Champions League: goals and action from all 18 matches in league phase finale – live

⚽️ All the action from across Europe. Kick-off 8pm GMT
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Napoli Meret, Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus, Buongiorno, Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera, Vergara, Elmas, Hojlund.

Subs: Contini, Spinelli, Gutierrez, Lukaku, Beukema, De Chiara, Garofalo.

Published: January 28, 2026, 8:57 pm

Patrick Reed quits rebel LIV Golf tour in latest blow to Saudi-backed breakaway

• American becomes latest major winner to exit

• 2018 Masters champion will be eligible for PGA Tour

Patrick Reed has delivered the ­latest high-profile blow to LIV Golf by announcing he will leave the circuit before the start of its 2026 season.

The 35-year-old American former Masters champion joins Brooks Koepka by instead focusing on the PGA Tour. Reed will spend his immediate time on the DP World Tour, where he won the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. Reed tees up in Bahrain from Thursday.

Published: January 28, 2026, 5:30 pm

‘Insane’: LeBron and Mahomes lead backlash after Belichick’s reported Hall of Fame snub

• Belichick widely seen as one of greatest ever coaches

• Hall of Fame declines to comments on ESPN report

Six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick has been snubbed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, according to a report from ESPN.

Citing four unidentified sources, ESPN reported on Tuesday that Belichick didn’t receive the necessary 40 votes from the 50-person panel of media members and other Hall of Famers. ESPN said the longtime New England Patriots coach received a call from the Hall of Fame last Friday with the news. According to the report, Belichick said “Six Super Bowls isn’t enough?” when he was told the news.

The Hall of Fame declined to comment before its class of 2026 is announced at NFL Honors in San Francisco on 5 February.

Published: January 28, 2026, 2:23 am

‘Fascism is here now’: the US athletes pushing back on Trump’s America

World Series winner Sean Doolittle, Super Bowl champion Doug Baldwin and college star McKenzie Forbes have strong opinions on a troubled era

At 6.38pm CST on Saturday January 24, Indiana Pacer star Tyrese Haliburton posted on X: “Alex Pretti was murdered.”

The NBA star was one of the first athletes to respond to what can only be described as the public execution by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Pretti’s death was the culmination of a weeks-long campaign of terror conducted against residents of the city, including Renee Good, who was herself killed by DHS forces just two weeks earlier. Indeed, “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis has accounted for two-thirds of homicides in the city in 2026.

Published: January 28, 2026, 11:00 am

ICE agents expected to be deployed for Super Bowl in California, officials say

Local officials confirmed that ICE will conduct immigration operations during 8 February game in Santa Clara

US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents are expected to conduct immigration enforcement operations during next month’s Super Bowl game in Santa Clara, California.

Local officials confirmed to media that ICE is expected to deploy for the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations team has long worked the Super Bowl and other major sporting events, largely focused on preventing human trafficking and stopping the sale of counterfeit goods, but immigration operations would be unusual.

Published: January 28, 2026, 7:37 pm

Browns to appoint Todd Monken as head coach after slew of candidate withdrawals

• Ravens OC replaces Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland

• Several candidates passed on chance to take job

The Cleveland Browns are naming Todd Monken as their head coach, according to multiple reports.

Monken had been Baltimore’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, and his appointment comes after several high-profile candidates rejected the Browns. He has also interviewed for Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator opening and was tied to the New York Giants offensive coordinator spot after John Harbaugh was named coach.

Published: January 28, 2026, 6:10 pm

‘Animals in the zoo’: Iga Swiatek backs Coco Gauff over Australian Open privacy concerns

• American was caught on camera smashing racket

• ‘It would be nice to have some privacy,’ says Swiatek

Iga Swiatek backed up Coco Gauff’s complaints about a lack of privacy at the Australian Open by claiming that players are treated like zoo animals.

Gauff sought a spot away from ­public view to let her frustration out by smashing a racket after her quarter-final defeat against Elina ­Svitolina on Tuesday, only to find out she was on camera after all.

Published: January 28, 2026, 7:44 am

Zuffa Boxing says it will save the sport – but the fine print shows that fighters may pay the price

Dana White has promised boxers a new deal. But the deal he’s offering looks worse than the old one. Will Congress give Zuffa the power to dominate boxing?

Even Turki al-Sheikh’s most severe critics acknowledge that, under his guidance, the Saudi interests that have dominated professional boxing in recent years have paid generous purses to fighters. Now the Saudis have turned to TKO Group Holdings and Dana White to oversee Zuffa Boxing – a newly created vehicle designed to expand the footprint of its equity partners in the United States.

Zuffa Boxing is taking a far less generous approach toward fighters than Sheikh did. That’s evidenced by the contract that many of the fighters being recruited by Zuffa are being asked to sign.

Published: January 28, 2026, 8:00 am

Leon Goretzka says Donald Trump ‘makes us feel not only German but European’

• Midfielder speaks out on politics before World Cup

• Goretzka open to summer move to England from Bayern

The Germany international Leon Goretzka has said Donald Trump’s actions have left him feeling “not only German but also European”. The US president has recently threatened to take Greenland by force and called Europe “weak” and “decaying”.

Goretzka, who hopes to make the Germany squad for the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico this summer, told Die Zeit: “Of course, I’m aware of the political debates. I still expect it to be a great tournament – it will promote football there, and show many people want an incredibly exciting game. Donald Trump makes us feel not only German but also European.”

Published: January 28, 2026, 3:44 pm

Napoli v Chelsea: Champions League – live

⚽️ Updates from the 8pm (GMT) kick-off in Naples
⚽️ Live scores | Full table | Clockwatch | Mail John

Liam Rosenior spoke to TNT ahead of kick-off: ““It’s been a positive start. Firstly the players and their engagement and attitude and willingness to learn, I think they have enjoyed it as well. Tonight is another big test for us and if we manage to come through it , it gives us a great chance of being in the top eight.”

“They are very good on transition. They are very organised in their press. From what I’ve seen they will press us really, really high, whether that is from a 3-4-3 or a 5-4-1. They have outstanding players. They build well from the back. It is going to be a difficult game and we are prepared for it.”

Published: January 28, 2026, 9:03 pm

Zanotti fires Corinthians to shock semi-final win over Gotham in Women’s Champions Cup

• Gotham FC 0-1 Corinthians (Zanotti 83)

• Corinthians’ 40-year-old captain scores late winner

Corinthians earned a stunning victory against Gotham FC in the first semi-final of the inaugural Fifa Women’s Champions Cup, a goal from the 40-year-old Corinthians captain Gabi Zanotti in the 83rd minute the difference.

“Everyone was talking about maybe Gotham and Arsenal in the final but Corinthians are here and we played a very good game to beat the NWSL champions,” their manager, Lucas Piccinato, said. “We know what we can do.”

Published: January 28, 2026, 5:06 pm

Raheem Sterling leaves Chelsea by mutual consent and seeks fresh start

• Winger was highest earner at £325,000 a week

• He has not played this season after being frozen out

Raheem Sterling is looking to revive his career after departing Chelsea by mutual consent. The 31-year-old winger was the club’s highest earner but has been out of favour since the summer of 2024. Sterling had 18 months left on a deal worth £325,000 a week.

Sterling struggled to produce his best form after joining from Manchester City in 2022. He was the first player to arrive under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership and was hailed as a marquee signing.

Published: January 28, 2026, 4:30 pm

Fulham to sign Manchester City’s Bobb for £27m, Paquetá heading to Flamengo

• West Ham do Paqueta deal and sign Fulham’s Traoré

• Ward-Prowse poised for Burnley loan from West Ham

Manchester City have agreed a £27m deal to sell Oscar Bobb to Fulham, with the terms including a 20% sell-on clause. City also have matching rights to buy the Norwegian back should a fee be agreed for his sale in future.

An identical agreement allowed City to bring back James Trafford from Burnley last summer for the amount Newcastle had agreed to pay for the goalkeeper. Trafford left City for Turf Moor in July 2023.

Published: January 28, 2026, 5:13 pm

‘In our DNA’: Celtic deepen London ties with girls’ football initiative

On a soaked Brixton pitch, the club launch their latest programme as part of a widening mission that now stretches from Glasgow’s soup kitchens to Gaza relief

You would not expect to find coaches from the Celtic FC Foundation in Brixton. But even the torrential rain in south London has not stopped them and four local teams from turning out to help launch a programme that will provide girls and young women from underprivileged backgrounds in the local area with a chance to play football.

It is one of several initiatives established since the foundation began working in London to mark Celtic’s 125th anniversary in 2013. Another, based in Hackney, called Breaking Barriers helps integrate refugee and asylum-seeking communities through the sport.

Published: January 28, 2026, 10:30 am

Match of the Day scores viewing figures success with BBC’s new digital strategy

• Highlight clips available at 8pm on Saturday for first time

• Traditional viewing of weekend shows has declined

Match of the Day’s viewing figures have increased considerably this season in a vindication of the BBC’s new digital strategy. Traditional linear viewing of the Saturday and Sunday evening highlights programmes had declined by 770,000 to 6.88 million average weekly views last month compared with December 2024, but MOTD has gained 1.52 million viewers by making highlight clips available on iPlayer and its website at 8pm on Saturdays for the first time.

The combined viewing figures for MOTD on iPlayer covering the evening programmes and highlights clips had risen to 61.9 million by the end of December, a big increase on the 45.4 million views by the same period last season. The digital consumption of MOTD has almost doubled since the 2022-23 season, when the total figure by December was 33.1 million.

Published: January 28, 2026, 12:03 pm

Which football league had the fewest teams finishing with a positive GD? | The Knowledge

Plus: two sets of fathers and sons involved in one match, more record wins and losses and ‘sixes and sevens’

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Twelve of the 18 Bundesliga teams have a negative goal difference,” notes Damian Cerase. “I suppose this is down to Bayern handing out weekly drubbings, given that their GD is +57 after only 18 games. What’s the greatest disparity in a full season between the number of teams registering positive or negative GDs?”

“At the time of writing in the Bundesliga, all teams haven’t quite played the same number of games but nevertheless 66.6% of the teams have a negative goal difference,” begins Chris Roe. “For a complete season, the highest percentage in the English league system is from tier two in 2005-06 when 17 of the 24 teams (70.83%) had a negative goal difference; no doubt this was in part due to champions Reading, who had a +67 goal difference for the season. This example is narrowly ahead of two Premier League seasons (1998-99 and 2017-18) when 14 of the 20 (or 70%) had negative GD at the end of the season.

Published: January 28, 2026, 8:00 am

Sinner set for ‘toughest challenge’ in semi-final against Djokovic after swatting Shelton

• No 1 seed eases past American 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

• ‘It’s a grand slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak’

Jannik Sinner is under no illusion about the difficulty of his semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic after defeating Ben Shelton on Wednesday. “It’s one of the toughest challenges we have in our sport,” he said. “It’s great to have Novak playing at this very, very high level. It’s a grand slam, it’s always very difficult against Novak. Let’s see what’s coming.”

Sinner’s 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final victory over the seventh seed extended his commanding record against Shelton to 9-1, with Sinner winning 22 consecutive sets since the 23-year-old American won their first meeting. Such dominance over one of the best young players indicates just how far ahead Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are of the rest of the field.

Published: January 28, 2026, 2:34 pm

Tyson Fury set for heavyweight boxing comeback in April on Netflix

• Former world champion to face Arslanbek Makhmudov

• Briton has been training in Thailand

Tyson Fury is to make his comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov on 11 April in a fight that will be screened on Netflix. Fury announced his retirement a year ago after successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, but has been training in Thailand for his return to the ring. A venue has yet to be announced for the fight, but it will take place in the UK, making it Fury’s first contest here since he overcame Derek Chisora in 2022.

“Well it’s official I’m back doing what I [heart emoji] to do,” Fury posted on Instagram. “I’ve brought the biggest network along with me. Netflix, this is going to be astronomical. Blessed by God.”

Published: January 28, 2026, 2:00 pm

Bundee Aki start in doubt for Ireland’s Six Nations opener against France over ‘disrespect’

• Veteran dropped for alleged outburst at match officials

• Andy Farrell dealt further blow by Hugo Keenan injury

Ireland will kick off the Six Nations next week without two of their most influential and experienced ­backline players. Bundee Aki and Hugo Keenan, key members of the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia last year, should have been involved against France next Thursday, but they are facing spells on the sidelines for contrasting reasons.

Aki has not travelled to Ireland’s training camp in Portugal after a “misconduct complaint” relating to an alleged post-match incident with match officials after Connacht’s URC game against Leinster on Saturday.

Published: January 28, 2026, 1:05 pm

Australian Open 2026: Ben Shelton v Jannik Sinner – as it happened

Jannik Sinner, seeking a third Australian Open title in a row, thumped Ben Shelton in straight sets to set up a last-four meeting with Novak Djokovic

*Shelton 1-1 Sinner A big serve makes 15-0, but a decent return on to the line incites a netted forehand. No matter, Shelton shows good variety in the next rally, an inside-out backhand clipping the sideline for a winner, before an ace makes 4-15. But caught at the net having not done enough with the volley, he’s passed, then a netted slice takes us to deuce, and pressure. Shelton cannot afford to be be broken in the first game; he punishes down an ace, but is immediately hauled back, then another big serve allows the clean-up forehand. Ach, but just when a fantastic serve out wide looks to have set up the point, an overhit forehand restores deuce, and Shelton, despite nailing 10/10 first serves in this game, is having to deploy his entire array of shots to hold. He makes advantage again, sends down a decent second serve with the wind behind it, and a quality return renders it useless; back to deuce we go, Sinner slowly extracting his soul, but this time, Shelton makes advantage and closes out the game. Already, this is a lot of fun.

Shelton 0-1 Sinner* (*denotes server) Sinner hooks a forehand long, a shot that looks pretty relative to the mustard trainers, olive top and white hat, shorts and socks he’s been handed – why do they continually dress him in nonsense? Why does he let them? He soon makes 30-15 and Shelton misses the chance to properly get after a short second serve … but a framed forehand sends the ball into orbit and at 30-all, he has the sniff of a sniff. And this is more like it, the American coning in off a deep forehand, and it earns him break point; here we go. Ahahahaha, but you know what’s coming next: yes, a service winner that makes it 23 out of 29 break points saved in the tournament, backed up with a succession of forehands which facilitate the overhead putaway then, when Shelton goes with a drop, but down the line, not cross, which allows Sinner to rush in and mete out forehand treatment. He’s into the match.

Published: January 28, 2026, 11:33 am

Rodman’s sideline dance with Hayes caps USWNT’s sixth straight win

• Rodman strikes again as USA rout Chile 5-0

• Bethune, Joseph and Sams score first goals

• SheBelieves Cup in March is next up for US

Croix Bethune, Jameese Joseph and Emily Sams scored their first international goals and the United States went on to beat Chile 5-0 on Tuesday night in Santa Barbara, California.

Emma Sears and Trinity Rodman also scored for the US, who haven’t conceded a goal in five matches and haven’t lost in six.

Published: January 28, 2026, 3:42 pm

Bills promote OC Joe Brady to head coach as team aims to end Super Bowl drought

• 36-year-old will replace fired Sean McDermott

• Brady will become head coach for first time

The Buffalo Bills stayed in-house by promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady as their new head coach on Tuesday on a five-year deal.

The 36-year-old just completed his fourth season in Buffalo and his second full season as coordinator. He previously served as quarterbacks coach before taking over the offense after Ken Dorsey was fired midway through the 2023 season.

Published: January 27, 2026, 7:19 pm

USMNT’s Alex Freeman reportedly sold to Villarreal by Orlando City

• 21-year-old will move to Spain for a reported $4m

• Defender is the son of former NFL WR Antonio Freeman

US national team defender Alex Freeman is set to move from Orlando City to Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga, The Athletic and ESPN reported on Monday.

The transfer fee reportedly starts at more than $4m but could top $7m with add-ons included. Per ESPN, Orlando City would get 15% of the proceeds if Villarreal sells Freeman in the future.

Published: January 27, 2026, 3:44 pm