Liverpool’s Firmino Faces Spell out with Serious Hamstring Injury

Roberto Firmino. (Getty Images)
Roberto Firmino. (Getty Images)
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Liverpool’s Firmino Faces Spell out with Serious Hamstring Injury

Roberto Firmino. (Getty Images)
Roberto Firmino. (Getty Images)

Liverpool’s Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino sustained a serious hamstring injury in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid and there is no timeline for the 30-year-old’s return, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday.

The injury could rule Firmino out for a number of matches, starting with Sunday’s Premier League trip to West Ham United as second-placed Liverpool look to close a three-point gap on leaders Chelsea.

Firmino has made eight league appearances this season and has scored four goals. He has another two goals in the Champions League from three games.

“Bobby is not good news with a serious hamstring injury, really unfortunate. We don’t know exactly how long he’ll be out but it’ll be not now after the international break directly. We have to work on that,” Klopp told Liverpool’s website.

Klopp said defender Joe Gomez (calf) and midfielder Curtis Jones (eye) will also miss Sunday’s clash due to injuries.

“Curtis is a completely different story (to Firmino), he was unlucky in training - he got a finger that scratched the eye. I had a lot of injuries to players in my career, that was not involved,” Klopp added.

“He is on the way back but we have to see how long exactly. He will be back after the international break, for sure, but in the international break we have to see when he can start doing proper stuff again.

“And Joey, hopefully after the international break as well.”

Speaking in his pre-match news conference later, Klopp hailed his West Ham counterpart David Moyes who completed 1,000 games as manager in their 2-2 Europa League draw with Genk on Thursday.

Fourth-placed West Ham have been a revelation this season and could climb as high as second in the English top flight with a win.

“He gets better and better,” Klopp said. “I don’t know if he reinvented himself, but it’s absolutely incredible. Everybody who watches West Ham knows they’re now a full package.

“You watch them and it’s fun. They are a high intensity team.”



Chelsea Through to Club World Cup Knockouts, Benfica Beat Bayern

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
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Chelsea Through to Club World Cup Knockouts, Benfica Beat Bayern

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera

Chelsea beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a Club World Cup last-16 tie against Benfica, who defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 earlier in searing heat.

Elsewhere minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors while Los Angeles FC bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo, AFP reported.

In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th minute.

The German champions, who left the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise on the bench at kick-off, were unable to come back in sweltering afternoon conditions in heatwave-hit North Carolina.

Kane and Olise came on at half-time and Bayern did then look more dangerous, but Leroy Sane was denied when clean through by Benfica's Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

A draw would have allowed Bayern to top the section but a Kimmich effort that found the net was ruled out for offside and Trubin denied Sane again while Kane mistimed a header late on.

It was Benfica's first ever win in 14 competitive meetings with Bayern and it meant they finished first and will next play Group D runners-up Chelsea in Charlotte in the last 16 on Saturday.

"I think this was a very fair and important win, historic really," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage.

"We were as straightforward and assertive as we should be and I think we were very effective in delivering our strategy today."

Bayern finished second and so will go to Miami on Sunday to take on Brazilian giants Flamengo, with a potential quarter-final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain awaiting.

"You could see that it was really tough conditions so respect to both teams for that," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.

"Our first half was not good enough for sure, the second half was definitely more the level that we expected and good enough to score one or two or three goals."

That result meant whatever Boca did against Auckland City in Nashville would not be enough to qualify, but the Argentine giants were still expected to do better than draw 1-1 against the tournament minnows from New Zealand.

Auckland had lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica but this time they recovered from falling behind in the first half when goalkeeper Nathan Garrow palmed a Lautaro Di Lollo header into his own net.

Christian Gray equalized with a header in the second half to earn the sole representatives from Oceania a remarkable point.

"You can't say we haven't learned from the experience of being at the tournament, I'm thrilled for the players and the club, it's wonderful. It's something to go home with," said City coach Paul Posa.

"We're a tiny club with a huge heart and that's evident for all to see."

The game was the fifth so far at the tournament to be suspended due to a weather warning, with play stopping for almost an hour -- when the action restarted not a drop of rain had fallen at Geodis Park.

Chelsea eased through to their meeting with Benfica with a clinical 3-0 win over Esperance at Lincoln Financial Field in Group D in Philadelphia.

New signing Liam Delap opened his account for the club with a deftly-taken finish in stoppage time at the end of the first half, just moments after Tosin Adarabioyo had headed the Blues in front.

Teeenage talent Tyrique George added Chelsea's third deep into injury time at the end of the game with a low shot that crept under Esperance goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.

Flamengo, who had already assured themselves of top spot in the section after wins over Chelsea and Esperance, wrapped up their first-round campaign with a 1-1 draw against already-eliminated LAFC in Orlando.

Los Angeles forward Denis Bouanga threatened to give the MLS side an upset win in their final game of the tournament after a cool finish in the 84th minute, only for Wallace Yan to equalize for Flamengo two minutes later.