Salah dropped by Liverpool for Inter clash, Bayern take on Lisbon; Flick banks on Barca defence vs Frankfurt

This week Liverpool brings its season of turmoil to San Siro against Inter Milan on Tuesday, when Bayern Munich hosts Sporting Lisbon. Paris Saint-Germain is at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

Mohamed Salah has been dropped from Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League tie away to Inter Milan following incendiary remarks about his relationship with manager Arne Slot and his treatment by the Premier League club.

The Egypt forward was not included in the squad announced by Liverpool on Monday, despite training earlier in the day with the first team.

Salah said on Saturday he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and that he no longer had a relationship with Slot after he was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in a 3-3 draw at Leeds and not even introduced as a substitute.

But several British media reports said Salah’s omission for Tuesday’s game in Italy was not for disciplinary reasons but rather a selection decision.

The BBC said his removal from the squad was taken with the full support of Slot.

It said that it is in the best interest of all parties involved for Salah to have a brief period away from selection given the nature and timing of the player’s public comments.

The BBC added “it is understood this is a decision which relates solely to squad selection and there will be no formal disciplinary action taken by the club”.

After next weekend’s home match against Brighton, Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 33-year-old is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time with 250 goals in 420 appearances for the club.

But Salah has been a shadow of his former self during Liverpool’s struggles this season -- the Premier League champions are now ninth in the table -- with a mere four goals in 13 top-flight appearances.

In the sixth of the eight rounds, league-leading Arsenal can become the first team to reach the 16-point total that last season ensured advancing direct to the round of 16.

Arsenal is the only team with five straight wins on 15 points and needs to avoid defeat Tuesday at Club Brugge to reach the potential cutoff between eighth and ninth place in January.

Tuesday at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium likely won’t be the last time they meet this season.

France will play Norway on June 26 at the New England Patriots’ stadium in Foxborough, Mass., in one of the most anticipated games from the World Cup draw made Friday.

Harry Kane is just as prolific for Bayern Munich this season. He has scored 28 in just 22 games for Bayern plus five in five World Cup qualifiers for England.

Kane has kept pace with Haaland’s goal-a-game ratio in the Champions League and kept Bayern third in the standings, despite losing at Arsenal two weeks ago.

Ahead of Kane and Haaland is six-goal Victor Osimhen, who is fit to return with Galatasaray at Monaco on Tuesday. Both teams are in contention for a top-24 finish and places in the knockout stage starting in February.

Barcelona hosting Eintracht Frankfurt is a repeat of a remarkable show of force by visiting fans four seasons ago - and one the Spanish club has now worked to avoid.

Eintracht’s road to winning the Europa League in 2022 included what looked and sounded like a home game to win 3-2 at Camp Nou in the second leg of the quarterfinals.

About 30,000 German fans were there after most bought tickets from Barcelona fans, who last week were warned by their club not to do that again.

“If the traceability of ticket purchases and their final destination reveals fraudulent behavior, the case will be referred to the disciplinary committee,” Barcelona said last week in a statement.

Barcelona is certainly favored to win this time. The La Liga leader scored five in winning at the weekend while Eintracht was routed 6-0 at Leipzig.

Agencies