Agence France-Presse

10h ago

John Sibley / Reuters

London – Barcelona target Philippe Coutinho has been left out of Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League play-off first-leg match away to Hoffenheim on Tuesday.

The Brazil playmaker, 25, missed Liverpool’s 3-3 draw at Watford on Saturday due to a back problem.

But he submitted a transfer request the day before the game and is reported to have been the subject of an unsuccessful £90 million ($116.7 million, 99 million euros) bid from Barcelona.

Barcelona have targeted Coutinho, as well as Borussia Dortmund’s French winger Ousmane Dembele, after selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record 222 million euros ($261.7 million) deal.

Liverpool’s American owners Fenway Sports Group issued a statement last Friday saying Coutinho would not be sold at any price.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he has no control over the situation.

“As a manager of a football club I have bosses, and if the bosses decide, for example, we sell a player or we don’t sell him, then I have to accept it,” he said after the game at Watford.

“The only thing is I work with the players I have. That is what I’m always doing.”

Liverpool play Hoffenheim at Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Tuesday and welcome the German side to Anfield next Wednesday, with a place in the Champions League group phase at stake.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge will also miss the trip to Germany due to a thigh injury.

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly urged Buffalo Bills fans to keep their faith in the team after Friday’s unexpected trades that sent wide receiver Sammy Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams and cornerback Ronald Darby to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’m a former player,” he said during a visit to Sunday’s training camp practice at St. John Fisher College. “You want to win. You want to win now. I get it. I understand that. It’s not always that way with all fans. But the ones who really do get it, understand it, that know the game of football — [they know] that sometimes these things take a little longer. Never would anyone of us expect 17 years not being able to see a January football game.

“Just got to keep your hope, stay on the wagon, hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.”

Kelly lauded Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula for allowing general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott to reshape their roster with the trades, which included the Bills acquiring the Rams’ second-round pick and the Eagles’ third-round pick in 2018.

In January, Kelly said Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was not on the level of a franchise quarterback. The trade of Watkins now strips Taylor of his top target.

Neymar: Desire for ‘bigger challenge,’ not money, behind switch to PSG

Neymar: Desire for ‘bigger challenge,’ not money, behind switch to PSG

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe took to social media on Saturday to say he “dodged a bullet” with a right ankle injury after he had been carted off the field during practice.

Wolfe found himself in a pile during a running play during a team drill early in practice — tackle Menelik Watson limped, flexing his own right leg following the play — and stayed down. Trainers helped Wolfe onto a cart, and he was taken to the locker room.

Wolfe later expressed his relief on Twitter that the injury wasn’t as serious as it initially appeared when trainers helped him into the Broncos’ complex, as he couldn’t put weight on his right leg.

Wolfe also posted a picture of his swollen ankle after he had an MRI. In a text to ESPN’s Josina Anderson Wolfe, he said the injury was a sprain and that he would be ready for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against the San Diego Chargers.

Just a little swelling ? pic.twitter.com/iCz1TL7FhE

— Derek Wolfe (@Derek_Wolfe95) August 12, 2017