LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he has no concerns about Mohamed Salah’s fitness ahead of their Champions League clash with Napoli.
Salah was an unused substitute in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday after missing training with an ankle problem.
“Mo Salah looks really good,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “I’m not worried about it.”
Klopp also provided an update on the fitness of defender Joel Matip, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
“Joel is improving but is some time away. There will be a scan this week and then we will see how it is.”
Klopp said he had plans to cope with Liverpool’s fixture pile-up over the next few weeks.
Their involvement in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, plus their progress in the League Cup, mean Liverpool have been forced to play two games within 24 hours of each other, over 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) apart in mid-December.
“We have plans for everything, as you can imagine, and we change them constantly. I have two smartphones and when one of them is ringing it is really rare it is good news,” said Klopp.
“You only get the messages when a player is not fine, so then we have to make new plans and we don’t know exactly how many players we’ll have to train.
“We know in the long term what we have to do, we know that’s all set. The athletic part of the sessions, we try to adapt to the specific situation of the players. The tactical things depend on the games we play.”
Victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s side on Wednesday would ensure defending champions Liverpool finish top of Group E with a game to spare but Klopp said he could not afford to look past the match.
Napoli are the only side to have beaten Liverpool this season but are currently seventh in Serie A.
“The biggest mistake we could make is that we have won it already and what would happen if we win it,” Klopp said.
“These things are not in our mind. Of course we try to win the game, it would be massive for us after the start we had. Napoli are a dangerous opponent.
“There are two weeks between tomorrow night and the Salzburg game (final match of the group) and we have three games in between. Why should I think about the Salzburg game now?“
Jurgen Klopp ‘not worried’ over Mohamed Salah fitness ahead of Napoli clash
Jurgen Klopp ‘not worried’ over Mohamed Salah fitness ahead of Napoli clash
- Salah was an unused substitute in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday
- Victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s side would ensure defending champions finish top of Group E
NBA–DCT Abu Dhabi long-term renewal expands league’s footprint across UAE
- Academy launch and youth programs headline new agreement which sees pre-season games continue in the capital
ABU DHABI: With New York Knicks orange and Philadelphia 69ers blue splashed across the stands, fans streamed into Etihad Arena on Yas Island last October to watch two of the National Basketball Association’s most well-known franchises take center stage.
The sell-out games were another sign of how far the NBA’s presence in Abu Dhabi and the region has spread, and that footprint expanded further this week when the league and the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi confirmed a long-term renewal of their collaboration.
The extension will see pre-season NBA Global Games continue in the emirate alongside the launch of a new NBA Global Academy and expanded youth and fan programming across the UAE.
The agreement formalizes what has increasingly become a year-round NBA presence in the capital. Since the first Abu Dhabi Games in 2022, a stream of high-profile NBA teams has played preseason games in the city — Milwaukee and Atlanta that year, followed by Dallas and Minnesota in 2023, reigning champions Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets in 2024, and the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers last October — bringing MVP talent such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid alongside championship rosters and perennial contenders.
Away from the bright lights of Etihad Arena, the NBA’s footprint has filtered into schools and community gyms across the UAE capital. The multiyear collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi has gone far beyond preseason games, encompassing the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Abu Dhabi League, fan festivals, player appearances and community clinics designed to promote healthy lifestyles and introduce young people to the fundamentals of the sport — an approach that research firm YouGov says has lifted basketball participation in the UAE by 60 percent and expanded the league’s local fanbase by more than 25 percent since the annual preseason visits began.
An NBA Global Academy will be launched in Abu Dhabi and will serve as the global hub for the league’s academy network, operating year-round as an elite basketball development and academic program for top high-school-age student-athletes from the UAE, the Middle East and beyond. The academy will include elite development programming for up to 20 local boys, basketball development activities for local girls and residential programming for up to 24 male prospects from the rest of the world.
Abu Dhabi will also host two annual youth tournaments under the expanded agreement, following the 2025 NBA Academy Showcase at NYU Abu Dhabi from Sept. 25 to 27, which featured elite teenage prospects from NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, IMG Academy in the United States, INSEP in France and Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said the renewal reflected the emirate’s long-term ambitions in sport and youth development.
“Extending our partnership with the NBA further strengthens Abu Dhabi’s position as the new home of basketball in the Middle East and reinforces our commitment to our youth,” he said.
“The establishment of the NBA Global Academy in Abu Dhabi will open pathways for Emirati and UAE-based athletes, coaches and sports professionals to learn from the world’s best, while our long-term hosting of the NBA Global Games will inspire the next generation.
“Beyond bringing world-class sporting events to our capital, the NBA’s youth programs and grassroots initiatives encourage healthy, active lifestyles and connect our residents to the universal values of sport.”
From the NBA’s perspective, the UAE capital has become one of its most significant overseas platforms.
NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum said the collaboration had been instrumental in growing basketball participation and fandom in the UAE and across the Middle East.
“We look forward to building on those efforts in the years to come, including through the launch of an NBA Global Academy that will help develop elite-level players from the region and around the world,” he added.
The extended collaboration will also expand youth development programming that has already reached more than 20,000 boys and girls since 2022, with plans to grow the existing Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA leagues in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain to six later this year and 12 by 2028.
The commercial side of the relationship is also evolving, with Experience Abu Dhabi remaining the NBA’s official tourism partner across the Middle East, China and Europe while the deal now extends into Africa, Asia, Canada and Latin America.
With more teams expected, academy graduates emerging and junior leagues expanding, Abu Dhabi’s role in the NBA’s international strategy appears set to deepen. Additional details about future NBA preseason games in Abu Dhabi, including the schedule and participating teams, are expected to be announced later.
