MILAN, Italy: Liverpool strutted to a 3-1 win at AC Milan on Tuesday as the Reds got their campaign in the revamped Champions League off to a stylish start.
Arne Slot’s team reacted superbly to going behind in the third minute to a Christian Pulisic goal and ended up cruising to the three points thanks to strikes from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Fashion Week got underway in Milan on Tuesday and it was the away team who made all of the slick moves at the San Siro in a clash of European football royalty.
Liverpool and Milan have been crowned continental kings 13 times and have beaten each other in Champions League finals but the Reds were a class above and would have won by more had the woodwork not twice denied Mohamed Salah in the first half.
“It was a great day to celebrate your birthday at a stadium like this, and then to win,” said Slot, who turned 46 on Tuesday, to Prime Video.
“I wouldn’t have said this after five minutes but it went quite well.”
For Liverpool it was a return to perfect form after falling to a shock home defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend while Milan again struggled under new coach Paulo Fonseca ahead of Sunday’s Milan derby.
Fonseca has failed to convince Milan supporters, a large number of whom stayed away on Tuesday night with fewer than 60,000 turning up for their team’s highest profile fixture of the new league phase of Europe’s top club competition.
And Milan will likely have to face Italian champions Inter Milan, who take on Manchester City on Wednesday, without France goalkeeper Mike Maignan who limped off with a knee injury early in the second half.
“It’s a difficult start for us and we have to change things,” Pulisic told Sky in Italy before looking for an immediate response against Inter at the weekend.
“Of course it (the derby) is a big match for us,” he said. “We need to turn things around. We have a big opportunity to do that.”
Milan fans put up a giant display which read “fearless” before kick-off and the hosts tore straight into Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk desperately clearing Tijjani Reijnders low cross.
And Pulisic quickly had Milan ahead with his super low finish, punishing Liverpool’s dawdling defense after being brilliantly sent scurrying toward goal by Alvaro Morata at the end of a move which was started by Maignan.
Liverpool quickly responded however and were unlucky in the 16th minute when Salah smashed an effort with his weaker right foot off the crossbar.
And the away side, whose pressing had started to force Milan into giving the ball away cheaply, were level when Konate nodded home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s floated free-kick.
With the Reds taking control, Milan should have been behind before Van Dijk nodded Liverpool ahead, as Diogo Jota wasted a great chance seconds after Konate’s leveller and Salah smacked another shot off the bar on the half-hour mark.
Things got even worse for the home team in the 51st minute when Maignan, who had already dropped to the ground in pain twice during the first half, limped off after being clattered by Fikayo Tomori as the England defender desperately tried to stop Jota from extending Liverpool’s lead.
Maignan was replaced by teenager Lorenzo Torriani and the rookie could only look on in the 67th minute as Szoboszlai bundled home Cody Gakpo’s teasing cross after the Netherlands forward eased past sluggish Strahinja Pavlovic.
Disappointed Milan fans began streaming toward the exit long before the final whistle, after which a deluge of whistles and boos, and loud chants for their team to “show some balls,” met a thoroughly deserved defeat.
Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
https://arab.news/2pahs
Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Fashion Week got underway in Milan on Tuesday and it was the away team who made all of the slick moves at the San Siro in a clash of European football royalty
Expressions of disquiet concerning cricket’s power base
- Increasing number of players, coaches may be prepared to oppose overconcentration of power in game
Last week’s crisis over Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup ended with the International Cricket Council’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland. In a show of support for Bangladesh, the Pakistan Cricket Board indulged in saber rattling by suggesting that it may boycott the tournament.
This is unlikely and would invite severe repercussions, effectively creating a schism in cricket. The stance may be interpreted as a continuation of Pakistan’s ongoing challenge to India’s hegemony of the game.
In a sign of the way in which views have polarized, Jason Gillespie, a former Australian cricketer and international coach, posted the following on X: “Has there been an explanation from the ICC why Bangladesh could not play their matches outside of India? From memory, India refused to play Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan and were allowed to play those matches outside of Pakistan. Can someone make this make sense?”
Among the plentiful responses were many from Indian sources, who were not kindly disposed towards Gillespie’s question. He took the post down, saying: “I got abused for asking a simple question.”
On the surface it may appear to be a simple question, but it hits at the heart of a complex issue. Gillespie’s critics have been quick to seize on the fact that he was, for six months in 2024, coach of the Pakistan national men’s Test team and that he will be the coach of the new Kingsman Hyderabad franchise in the Pakistan Super League in April. This involvement has been interpreted as evidence of bias against India.
Another respected player, Jason Holder, former captain of the West Indies, expressed some forthright thoughts in a podcast earlier this month. One of these related to the selection of Pakistani players in franchise leagues. He commented that it was sad that “certain Pakistanis can’t be involved in certain teams because they are owned by Indian owners.” Holder also expressed his sadness at the impact on cricket of relations between India and Pakistan.
Separately, Moeen Ali, of England, went further in an interview given while playing in the Bangladesh Premier League in January. His view is that the ICC does not act like a neutral guardian of the game, effectively serving the interests of “one cricket nation.” Ali added that everyone inside the game knows “who actually runs things,” but few are willing to say so publicly.
Neither did he directly, but we are safe to assume the glaringly obvious — that he was referring to India. It is understandable that many within the game are reluctant to rock the boat, partly out of fear about the opprobrium which follows, and to which Azeem Rafiq can testify.
Gillespie has been the source of social media abuse and Holder has also been subject to negative comment. He has played for franchises owned by Indians in India, South Africa, the UAE and the Caribbean. Ali has done likewise and it is noticeable that in December 2025 he announced that will play in the Pakistan Super League in April 2026, rather than the Indian Premier League, where he has represented three franchises since 2018. The league is now adopting an Indian, youth-driven strategy, which is reducing opportunities for experienced overseas players. In a surprise announcement this week, Ali announced that he will play for Yorkshire in the T20 Blast in 2026. This reverses his decision during 2025 to retire from English domestic cricket.
Opportunities for cricketers to play in franchise leagues are still on the increase. Almost 11 months ago I was fortunate to interview Abhishek Bachchan, who had been revealed as a co-owner of the European T20 Premier League. The league, which is approved by the ICC, consists of a partnership between the national cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. At the time of the interview the intention of the owners was to hold the first edition of the event between July 15 and Aug. 3, 2025.
In my column, following the interview, I suggested that the ETPL’s promoters had their work cut out, given that there were only five months to go until mid-July. It was clear that discussions with players and their agents were underway, as were those with potential franchisees and investors. At the time that space was crowded because the focus of these stakeholders was on the sale of equity in The Hundred. Postponement of the ETPL was announced in early June 2025. In the intervening months, time has been well spent leading to last week’s announcement that the ETPL will launch in August 2026.
Exact dates and format have not been revealed, but it is understood that late August to mid-September is the preferred option. The original idea was to hold the league prior to The Hundred, which occupies most of August. Instead, it is now planned to open after the 2026 Hundred concludes on Aug. 16. Originally a six-franchise league was proposed, based on teams in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. This remains the case and, to date, three teams have been confirmed for Amsterdam, Belfast and Edinburgh.
It was a surprise to learn the identities of the owners. The rights to own the Amsterdam Flames have been acquired by a trio consisting of Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain; Jamie Dwyer, one of Australia’s greatest-ever male hockey players; and Tim Thomas, former CEO of the Centre for Australia-India Relations.
Another Australian cricketer, a current one, Glenn Maxwell, will own the Belfast-based Irish Wolves franchise, along with Rohan Lund, formerly CEO of the NRMA Group in Australia. In Edinburgh, the rights for the Castle Rockers lie with two former New Zealand cricketers, Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum, older brother of Brendon McCullum, the current coach of the England men’s cricket team.
None of these individuals appear to have had any previous involvement in the ownership of franchise teams. Indeed, Waugh said that he has “always been selective about where I invest my time and energy in cricket. In many ways it marks a return to the game for me — but in a very different role. This is about helping uphold the standards and spirit of cricket while supporting its growth into Europe, which remains the game’s last great frontier.”
A stated aim of the ETPL promoters is to develop local talent. This was echoed by Kyle Mills, who referred to a partnership with Otago Cricket Board in New Zealand. This is intended to bring a pipeline of young talent through to the Rockers, along with the potential to develop local players and inspire the next generation to take up cricket. Each of the three franchises has secured big-name Australian and New Zealand cricketers for the inaugural competition.
So far, there is a different feel to the ETPL. As yet, the franchises are not funded by existing franchise owners in other leagues, some of which are dependent on Indian money. The Big Bash League is heading for privatization in Australia and there is little doubt that there will be strong interest from Indian investors. However, if an increasing number of players and coaches are prepared to express their disquiet about the overconcentration of power in the game, and alternative investors emerge, then the engulfing of cricket by one nation may be challenged.
