger Vinicius showed his frustration with his coach publicly during the Clasico , substituted and storming off in a fit of histrionics. The Brazilian made a public apology to the fans and the club, without mentioning his coach, although Alonso said the matter was resolved. Vinicius impressed against Valencia despite missing a penalty, and Alonso’s cautious handling may be the right way to keep the forward as a use ful asset this season. The Spaniard wants to make his Anfield return an unhappy one for the hosts and prove his Madrid machine can compete for major silver ware again as they continue to fit his mould. – AFP

was key to the 2005 Champions League triumph in Istanbul and won the FA Cup among other sil verware before departing for Real Madrid. Alonso stayed for an extra year at Bayer Leverkusen and instead stepped into Carlo Ancelotti’s shoes after Madrid ended last season without a major trophy. He has made a quick impact at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid winning 13 of their 14 matches this season. Ancelotti found it hard to make his star-stud ded attack press opponents, but Alonso’s side have been diligent. With greater intensity without the ball, Madrid are more sturdy. “To win trophies you have to defend well,

obtaining many clean sheets,” said Alonso, as Madrid secured their seventh of the season in a 4 0 rout of Valencia yesterday. Spanish newspaper Marca wrote Madrid have “forged a new identity” and now “dominate, suf focate and subdue their opponents” – a far cry from the lethargy of Ancelotti’s final season. The Italian could not bring himself to drop Rodrygo Goes even though playing him with Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham made Madrid top heavy. Now no team in Europe has more ball recover ies in the final third than Madrid. Alonso has also shown his willingness to make tactical shifts during games and between

Bayern face acid test at PSG

SIDENETTING Barca recover from Clasico loss

BAYERN MUNICH’S trip to holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League tomorrow (4am) is a test to determine where they stand among the European elite this season. Bayern have won 15 from 15 matches in all competitions so far this campaign, setting a new record for the best start to a season in the top five European leagues. The incredible start has Bayern dreaming of Champions League glory. But taking on the European cham pions in their own back yard will pro vide the Bavarian giants with a clearer understanding of where they measure up.

Champions League title in June, thrashing Inter Milan at Bayern’s Allianz Arena. PSG are yet to hit their straps in Ligue 1 this season, but have saved their best performances for Europe. With three games played – all vic tories – PSG sit atop the Champions League table, one place ahead of Bayern. PSG won at Barcelona, thumped Atalanta and annihilated Leverkusen 7-2 away. “Two top teams are meeting each other,” said Bayern sporting director Max Eberl. “We’re going there, we’re still unbeaten at the moment. We want to keep it that way.” – AFP

Bayern have had an incredible start to the season, breaking a record set by AC Milan in 1992-93. Bayern have only been behind for five minutes during their run, in Wednesday’s 4-1 German Cup win over Cologne. The Bavarians have beaten the teams placed second to fifth in the Bundesliga table domestically, as well as Club World Cup winners Chelsea. Coach Vincent Kompany has Bayern firing across the park but the star of the show has undoubtedly been Harry Kane. Far from resting on his laurels after finally lifting a trophy last season when Bayern won the Bundesliga, Kane has gone to another level. The England captain has 22 goals in 15 games in all competitions, but his creative impact has been crucial with the injured Jamal Musiala out for six months. Even squad rotation has not stopped the Bayern machine from rolling on.

On Saturday, Kompany benched Kane, wingers Luis Diaz and Michael Olise along with central defender Dayot Upamecano for a match against Bayer Leverkusen, who Bayern had not beaten in the league since 2022. The Bavarians were 3-0 up at halftime, with the reborn Serge Gnabry and improving Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson among the scorers. “We’ve won 15 games, that’s good. But it has to continue – it’s not enough yet,” Kompany told fans at Bayern’s AGM on Sunday. “I promise we will do everything to give you a successful season.” Like Bayern, more often than not PSG can comfortably dispose of their domestic rivals and are judged by their European exploits. Last season, PSG finally deliv ered on the continental stage, hitting form at just the right time. The Parisians won their first

LAMINE YAMAL and Marcus Rashford struck for Barcelona as they earned a 3-1 win over Elche in La Liga yesterday to bounce back from last weekend’s Clasico defeat. Ferran Torres was also on target for the Catalan giants, who moved back into second place to trail leaders Real Madrid by five points. “We found our spirit and intensity,” Torres told DAZN . “I think we’re finding last year’s Barca, from the first min ute to last we gave everything, and we’ll keep doing that.” Teenage star Yamal under whelmed in last week’s defeat by Real Madrid after coming back from a groin issue, but looked more sprightly against Elche. Flick said Yamal’s groin injury was still an issue that the youngster needs to work on. “He has to train, have treatments, he has to do this and he did it, it’s a good step forward for him,” explained Flick. “I cannot say it’s over, it’s coming and going like this and he has to manage it.” Milan deny Roma top spot STRAHINJA PAVLOVIC scored the only goal as AC Milan edged Roma 1-0 to prevent the capital club from taking top spot in Serie A yesterday, while Inter Milan needed a late own goal to beat Verona. Roma were hoping to move two points clear at the summit after reigning champi ons and leaders Napoli were held to a goalless draw on Saturday by Como. But Pavlovic’s strike and a late missed penalty from Paulo Dybala ensured Milan instead climbed into third place, level on points with both second-placed Inter and Roma, who dropped to fourth. Napoli are a point ahead of that trio. Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan are still unbeaten since a surprise home loss to Cremonese on the opening day of the season. “It is too early to start dreaming, it’s only November,” Milan goal keeper Mike Maignan told DAZN . “We have a good squad, we are united, we just need to take it one game at a time and not say we are challenging for the Scudetto right now. Of course, we want to win everything, but it’s early days.”

LUIS ENRIQUE

VINCENT KOMPANY

vs TOMORROW 4 AM MALAYSIAN TIME

Spalletti bidding to revive Juve, reputation

LUCIANO SPALLETTI begins his Champions League salvage operation with Juventus tomorrow (4am) as the Italians face Sporting Lisbon in search of a first win in Europe this season. Former Italy coach Spalletti got off to a winning start with his new team on Saturday with a 2-1 suc cess at Cremonese in which his touch could already be seen after less than two days in charge. Juve looked more threatening in the first half in Cremona than they had in most of their fixtures before Igor Tudor’s sacking last Monday, and Spalletti managed to plug a yawning defensive gap by selecting Netherlands midfielder Teun Koopmeiners in three-man defence. It was the sort of unorthodox move which has

the been the hallmark of Spalletti’s long and event ful coaching career, right back to making Francesco Totti a “false No. 9” years before Pep Guardiola did the same with Lionel Messi at Barcelona. “It’s the team that counts and not the individual. If you create a good rapport with everyone and they all feel the same way, then one day you wake up and feel like you’ve moved up a level,” Spalletti said on Saturday. “You have to be brave, we are not in a situation where nobody is watching us. Either you play it the right way or you have to step aside.” Taking over Juventus is a chance for Spalletti, a hugely accomplished and influential coach, to rehabilitate his reputation after his nightmare

period in charge of Italy which he called a “scar” after he was sacked in June. And Juve fans are hoping that he can recreate the magic of his two years at Napoli, when he ended a 33-year wait for a Serie A title and earned himself the chance to coach the national team. Now 66, Spalletti has always been an odd char acter even within the volatile confines of Italian football, and his spiky personality has caused run ins with key players. “What’s important is establishing relationships with the players, that’s what I’ve always done,” said Spalletti after Saturday’s win. “Let’s hope I manage to do that here seeing as I didn’t with the national team.” – AFP