Thiago Motta believes the Juventus players will "all give something more" for Bremer after he suffered a potentially season-ending injury.

The Brazilian, who had played every single minute this season, was forced off with an anterior cruciate ligament injury early in their 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

He has played a big part in Juventus keeping six clean sheets from six games in the league and has played more minutes (540) while making the most interceptions (six) and blocks (11) among his team-mates in the competition. 

Motta expects him to be a big miss against Cagliari at the weekend.

"Gleison [Bremer] is an important player for us," Motta said. "I'm very sorry for the boy, because already, humanly speaking, he is fantastic, technically I don't need to say it, we all know it.

"From now on we will all give something more, also because if it had been another team-mate who had to stop like that, I am convinced that he would have taken this responsibility to give something more every day."

Motta will also be without forward Timothy Weah, winger Nicolas Gonzalez, midfielder Vasilije Adzic, along with long-term absentee Arkadius Milik, but the manager expects a positive show from the players who come into the side. 

"Whoever comes in, I am convinced they will give something more," Motta said.

"Always thinking about the well-being of the team and giving a good performance to obtain the positive result, which is what we want to do.

"Tomorrow, in our stadium, our home, in front of our fans, a full ground, a great football atmosphere and we will do our job well from the first to the last minute."

Juventus impressed in Europe, recovering not only from early injuries to Bremer and Gonzalez, but also from going behind twice, and having keeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off.

Now, Motta wants his side to keep that enthusiasm without getting carried away.

"The enthusiasm, used well, is always good, and we use it to work," the manager said.

"We use it to come to the pitch every day and do our job well. This is the great advantage of being able to work with enthusiasm.

"It helps, and we want to maintain that enthusiasm, but it only depends on us. We will always have our feet on the ground, aware of our strengths, and using our strengths in the right way."

French midfielder Paul Pogba had his four-year doping suspension cut to 18 months on Friday, meaning he can return to action in March, but Motta's only concern is the immediate future of his team.

"On Paul Pogba, the club will evaluate what to do," Motta said.

"As for me, Pogba has been a great player, who hasn't played for a long time. Now I'm focused on tomorrow's game and everything else doesn't matter much to me at this moment."

Diogo Jota's early goal was enough to secure Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Portuguese forward netted after just nine minutes at Selhurst Park, darting in behind to pick out the bottom-left corner on his 100th start for the Reds in all competitions.

It could have been a different story though, as Eddie Nketiah had a goal ruled out for offside in the first minute, setting off too early before he dinked Alisson. 

The Eagles pushed for a late equaliser but could not breach Liverpool's backline despite their late flurry of chances.

A sixth victory from seven matches moves Arne Slot's side four points clear at the top of the table before title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City play later on Saturday, while Palace remain without a win in 18th.

Data Debrief: Slot continues flying start

Liverpool have won all four of their away games under Slot so far, with the Dutchman just the fourth manager in Premier League history to manage the feat.

He is also the first Reds manager to win as many as nine of his first 10 games in charge (L1).

Palace showed some late fight, but it was not enough to flip the script and earn their first win of the Premier League season, with this their longest winless start since 2017-18.

Novak Djokovic marked his Shanghai Masters return with a hard-fought straight-sets win over Alex Michelsen.

The four-time champion, who is appearing in this event for the first time since 2019, required two tie-breaks before prevailing 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (11-9) in just under two hours.

Djokovic, still donning a protective sleeve over his right knee, made a slow start in only his second match since losing to Alexei Popyrin in the US Open third round, winning just four points in the first three games as he fell 4-1 behind.

However, the 24-time major winner broke back in the seventh game before dominating the tie-break for first blood.

Roles were reversed in the second set as Michelsen cancelled out an earlier break in game seven.

However, the American squandered two set points to level and was eventually punished by Djokovic, who will play either 28th seed Flavio Cobolli or three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka in the next round.

Data Debrief: Djokovic continues American dominance

Djokovic was given an early scare, but his experience eventually showed as he came through.

Including team events, the Serb has now won his last 33 ATP-level matches against American opponents, with his last such defeat coming against Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in 2016. 

The 24-time major winner also demonstrated his determination when the pressure intensified, and he has now come through 12 of his 16 tie-breaks played this season.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique does not regret dropping Ousmane Dembele for disciplinary reasons for their midweek Champions League defeat to Arsenal.

Dembele has stepped up to lead PSG's attack this season after Kylian Mbappe left for Real Madrid, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in all competitions.

However, the France international was left out of Luis Enrique's squad for Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, where they only managed two shots on target in a flat attacking display.

It was reported that Dembele's omission was the result of a dispute with Luis Enrique, who stands by his decision to leave him out.

"When a player doesn't meet their obligations, this is the sort of thing that can happen. Everything is now in order," Luis Enrique said ahead of Sunday's trip to Nice.

"I'm tough when I have to be tough and more permissive when it is needed. That is one of my big skills as a coach and as a person... 

"Every player has a series of obligations to meet, so every player who does that is available.

"If they make a serious mistake, I will make the right decision, whether it is easy or difficult. I have no issue in doing that even if it seems difficult because we always think about what is best for the team."

Ligue 1 leaders PSG are unbeaten with 16 points, ahead of Monaco on goal difference.

"We're doing well. After analysing the game [against Arsenal], we've changed our mentality and we're back in league action, ready to compete. That is a good thing because if you lose, there is a game straight after," Luis Enrique said.

"We are imperfect, we will improve but I am certain that this team will fight in all competitions. If we replay this match against Arsenal, at home at the Parc des Princes, perhaps the result will not be the same."

Nice are ninth under new coach Franck Haise and Luis Enrique believes his side face a daunting task in breaking down a defence that has only been breached six times. 

"They have a well-known coach with a personality that he instils in his teams... They play at a high level, so it will be difficult. They press high up the pitch and are strong on the ball," he said.

"They defend well and it will certainly be tough. It has always been a difficult place to go but we are motivated to continue doing what we are doing to stay top of the table."

Vincent Kompany is relishing a "special game" when Bayern Munich face Eintracht Frankfurt in a battle of the Bundesliga's top two teams on Sunday.

Bayern top the table with 13 points after their first five games, with Eintracht just a point behind after recovering from losing their opener with four straight wins.

However, Kompany's side travel to Deutsche Bank Park seeking a response after two winless games.

After their perfect start to the Bundesliga campaign was ended by a 1-1 draw with reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen, they went down 1-0 to Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Kompany is only looking forward.

"It is a special game in Frankfurt against a very tough team," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference. "They have a lot of young players with a lot of talent, so the team can grow.

"For us, it is a normal game. We have to get our points and keep going in the Bundesliga. I am only focused on the next game.

"It is always important after every game, win or lose, to say the game is now behind us and now comes the next game. We have a lot to take into our next game and that should be the reason for our success."

Once again, Bayern will be without Jamal Musiala, who remains sidelined with a hip injury, and Kompany hopes to have the Germany attacking midfielder available as soon as possible.

"We know how good and how important Jamal is for the club and Germany," the Bayern head coach added. "He is a young player and our total priority is to get him back fit and stay fit."

England captain Ben Stokes is out of their first Test against Pakistan having failed to recover from a hamstring tear in time.

Stokes suffered the hamstring injury in August playing in The Hundred and has not played since, missing England's three-match series against Sri Lanka last month.

England said last week that the 33-year-old was "on track" to participate in the tour and trained away from the rest of the team in their first session.

Stokes confirmed he will miss the first Test, which begins on Monday in Multan, and Ollie Pope will continue to deputise as captain in his absence.

"I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this game but have taken the call to miss this one because I've not quite managed to get game-ready," Stokes told BBC Sport.

"There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme. We got to a certain point, but looking at the picture of what we've got coming up and physically where I'm at, I'm not quite ready to play.

"It's always frustrating to miss out. I've got some good things to focus on, so even though I'm not playing, I've got a goal in mind."

The second Test starts on October 15, but the all-rounder admitted he was not sure whether that was a realistic target for his return.

"I've pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I'm at now. I think I'm further ahead than what we expected," he added.

"I'll be working just as hard over the next 10 days to try to get myself fit for the second Test."

In his absence, Durham seamer Brydon Carse will make his England Test debut.

He has previously played 19 ODIs and four T20s for England and will make his red-ball bow just over a month after completing a three-month ban for historical gambling offences.

England XI for first Test against Pakistan: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Bryson Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

Coco Gauff recovered from a set and a break down to reach the China Open final with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Paula Badosa on Saturday.

Having given up an early break in the opener, Gauff got one of her own by converting her eighth break point in a mammoth eighth game featuring 10 deuces, only for Badosa to hit back immediately to go a set up.

Gauff lost serve immediately in the second set to go on the back foot, only to level the match with back-to-back breaks, the second of them to love.

The decider began with a series of breaks, Gauff taking two of them as the momentum swung her way, then she protected her lead all the way to reach her first final since winning January's Auckland Open.

The 20-year-old is the youngest player to reach the women's singles final at the China Open since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

She has fought from a set down to win in each of her last three matches, the first time she has done so in her career. She is the first player to do so in WTA-1000 events since Iga Swiatek at Indian Wells 2022.

Data Debrief: Gauff brings up century

Saturday's match was Gauff's 100th at WTA 1000-level events, and her 67th such victory.

Among American players, only Serena Williams (87), Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula (70) have bettered her 67 wins through their first 100 matches at such events.

Jannik Sinner notched up his 250th career win after defeating Taro Daniel in his Shanghai Masters opener.

The world number one wrapped up a commanding 6-1 6-4 victory over his Japanese opponent in just over an hour-and-a-quarter on Saturday.

Sinner, who is fresh from reaching the Beijing final last time out, is targeting his seventh silverware of the season, in which he has already triumphed at the Australian Open and US Open.

"I felt quite comfortable today," said the Italian, who set up a clash with 31st seed Tomas Etcheverry. "I also feel in good shape physically, which is very important for me.

"Of course, I will try to improve for tomorrow's performance, but today I was serving really, really well - especially in important moments - and was moving well."

Data Debrief: 250 up for Sinner

Sinner became the first player born in the 2000s to reach 250 career wins, while taking his tally for a remarkable campaign to 60.

The Italian, who won 64 matches last term, is the sixth player aged 23 or under to record 60 or more ATP wins in successive seasons, after Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Sinner also maintained his perfect record in opening-round matches this year (14-0), and is now 51-0 against players ranked outside the ATP top 20.

Carlos Alcaraz began his Shanghai Open campaign with a straight-sets win over China's Shang Juncheng, bringing up his 10th straight victory.

Just three days on from his epic victory over Jannik Sinner in the China Open final, Alcaraz recorded a 6-2 6-2 win over Shang inside one hour and 17 minutes.

The four-time grand slam winner wasted no time by breaking in the very first game of the encounter, then repeated the trick six games later to take the opener, avoiding any pressure as he won 82% of his first-serve points.

Alcaraz produced the shot of the match early in the second set, producing a brilliant backhand flick to salvage a point while backtracking from the net.

Back-to-back breaks midway through the second set sealed Alcaraz's 10th straight victory, after which he hailed the performance of his 19-year-old opponent.

"I'm not used to playing against players younger than me," Alcaraz said. "He has been playing good tennis lately, winning his first ATP title [in Chengdu], so I'm pretty sure he's going to climb the rankings. 

"At the net he told me that it's a pleasure share the court with you. So these kinds of things that I hear from younger players, it's great."

Data Debrief: Double figures for Alcaraz

Alcaraz's victory was his 10th in succession since he suffered a shock second-round defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open in August.

He will face another Chinese player in the next round, taking on world number 560 Wu Yibing. 

The Premier League has rejected a request from Manchester City to delay the start to their 2025-26 campaign to allow for more recovery time after the Club World Cup.

As 2022-23 Champions League winners, City are one of two English clubs – alongside Chelsea – to have secured a spot at FIFA's first 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States next year.

The tournament's expanded format has proven extremely controversial, provoking widespread criticism for denying players rest time during the off-season.

Players' union Fifpro has started legal proceedings against FIFA over the scheduling of the tournament, claiming the fixture schedule has become "unworkable".

The Club World Cup is set to run from June 15 to July 13, with players involved unlikely to receive substantial rest time before the domestic season begins in early August.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham, boss Pep Guardiola revealed City had already seen a request to delay their opening game knocked back.

"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," Guardiola said. "Thank you so much.

"I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. 

"Would the Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. They won't postpone these games so there will be a moment of, 'what do we do?

"I don't have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense."

Luis Suarez feels Marcelo Bielsa's coaching style has "divided" Uruguay's national team, as he revealed the negative atmosphere within the camp during the Copa America.

Suarez retired from international duty last month as Uruguay's leading scorer with 69 goals, while his tally of 143 caps is only bettered by Diego Godin (161).

The veteran forward was part of the side that finished third at the Copa America in July; La Celeste's best performance at the tournament since lifting the trophy in 2011.

However, he revealed it was not a happy camp in the United States, where Bielsa's tactics and approach caused friction among the players.

Suarez said some were contemplating their international futures, while he was critical of the treatment of midfielder Agustin Canobbio, who was used as a "sparring partner".

"I will ask the fans not to take it out on the players when things go wrong," the Inter Miami forward told DSports. "Bielsa has divided the whole group because of the way he trains.

"The players will reach a limit, they'll explode. There were even team-mates who said to me they were only playing in the Copa America and nothing else.

"We all know that he doesn't like to deal with leaders or players with experience. I had to keep quiet out of respect for the national team and for the sake of coexistence. I didn't want to be part of the problem.

"A player who is one of the 26 selected for the Copa America can't be made to participate as if he were a 'sparring' partner. It's annoying. I understand Agustin. I'll support him, he's been holding back a lot.

"The staff are not allowed to come in and greet us or eat with us. Many of the players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say: 'good morning'. He didn't even say hello. It hurts me to see what the national team is going through."

Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger has lauded Barcelona's Lamine Yamal as 'ridiculous' following the teenager's rapid rise to stardom for their fierce LaLiga rivals. 

Yamal broke into Barca's first-team last term, making 50 appearances in all competitions before announcing himself on the international stage for Spain at Euro 2024. 

He became the first Spanish player to register four assists in a single European Championship tournament.

It was also the joint most that any player has ever assisted at a single edition of the tournament that Opta has on record (1980 onwards).

Yamal also broke Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup final for Brazil against Sweden by becoming the youngest player to feature in a major international tournament final at the age of 17 years and 249 days in Spain's 2-1 win over England. 

And the teenager has picked up where he left off in Germany, already notching 10 goal involvements (five goals and five assists) in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.

The 17-year-old has also completed the joint-most dribbles alongside Sevilla's Chidera Ejuke (23) in LaLiga this season, while only Raphinha (26) has created more chances for Barcelona in the league this season than Yamal (17). 

"You have to give credit where credit is due," Rudiger told The Inside Scoop podcast when asked about Yamal.

"He is 17, it's ridiculous. The player he is already for them [Barca] at 17, it's quite scary. What he did in the Euros, you have to give kudos to him. He has a great future ahead.

"I think they [Barca] have a player who has a [big] career and hopefully, he will stay healthy."

Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break. 

Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break. 

Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.

The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run. 

Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.

"I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.

"If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.

"We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.

"That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."

But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession. 

Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship. 

McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A. 

"We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.

"Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.

"We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."

Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. 

"Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said. 

If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.

"Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."