Klopp, Salah Involved in Touchline Spat During Liverpool's Draw at West Ham

Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Juergen Klopp Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Juergen Klopp Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
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Klopp, Salah Involved in Touchline Spat During Liverpool's Draw at West Ham

Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Juergen Klopp Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Juergen Klopp Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and star forward Mohamed Salah were involved in a touchline confrontation during the team’s 2-2 draw with West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Salah was a substitute for the game and was preparing to come on in the 82nd minute when Klopp went over to speak to the Egypt winger.
Salah answered back with his arms outstretched then started to point at Klopp, who was nodding while looking out onto the field. Darwin Nunez, who was also about to enter as a sub, got in between Salah and Klopp and pushed away his teammate.
Klopp refused to divulge the reason behind the spat, The Associated Press reported.
“No, we already spoke in the dressing room,” Klopp said. “For me, that’s done.”
Klopp is leaving at the end of the season after nearly nine years in charge.
The 31-year-old Salah is going through a run of poor form, scoring in just one of his last six games. He has started on the bench for two of Liverpool’s last three matches.



PSG Coach Faces Crucial Month in Fight for Champions League Survival

Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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PSG Coach Faces Crucial Month in Fight for Champions League Survival

Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

January could be a crucial month in determining Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique's future at the club.
While runaway league leader PSG is unbeaten in domestic competition heading into Sunday's Trophée des Champions (the French super cup) against Monaco, it is a far different story in the Champions League.
Three defeats in the new-look group format have left PSG in a perilous position, and the ambitious Qatari-backed club faces the threat of elimination.
With only two games remaining PSG is in a dismal 25th place out of 36 teams, with the bottom 12 all going out.
PSG next faces 2023 champion Manchester City at home on Jan. 22 before traveling to play German club Stuttgart the following week.
Those would already be tough games, but they are made even more difficult given the fact that City and Stuttgart are similarly in danger and need victories. City is one point ahead of PSG with eight points and Stuttgart is level on seven.
Stuttgart's penultimate game is against Slovan Bratislava — which has lost all six matches so far and conceded 21 goals — and so victory there would put it ahead of PSG going into the final round, if Enrique's side fails to beat City.
City is struggling to defend its Premier League title and European success could prove coach Pep Guardiola's salvation, so the PSG game is massive for the club.
Defeat may prove costly for Enrique, who is PSG's eighth manager since Qatari investors QSI bought the club in 2011. In that time, Carlo Ancelotti is the only coach not to be sacked, leaving for Real Madrid in 2013.
The hire-and-fire approach is unlikely to spare Enrique if he suffers the crushing humiliation of being knocked out of the new giant group-stage format of the Champions League — where eight sides qualify directly and 16 reach the knockout phase playoffs.
Modest Lille and tournament newcomers Brest are both in the top eight while 2004 runner-up Monaco is 16th, leaving PSG last among the French clubs.
Whatever PSG achieves in France — with the Ligue 1 and French Cup double a possibility — Enrique will be judged on what happens in Europe's elite competition.