Slot: Liverpool Premier League Win Was One of 'Best Days of my Life'

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Liverpool - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 20, 2025   Liverpool manager Arne Slot celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Liverpool - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 20, 2025 Liverpool manager Arne Slot celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
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Slot: Liverpool Premier League Win Was One of 'Best Days of my Life'

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Liverpool - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 20, 2025   Liverpool manager Arne Slot celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Liverpool - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 20, 2025 Liverpool manager Arne Slot celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said Friday that winning the Premier League title at Anfield was one of the best days of his life as he turned his thoughts towards next season.

The Reds crushed Tottenham 5-1 on Sunday to seal a record-breaking 20th English league title with four games to spare, basking in a sensational atmosphere at their packed home ground.

"Maybe for all the Liverpool fans, but for many of them, one of the best days of their lives, and I think it was the same for me," AFP quoted Slot as saying.

"The way the whole day went, arriving at the stadium, how intense the fans already were, then during the game going 1-0 behind, so it even felt like, 'Oh, they're not going to give it to us, we have to work for it'.

"Scoring the goals, seeing how much it meant to the players but also to the fans, for me, was really special to be part of."

Liverpool travel to face fifth-placed Chelsea on Sunday before taking on Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace in their remaining games.

"It's nice that we play some very strong teams with Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Palace, so that gives immediate challenge to those games," said Slot, 46.

"It's the end of the season but we also have to look at this as the start of next season already."

The Dutchman said he was surprised by the 22-point between his side and Enzo Maresca's Chelsea, whom he felt were the better team when they met in October, even though Liverpool won 2-1.

"We found a way to win, and that is a quality that we didn't need a lot, because mostly we were the better team on the pitch," he said.

"But in that game we had to suffer more than any other game, maybe. So to be so many points ahead of them is a big compliment for everyone here at this club."

The former Feyenoord boss said he would rotate in the final games of the season.

"Some of them deserve to play already earlier this season because they've trained so well," he said. "They are good enough to play for this club but I mainly chose the same players.

"And I think this is also a moment to see where they are, also looking towards next season maybe a bit already. But definitely also because they deserve to play this season."

Slot said Liverpool's Premier League triumph would be a boost in terms of recruitment.

"Winning the league, having these fans, I think this is a big attraction to every player we want to bring in, and that's definitely helpful," he said.

Captain Virgil van Dijk and top-scorer Mohamed Salah have recently signed new contracts to stay at the Liverpool but Slot said there was no update on Trent Alexander-Arnold, who continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer transfer window.



Al-Attiyah Regains Dakar Rally Lead in Saudi Arabia, Sanders’ Penalty Gives Brabec Motorbike Win

 Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
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Al-Attiyah Regains Dakar Rally Lead in Saudi Arabia, Sanders’ Penalty Gives Brabec Motorbike Win

 Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)

Nasser Al-Attiyah regained the lead of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia after blasting the first all-sand stage of the race on Friday.

After the neutralized zone, five-time champion Al-Attiyah dominated the second half of the 331-kilometer stage between Hail and Riyadh, increasing his lead from nine seconds to nearly three minutes at the finish over teammate Sébastien Loeb for the first Dacia 1-2 in Dakar history.

“The car is working very, very well, I'm really happy,” Al-Attiyah said.

Al-Attiyah has now won a stage in an unprecedented 19 consecutive Dakar editions. It was his 49th stage win overall, just one behind the record shared by Ari Vatanen and Stéphane Peterhansel.

Taking stage six lifted Al-Attiyah back atop the general rankings, his four-minute deficit to Toyota's Henk Lategan overturned into a six-minute lead.

For the first time since the 2019 Dakar, Ford's Nani Roma was in the overall podium places at third, nine minutes off the pace with four-time champion Carlos Sainz on his tail.

Roma quickly caught up to stage five winner Mitch Guthrie and the teammates opened the way together. Toyota's Seth Quintero was Al-Attiyah's closest challenger for much of the day until the last 80 kilometers when he was overtaken by Loeb, the nine-time world rally champion trying to win his first Dakar at his 10th attempt.

Quintero, the stage two winner, was 21 seconds behind Loeb in third.

Al-Attiyah's win by 2:58 was the biggest margin of the first week going into the only rest day.

Sanders goes too fast

A speeding penalty cost defending motorbike champion Daniel Sanders the stage win and a bigger lead overall.

Sanders knew he made a mistake early on — he was clocked doing 98 kph in a 50 kph zone — and pushed his KTM harder than usual. He caught teammate Luciano Benavides soon after the neutralized zone and together they opened the way and gobbled up the time bonuses.

After about 30 kilometers, Sanders was opening the trail on his own and led his closest rival, 2024 champion Ricky Brabec, by more than five minutes. Sanders eventually finished just under five minutes ahead of Brabec.

But a six-minute penalty for the speeding gave Brabec his 12th career stage win and first of the week by just over a minute over Honda teammate Tosha Schareina and dropped Sanders to third, three seconds further back.

Sanders held on to the overall lead but it was cut to 45 seconds over Brabec, 10:15 over Benavides and 11:56 over Schareina.

“I'm not happy with the first week. I should have done a lot better,” Sanders said. “Just silly mistakes. We should have a bigger lead in the overall. So many things change every day and you just got to keep pushing to the limit.”

Brabec said: “My only goal is to catch Daniel on the day after the rest day and try to take some bonus time. That's how the rally works now, you have to open to win.”


Real Madrid Beats Atletico to Set Up Clasico Final at the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
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Real Madrid Beats Atletico to Set Up Clasico Final at the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)

Real Madrid got goals from Federico Valverde and Rodrygo to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Thursday, setting up a clasico final at the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia.

Valverde put Madrid ahead just two minutes into the match in Jeddah when the Uruguay midfielder scored directly from a free kick with a fierce strike that Jan Oblak could not keep out.

Valverde then helped make it 2-0 in the 55th when he threaded a pass through the middle of Atletico’s defense to meet Rodrygo’s run. The Brazil forward, who is playing well after a subpar season last year, did the rest by beating Oblak with a low strike for the winner.

Alexander Sorloth pulled Atletico close three minutes later when the striker headed in a cross by Giuliano Simeone. Atletico pressed for the equalizer but came up short.

Madrid was playing without the injured Kylian Mbappé, sidelined with a left knee sprain for a second straight game.

Xabi Alonso’s team will face Barcelona in the final of four four-team tournament on Sunday.

Valverde’s goal was his first of the season. He has struggled to join the attack this campaign because he has been forced to play out of position at right back due to injuries to Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“After so many games without scoring, today was a great day to find the net again and for the team to win,” Valverde said. “We must be prepared, rested and focused to win the final.”

Atletico created several chances to score in the final half but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did well to parry a point-blank header by Sorloth and a long strike by Alex Baena.

Atletico had beaten Madrid 5-2 when they met in La Liga in September.

Barcelona routed Athletic Bilbao 5-0 on Wednesday in the other semifinal. Last year, Barcelona thumped Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Derby record for Koke Atletico midfielder Koke Resurrección set a new record for Madrid derbies after playing his 44th game against his crosstown rival. That broke a tie he had with former Madrid star defender Sergio Ramos.

But after the loss, Koke concentrated on the missed opportunity for his team.

“It hurts because we wanted to be in the final,” the 34-year-old Koke said. “We got off on the wrong foot after (Valverde’s) great goal. We had our chances, but the ball wouldn’t go in.”


Kyrgios Says He Won’t Play Singles at Australian Open, Wawrinka Gets Wildcard

Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
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Kyrgios Says He Won’t Play Singles at Australian Open, Wawrinka Gets Wildcard

Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)

Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios said on Friday he will not play in the singles competition at this month's Australian Open as he is not ready to play ​five-set matches.

The 30-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam in 2015 but has struggled with a series of injuries in recent seasons, will only feature in the doubles at the event, which begins at Melbourne Park on January 18.

Kyrgios has fallen to number 670 in the world and would have needed a wildcard to play in the singles.

Tennis Australia (TA) ‌said on Friday ‌Stan Wawrinka had been given a ‌wildcard ⁠in ​what will ‌be the three-times Grand Slam champion's last appearance at the tournament before he retires at the end of the season.

"After some good conversations with TA I've made the call to focus on doubles for this year's AO," Australian Kyrgios wrote on social media.

"I'm fit and back on court, but five-setters are a different beast and ⁠I'm not quite ready to go the distance yet.

"This tournament means everything to me, ‌but I'd rather give my spot to ‍someone who's ready to make ‍their moment count.

"It's all building blocks and I'll be back ‍next year and pumped to compete. See you out there."

Kyrgios has undergone wrist reconstruction and had two knee surgeries since losing in the 2022 Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic.

He lost in straight sets in the ​opening round of the Brisbane Open by Aleksander Kovacevic on Tuesday. Kyrgios won the men's doubles at the ⁠Australian Open in 2022 when he partnered compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis to victory.

Wawrinka, who announced last month he would hang up his racket at the end of 2026, won the first of his three major titles at Melbourne Park and the 40-year-old was delighted to receive the wildcard.

"Winning the Australian Open in 2014, my first Grand Slam title, is an absolute career highlight for me, so I'm incredibly grateful to receive this wildcard," he added.

"To have the chance to play the Australian Open at the beginning of my final year on ‌tour means the world to me."

Australians Jordan Thompson and Chris O'Connell also received wildcards.