LUIS DIAZ MAKES TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO FORMER LIVERPOOL TEAMMATE DIOGO JOTA AS HE SCORES FOR BAYERN MÜNCHEN ON DEBUT

Luis Diaz paid tribute to Diogo Jota by emulating his celebration after scoring for Bayern Munich in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.

The winger has made his first competitive appearance for Bayern following a £65.5million transfer from Liverpool earlier in the summer.

Diaz made a touching tribute to his former teammateCredit: Getty

After Harry Kane put them ahead against VfB Stuttgart, Diaz scored in the second half with a header from Serge Gnabry's cross.

He then performed the video game celebration that Jota iconically did before he and his brother Andre Silva tragically died last month.

Diaz and Jota made 73 appearances together for Liverpool and won the Premier League title at Anfield last season.

They also collected winners' medals in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Darwin Nunez also did the celebration for Liverpool in a pre-season friendly against Preston North End.

Although Jamie Leweling netted late on for Stuttgart, the goals from Kane and Diaz were enough for Bayern to win 2-1.

Their victory has come on a weekend full of tributes for Jota and Silva after they passed in a car accident in Spain.

Paying tribute to Jota and Silva

Liverpool, for whom Jota scored 65 goals in 182 matches, unveiled fan mosaics for the brothers before their 4-2 win against Bournemouth.

'DJ 20' was raised in The Kop, whilst the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand held up 'AS 30'.

Supporters inside Anfield also performed an emotional rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' before a period of silence

Diaz and Jota both had hugely successful spells at LiverpoolCredit: AFP

Anfield commenced the weekend's tributes to Jota and SilvaCredit: Getty

Liverpool fans then chanted 'Oh he wears the number 20' during the 20th minute of the match.

At full-time, Mohamed Salah appeared to be fighting back tears amid the poignant occasion.

Jota joined Liverpool in 2020 from Wolves, where he netted 44 times in 131 outings.

The club also prepared tributes for him and Silva at Molineux ahead of their Premier League fixture against Manchester City.

A large tifo of Jota was displayed before kick-off with a banner that read 'We'll remember you when you walk in fields of gold'.

Wolves then played his favourite song, Fields of Gold by Sting, on the speakers inside the ground.

Wolves also paid their respects with an impressive displayCredit: AFP

Similar to Liverpool, fans applauded him during the 18th minute in reference to the shirt number he wore for the club.

Liverpool recently announced that the no. 20 shirt has been retired across all levels at the club in tribute to Jota.

- Robert Calcutt

LIVERPOOL STAR DARWIN NUNEZ ON VERGE OF EXIT FOLLOWING FRESH UPDATE: REPORT

Darwin Nunez's Liverpool future remains in doubt despite the club's Premier League title-winning campaign

Liverpool knocked back an offer for Darwin Nunez in January (Image credit: Getty Images)

Liverpool appear to be making up for lost time this time after a relatively quiet summer transfer window last year.

Jeremie Frimpong has already been brought in to replace Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold, while reports suggest that a whopping £116 million deal for Frimpong’s former team-mate Florian Wirtz has been agreed.

There are also suggestions that a deal is in place by Liverpool for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez to join the Reds, with the Cherries having just bought in Adrien Truffert to replace the Hungarian.

Darwin Nunez’s Liverpool future outlined

Nunez has netted 40 goals for Liverpool in three seasons (Image credit: Getty Images)

Liverpool were able to bank almost £10m for Alexander-Arnold, but if they are to keep spending, they will need to rely on player sales to balance the books.

Forward Darwin Nunez has long been linked with the Anfield exit door, and following an underwhelming campaign last time, which saw him make just eight Premier League starts, his time could now be up.

Nunez made eight Premier League starts under Arne Slot this season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Liverpool reportedly rejected a €70m bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in the January window, with the Reds reluctant to lose the Uruguay international halfway through a season in which they were pushing for the Premier League title.

Nunez himself is not said to be interested in making a move to Saudi Arabia at this stage of his career, but he may now have another transfer lifeline.

According to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, Serie A duo AC Milan and Napoli are both interested in making a move for the 25-year-old, who Liverpool are valuing at €60, as they look to claw back a similar fee that they paid for him back in 2022.

Nunez has scored 40 goals in 143 appearances over the past three seasons in all competitions, but his return of five Premier League goals last season appears to have convinced Liverpool that it is time to move on.

Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica in 2022 (Image credit: Getty Images)

In FourFourTwo’s view, a parting of ways would likely suit both parties. Nunez is valued at €45m by Transfermarkt, so if the Reds were able to recoup the €60m they are after, it would be a decent deal.

That would also allow Liverpool to step up their efforts to sign a new forward, amid links to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike

- Joe Mewis

LIVERPOOL GUARANTEE TOP TWO FINISH IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, WIN SEVENTH GAME IN A ROW

Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring for Liverpool.
© AFP

Liverpool maintained their perfect Champions League record to guarantee a top-two finish in the league phase and automatic last-16 qualification with a 2-1 win over Lille at Anfield on Tuesday. Harvey Elliott's deflected strike secured a seventh consecutive Champions League victory for Arne Slot's men after Jonathan David cancelled out Mohamed Salah's opener. Liverpool remain three points clear of Barcelona, who came from 4-2 down to beat Benfica 5-4.

Lille's first defeat in 22 games in all competitions leaves the French side 11th.

Liverpool will welcome direct progress to the last 16, without the need for a play-off round, with the Premier League leaders still involved in four competitions.

Slot took the chance to rotate with the Reds already all but assured of progress to the next round.

Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez, fresh from his match-winning contribution off the bench, came in from the side that beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday to open up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Not for the first time this season, Liverpool's strength in depth made the difference with another winner from a substitute in Elliott, who has had to wait for his chance to shine since Slot took charge.

"The privilege of managing Liverpool is that you have more than 11 good players," said Slot.

"That's also the reason why we can compete in the Champions League, in the League Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League.

"You need more than 11 good players, and it's up to them to be ready if they get the chance, and I think Harvey showed today, with maybe a bit of a lucky goal, but his performance was good. That's also what you expect if you bring a player like him in, because he's a quality player."

Lille arrived on Merseyside full of confidence with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid among the notable scalps on their long unbeaten run.

The visitors were far from overawed early on as they started impressively without ever seriously threatening Alisson Becker's goal.

Liverpool struggled to get going until a defence-splitting pass from Jones freed Salah to gallop clear and coolly slot in his 50th European goal for the club on 34 minutes.

Jones had to be replaced at half-time in an injury concern for Slot, who also took the chance to rest Ryan Gravenberch for the second 45 minutes as Elliot and Alexis Mac Allister were introduced.

Lille's task looked impossible when Aissa Mandi was sent off for a second bookable offence for chopping down Luis Diaz.

Yet, within three minutes, Liverpool's club-record European run without conceding was brought to an end.

David swept home the rebound after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's effort had been blocked by Kostas Tsimikas.

Liverpool had not conceded for one minute shy of 10 hours since Christian Pulisic struck for AC Milan inside the first three minutes of their opening Champions League game of the season.

But it took just five minutes to restore the lead as Elliott's strike from the edge of the area took a huge deflection off Ngal'ayel Mukau to wrong-foot Lucas Chevalier.

- Agence France-Presse

DIOGO JOTA 'OUT FOR WEEKS' AS ARNE SLOT REVEALS WHAT INJURY LIVERPOOL STRIKER HAS SUFFERED

Arne Slot has confirmed Diogo Jota has suffered a muscle injury as the Liverpool boss backs Darwin Nunez to deputise for the Portugal striker in the coming weeks

Arne Slot head coach of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 press conference at AXA Melwood Training Centre on January 20, 2025(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Arne Slot has confirmed Diogo Jota has suffered a muscle injury that will keep him sidelined for "weeks not months" as he tipped Darwin Nunez to deputise for the Portugal international striker.

Jota will play no part in Liverpool's visit from Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday after suffering another injury having only returned last month from an upper body problem that was picked up in October's victory over Chelsea.

The No.20 scored after 22 seconds of his arrival in last week's 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest but suffered the latest issue in that game and sat out the 2-0 triumph at Brentford, which came via Nunez's stoppage-time brace on Saturday afternoon.

Asked for an update on Jota's latest issue, Slot said it would keep him on the shelf until next month, while he also offered a short update on Joe Gomez's own situation after a hamstring problem at West Ham United on December 29.

"Maybe Diogo is just a bit earlier than Joe," Slot said. "And both of them are expected to be back with us in weeks, not in months. But I've said many times before that the last stage of rehab is the most difficult one, or the one that can sometimes add a few days or not. Diogo overloaded a certain muscle a bit.

"I don't think it's the first time that [Nunez] in a situation like this. Even this season he's been in a situation like it. Jota has been out when in the Chelsea game someone hit him so hard that he was out for five, six, seven, eight weeks, I think. So that was a similar moment.

"And I know from the past that he's had long run-off games with Jurgen (Klopp) as well. But he is probably, as you guys say, in a good place now because he scored two. And so, yeah, of course it's simple.

"At the moment we've got four attackers that are top fit and able to start the game. And Darwin is one of them. And then the fifth one is Federico Chiesa. And the sixth one is he's not ready to start 90 yet, in my opinion. But he's coming closer and closer to be able to do so.

"The reason why he isn't is because he hasn't had many minutes yet. So it's not about him. It's about me not giving him so many minutes. So it's difficult for him then all of a sudden to go from five minutes to 90 minutes. So, yeah, that increases the chance for Darwin, of course, to get more playing time if one of the six is injured. And especially if it's a No.9."

Nunez was fortunate to avoid a second caution at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday after a mistimed challenge on Nathan Collins having already been booked for removing his shirt in celebration of the opening goal.

And while Slot conceded the Uruguay international was lucky on Saturday, he thinks the decision had no impact on the overall result considering it came in the final seconds of the match in west London.

"I'm almost happy that you asked me this question because he would have been sent off after 2-0, so not everybody is saying that's why they won and they were lucky," Slot said. "No, I can come up with a few decisions that went against us where we didn't get the points maybe, but let's not get into that.

"I think the most difficult thing in football is for a team, but also as an individual, to find consistency. Only a few players in the world are able to be at the same level every three days in a row. And then there's a big, big, big group of players that are able to play very good many times, but not every single time.

"And I think he's one of the players that belongs to the group that is good many, many, many times. But the next step for him would be nice if he can go into the bracket of the five, six, seven or eight players in the world that are outstanding every three days.

"And I do know we also have one or two players that are very high standard every three days. It's a nice challenge for him to go to that group of players as well."

- Paul Gorst

URUGUAY CLINCH 3-1 COPA AMERICA WIN OVER PANAMA

USA TODAY Sports 

 Maximilian Araujo, Darwin Nunez and Matias Vina scored as Uruguay beat Panama 3-1 in their Copa America Group C match in Florida on Sunday.

Uruguay's win saw them move level with the United States on three points. The U.S. beat Bolivia 2-0 in the day's other Group C match.

Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay, who have won the Copa America a joint record 15 times, were rewarded for their blistering early pace when Araujo fired home a sublime curling effort from the edge of the area in the 16th minute.

Panama grew into the match after the break and wasted several chances to get themselves back into the contest.

Jose Fajardo blasted an effort wide in the 52nd minute after a defensive error by Mathias Olivera, while Jose Rodriguez tested Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet with a ferocious shot from range.

Asked what he said to his team at halftime, Panama coach Thomas Christiansen told reporters: "I told them they have to be fearless.

"That they have to increase their level of confidence. That they are capable to do what they did in the second half. And after the goal, like Uruguay, we generated opportunities."

Uruguay were on the ropes for much of the second half but Nunez, who had already missed a string of chances, settled their nerves in the 85th minute with a coolly-taken volley into the bottom corner after a rebound dropped kindly for him.

In a frenetic spell during stoppage time, Vina rose highest to head home Uruguay's third from a set-piece before Michael Amir Murillo netted a consolation goal for Panama after cutting back onto his left foot and curling his shot past Rochet.

Uruguay's all-time leading scorer Luis Suarez, 37, was an unused sub.

Uruguay next face Bolivia in New Jersey on Thursday, while Panama take on the United States in Atlanta.

- Reuters 

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