Liverpool slammed "hugely disappointing" leaks into a report that is said to apportion the majority of blame on UEFA for issues at last year's Champions League final.

UEFA promised to investigate the ongoings after the kick-off between Liverpool and Real Madrid was twice delayed at the Stade de France showpiece in Paris on May 28.

European football's governing body initially blamed the delays on thousands of supporters using "fake tickets", with an investigation promised after French police used tear gas on some fans.

It was widely reported on Monday the independent review, commissioned by UEFA, will find faults with the competition's organisers and the lack of venue risk assessment by French authorities.

UEFA as event owner is said to be assigned "primary responsibility" and the report is set to say the police and French Football Federation "bear responsibility" because of their roles to ensure public safety.

But Liverpool bemoaned the high-profile report being leaked before an official announcement after months of investigation. 

"It's hugely disappointing that a report of such significance, such importance to football supporters' lives and future safety, should be leaked and published in this way," a club statement read.

"It's been over eight months of work by the independent panel and it is only right and proper to publish the contents of the report to our supporters appropriately.

"We will await to receive a copy of the report and digest it thoroughly before making any further comment."

Christophe Galtier will make a late call on whether to use Kylian Mbappe in Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League last-16 first leg against Bayern Munich.

The France forward returned to training ahead of schedule on Monday and has been included in PSG's 22-man squad for Tuesday's match at the Parc des Princes.

Mbappe had been ruled out of the match after sustaining a hamstring injury against Montpellier on February 1 that was expected to sideline him for three weeks.

While he came through his first training session back unscathed, Galtier will not risk the 24-year-old unless he feels ready to play a part.

"He's done everything possible to make himself available for this match," Galtier said during a press conference on the eve of the game. "He's trained the day before the match and felt good.

"We'll see tomorrow morning how he feels. The first person I'll listen to will be Kylian, then I'll make the wisest decision. He won't be on the bench to make up the numbers."

Mbappe trained alongside fellow superstar forwards Lionel Messi and Neymar, who are both expected to start against Bundesliga leaders Bayern.

"I'm surprised to see him back, yes. But we know Kylian's ability to recover faster than some," Galtier added.

"He trained as part of the team and was there for the whole session. His post-training feedback is very positive. But whether he'll be on the team sheet, I don't know."

Since making his PSG debut in 2017, Mbappe has recorded 57 goal contributions (34 goals and 23 assists) in 50 Champions League appearances.

During that timeframe, no other player has managed 20 goals and 20 assists in the competition.

Neymar, who was sat alongside Galtier at Monday's press conference, is hoping his team-mate will be able to join him and Messi in the frontline.

"He's an extremely important player, a great player," Neymar said. "When the three of us are together, we feel very strong. He told me he felt good. These are good signs."

PSG have struggled in Mbappe's short absence, having exited the Coupe de France against Marseille last week before losing 3-1 at Monaco in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Galtier is already under pressure just seven months after taking over, with the Champions League now taking on even more importance for the former Lille and Nice boss.

With the stakes so high in the blockbuster tie played over two legs between the reigning champions of France and Germany, Galtier is confident his players will step up.

"There is always pressure when you are a PSG coach, even more so in the Champions League," he said. "I don't think about my future at all. I am determined.

"The team I field tomorrow will look different to the one against Monaco. In these major games, I know my players know how to raise their level of play and their standards."

PSG have defeated Bayern in six of their previous 11 meetings, each of those coming in the Champions League, with the Bavarian giants prevailing five times.

"It's 50-50," Galtier said when asked who are the favourites to advance. "It's the Champions League. My players are used to these big meetings.

"No side will go through at the end of the first match, but I know I now have a more complete squad than previously in the competition."

Neymar is concerned by leaks from the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room and says they must "walk together" ahead of a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Leaders PSG suffered a 3-1 defeat to Monaco on Saturday after being dumped out of the Coupe de France by Marseille, increasing the pressure on head coach Christophe Galtier.

Neymar was reportedly involved in a heated exchanged with the Ligue 1 champions' sporting advisor Luis Campos and clashed with team-mates following the loss to Monaco, leading to talk the club are looking to sell the Brazil forward.

The former Barcelona man did not deny there were heated exchanges at the weekend, but believes such disagreements should not come to light. 

He said on the eve of the first leg of the round of 16 tie against Bayern: "It happened, a little discussion, we didn't agree. It happens to us every day, but I love them all, it's like with my girlfriend.

"Football is not just about love, not just friendship. There is respect but it helps to have discussions. We are not used to losing. When there are defeats, of course that disturbs us. It makes it part of the process to improve.

"For the locker room, sometimes lies comes out in the press and it goes around the world. It happened that rumours came out at key moments of the season.

"We have to find out what's going on. It's not normal for stories to come out in the press, it has to stay between us. We have to walk together. When there's news like that, we're angry. I guarantee you a lot of information is wrong, some is true."

Galtier is pleased that his players are prepared to say what they think but stressed they must listen to him.

He said: "When there is frustration, it has to come out. I have been leading this way for years. You have to listen to them, but they also have to listen to me.

"There is frustration that breeds anger. We talked, I listened to them, I hope they listened to me too."

Neymar is at a loss to explain why PSG have slipped up as they prepare to do battle with the Bundesliga leaders at Parc des Princes.

He added: "I don't have any explanations. I think that every club has moments of difficulty.

"As a team, we have to be united, focused. It's good that these difficulties are happening now. We are aware that there are flaws, but we want to improve and show the best version of PSG."

The 31-year-old is also prepared to take criticism of his performances on the chin.

"I feel very good, physically and mentally," he said. "Some games things are not going very well. There are also games where you want to do everything, but you can't.

"The criticisms are legitimate. Everyone has their opinion, their point of view. I respect that. I'm doing my best for the club and for the team. I will do it until the end of the season."

Patrick Mahomes has no concern about being ready for the start of the Kansas City Chiefs' preparations for the 2023 season after injuring his ankle in their Super Bowl LVII success.

Mahomes came up limping heavily after a second-quarter scramble in the Chiefs' remarkable 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.

The Chiefs were trailing 24-14 at that point, but Mahomes emerged from half-time with his ankle re-taped and led Kansas City on a vintage comeback.

Mahomes and his team-mates will have time to bask in an incredible triumph, but there is, as the saying goes, no offseason in the NFL, and the Chiefs will be turning the page to 2023 next month when the new league year starts, with free agency and the draft soon to be on the horizon.

OTAs will follow in May, but Mahomes is more worried about how the ankle injury will impact his play on the golf course than his readiness for offseason workouts.

"I'll for sure be ready for OTAs," Mahomes said at his Super Bowl MVP press conference in Phoenix on Monday.

"The one thing that might take a hit is my golf game."

The Chiefs were slight underdogs against the Eagles, having gone into the season with some predicting their potential dethronement in the AFC West.

Instead, the Chiefs won the division at a canter, and are unlikely to have many doubting them ahead of next season after this latest show of Mahomes magic.

Asked if the Chiefs "keep receipts" from doomsayers, Mahomes replied: "It's hard not to hear that stuff. You hear how not good we're going to be. I'm just going to go out there and prove it on the football field."

Paying tribute to his head coach, Mahomes added: "As long as Andy Reid's coaching us, we're always going to have a chance."

Luciano Spalletti says the late Diego Maradona is playing a big part in irrepressible Napoli's quest to end their long wait to win the Serie A title.

Napoli have not won the Scudetto since Maradona inspired them to be crowned champions back in 1990, but there appears to be no stopping them this season.

A 3-0 win over Cremonese on Sunday put the runaway leaders 16 points clear of Inter, who have a game in hand, and the Partenopei also remain in the hunt for Champions League glory.

Napoli have reeled off six Serie A wins in a row since suffering their only loss to Inter.

Head coach Spalletti, who is on course to win a first Serie A title at the age of 64, revealed they are trying to go about their business in the same manner as club legend Maradona, who died at the age of 60 in November 2020.

He said: "We have him there. In the locker room there's that statue of Maradona that many go to touch. I do too when we go out on the pitch because we want to bring him into the quality of our team.

"He was someone who won through his quality, through all those things that fans like. We want to try to resemble him as much as possible and we will always carry him with us for the teachings he has given us."

Spalletti also compared winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists this season, to Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

He said of the Georgia international: "He is truly someone who has sensitivity in dribbling, in stroking the ball, in making those tricks that are so difficult to defend against.

"Salah is one of those who has this quality in close quarters and in finishing so precisely. That he didn't feel the pressure, it can be seen that he is a calm boy. He will have a great future."

Stefano Pioli is relishing Tuesday's meeting with old foe Antonio Conte as Milan prepare to host Tottenham in their first outing in the Champions League knockout stages since 2014.

Milan finished second to Chelsea in Group E to progress to the last 16 for the first time since the 2013-14 season, when they were hammered 5-1 on aggregate by Atletico Madrid.

Conte's Tottenham stand between Milan and a spot in the last eight, with the former Juventus and Inter boss one of five Italian coaches still present in the competition.

Conte has won eight of his last nine games against Milan (L1) in a run dating back to 2013, and he joins Pioli, Inter's Simone Inzaghi, Napoli's Luciano Spalletti and Real Madrid's Champions League specialist Carlo Ancelotti on an impressive list of Italian bosses to escape the group stage.

Asked who was the strongest of those coaches at Monday's pre-match press conference, Pioli said: "Ancelotti is a symbol but so are Conte and Spalletti. 

"There are lots of good coaches, we have a good school and important characteristics. 

"Conte is a great coach and one of the few colleagues who called to congratulate me on the Scudetto last season.

"It will be a difficult challenge, inevitably it will be like this for a quarter-final place. A week ago they beat Manchester City. It will be a great game that we will have to play well."

Despite Milan's absence from the latter stages of the competition in recent years, only Real Madrid (14) can better the Rossoneri's tally of seven European Cup/Champions League titles.

Asked whether Milan's illustrious history in the competition could present a psychological barrier for Spurs, Pioli said: "I can't know what our opponents are experiencing, I know what we feel. 

"We are highly motivated and it's normal. We only think up to Tottenham. Winning the Champions League is a dream today but it's useless to think about it now."

With Milan 18 points adrift of Serie A leaders Napoli and suffering defeats in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana last month, their Champions League tie against Spurs will go a long way to dictating whether their season is deemed a success.  

Speaking to Sky Sport ahead of his press conference, Pioli described the tie as the most crucial occasion of his career.

"They will be the two most important matches of my career, having never played in a Champions League round of 16. We have prepared ourselves in the best possible way," he said.

"Our aim is to play with more pace and intensity, you can't ignore that in these competitions. We have prepared ourselves to be up to it."

Kylian Mbappe has returned to training ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, raising the prospect of the forward featuring after he was thought likely to miss the game.  

Mbappe sustained a hamstring injury in PSG's 3-1 win at Montpellier on February 1, leading the French giants to announce he was likely to be sidelined for three weeks.

PSG boss Christophe Galtier has stressed the need to carefully manage Mbappe's injury, while Bayern counterpart Julian Nagelsmann accused the Ligue 1 champions of "playing poker" regarding his availability.

On the eve of Tuesday's round-of-16 first leg between the two European giants, PSG were handed a boost as Mbappe was pictured in training with his team-mates.

Mbappe's potential return could be pivotal for a PSG side that has struggled in his absence, exiting the Coupe de France against Marseille last week before being beaten 3-1 by Monaco in Ligue 1.

Since making his PSG debut in 2017, Mbappe has recorded 57 goal contributions (34 goals, 23 assists) in 50 Champions League appearances – no other player has managed 20 goals and 20 assists in the competition during that span.

Lionel Messi was also absent for PSG's dire defeat at Monaco, though Galtier maintained he would return to training on Monday, and the World Cup winner was seen alongside Mbappe as the side stepped up their preparations for Tuesday's game.

The last 16 of the Champions League gets underway on Tuesday with two potentially fascinating encounters.

Milan host Tottenham in the Rossoneri's first Champions League knockout game since the 2013-14 season, while two of the favourites in this year's competition, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, face off in the French capital.

Neither Milan nor Spurs come into their first leg in the best form, with Stefano Pioli's side getting their first win in eight games on Friday against Torino, while their English opponents were thrashed 4-1 by Leicester City.

PSG are also faltering, having lost 3-1 at Monaco at the weekend, leading to fan protests and Presnel Kimpembe having to calm them down through a megaphone.

Bayern will hope to add to the problems of Christophe Galtier's men, who seem likely to be without Kylian Mbappe, but Julian Nagelsmann admitted his own players are "not in the flow" in spite of their 3-0 win against Bochum on Saturday.

Stats Perform has taken a look at some Opta numbers ahead of the first pair of Champions League knockout games.

Milan v Tottenham

This will be the fifth competitive meeting between Milan and Tottenham, with the Premier League side unbeaten across each of the previous four (W2 D2).

They last played each other in the 2010-11 campaign at the same stage of the Champions League. Spurs won 1-0 on aggregate, with Peter Crouch scoring the only goal of the tie.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte has won eight of his last nine games as a head coach against Milan (L1), between 2013 and 2021. Indeed, he has seen his side win and keep a clean sheet in each of his last three trips to face the Rossoneri away from home (2-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2019 and 3-0 in 2021 – all in Serie A).

Conte will be looking to win consecutive away games in the Champions League for just the second time in his managerial career, having last done so in the 2012-13 campaign when he was at Juventus (1-0 v Shakhtar Donetsk and 3-0 v Celtic).

Olivier Giroud has been directly involved in six goals for Milan in the Champions League (four goals and two assists) – the last player with more in a single campaign in the competition for the club was Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 2011-12 season (nine – five goals and four assists).

Ivan Perisic has three assists in five appearances for Spurs in the Champions League, already his joint-most for a club among the four he has played for in the competition: three in 10 games for Bayern, one in 20 for Inter and none in 11 for Borussia Dortmund.

The three players to have recovered possession most often in the middle third of the pitch in the Champions League this season all play for either Milan or Spurs: Rodrigo Bentancur (34), Ismael Bennacer (32) and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (31), though Bentancur will be missing after suffering a season-ending knee injury at the weekend.

Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich

PSG have faced Bayern on 11 previous occasions, with all of them coming in the Champions League. The teams are separated by just one victory (six for PSG and five for Bayern), while they have scored the same number of goals (15 each).

Among teams who have faced Bayern on 10+ occasions in the Champions League, PSG are the team with the highest win percentage against them (55).

Bayern won all six of their group games this season, scoring 18 goals and only conceding twice. The only previous occasion in which they won their first seven matches of a Champions League campaign was in the 2019-20 campaign, when they had a 100 per cent record (11/11) in the competition.

PSG have only failed to score in one of their last 32 home games in the Champions League (averaging 2.6 goals per game), though the exception was in a 1-0 defeat against Bayern in the 2020-21 quarter-final second leg.

Joshua Kimmich has won 76 per cent of his matches for Bayern in the Champions League (50/66). Among all players to make 50+ appearances in the competition, he is the only player to have featured on the winning side in more than three quarters of his games.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season – his first at PSG – Mbappe has been directly involved in 57 goals in 50 appearances in the Champions League (34 goals and 23 assists). Indeed, he is the only player with both 20+ goals and 20+ assists during this period. He will be a big miss should he not recover from injury in time, though he did train on Monday.

In the last two Champions League campaigns, only Robert Lewandowski (21), Mbappe (20) and Mohamed Salah (18) have been directly involved in more goals than Leroy Sane (17 – 10 goals, seven assists).

Lionel Messi has generated more shots following a carry (moving five or more metres with the ball) than any other player in the Champions League this season (14 – six shots and eight chances created).

UEFA has confirmed a minute's silence will be held at each of this week's European ties as a mark of respect for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Over 33,000 people are confirmed to have died after high-magnitude earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last Monday, and the United Nations' aid agency on the ground says that toll is likely to double.

Turkey has said over a million people in the country are using temporary shelters after the tremors, while over five million people are estimated to have been made homeless in Syria.

Ahead of this week's knockout-stage matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, UEFA has confirmed the details of tributes to show support for those affected.

A minute's silence will be observed before every fixture across UEFA's club competitions this week, while a commemorative banner featuring the message, 'We are together with you', will be displayed in Turkish and Arabic.

A statement released by European football's governing body on Monday also confirmed black armbands could be worn at the discretion of teams and referees.

Last week, UEFA confirmed it would donate €150,000 to the Turkish Football Federation and an additional €50,000 to the Bonyan Organization and Tiafi, both assisting in disaster relief.

Trabzonspor are the only Turkish club in action in UEFA's competitions this week, hosting Basel in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round play-off tie.

Istanbul Basaksehir and Sivasspor advanced to the last 16 of that competition as group winners, while Fenerbahce are into the same round in the Europa League.

Hatayspor and Gaziantep, two clubs based in the region effected by the earthquake, have withdrawn from the Turkish Super Lig.

Former Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton winger Christian Atsu, who plays for Hatayspor, is still missing.

New Zealand are struggling to piece their team together ahead of the first Test against England, with Cyclone Gabrielle impacting several players' travel plans.

Five players from New Zealand's 14-man squad, as well as three support staff, are yet to arrive at Mount Maunganui ahead of the start of the first Test on Thursday.

Cyclone Gabrielle's impact on New Zealand's North Island has led some areas to declare a state of emergency, with over 46,000 homes losing power and hundreds of flights being cancelled.

The Black Caps trained indoors at Bay Oval on Monday in a bid to avoid the worst of the weather conditions, with strong winds and heavy rain expected to continue in the build-up to the opener.

Henry Nicholls, Blair Tickner and Will Young are among those yet to meet up with their team-mates ahead of the two-match series, leaving head coach Gary Stead's plans in flux.

"We've got a number of players that are still arriving here at the moment, the cyclone that's happening at the top of the North Island has had a wee bit of an impact on travel for some people," Stead said.

"It's disappointing the weather is the way it is, but there's a lot of people up at the top of the North Island who are a lot worse off than us.

"Originally we were planning to have an evening training session but we managed to get in a touch earlier. 

"We were just worried that the winds might get up to such a point that we wouldn't be able to train later on."

England arrived in New Zealand having won nine of their 10 Tests under head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, and Stead has admiration for their aggressive style.

"I think it's great what Brendon and Ben have done with this English team," he said. "They've managed to take a team that was really struggling and turn it into something now that's probably the talking point of world cricket.

"But I think what each team has to do is work out is what becomes really unique to them and natural for the way that they play."

James Anderson hailed the depth of bowling talent available to England ahead of the first Test in New Zealand, saying the presence of Matthew Potts and Olly Stone is keeping him on his toes.

England will attempt to continue their outstanding form under head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes across a two-match series in New Zealand this month, having won nine of their last 10 Tests.

England bolstered their seam attack by recalling Potts, Stone and Stuart Broad for the trip to McCullum's homeland, with Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed rested after starring in last year's 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan.

With Jofra Archer also impressing on his long-awaited ODI return after an injury-ravaged few years, Anderson is in awe at the options available to England.

"To be able to bring these guys [Potts and Stone] back into the squad after having Mark Wood in Pakistan, and with Jofra getting back fit, it feels like we're building up a real good bank of fast bowlers that will be able to win games in any conditions anywhere in the world," Anderson told The Guardian.

"I think whether they're young or old, guys always keep you on your toes. Broady's keeping me on my toes, we're pushing each other in the nets all the time.

"At the minute, Ollie Robinson is probably one of the best bowlers in the world, for me. 

"He just doesn't miss, can swing it both ways, nips it, gets bounce – he's comfortably the one bowler that the guys don't want to face in the nets here. Everyone keeps you on your toes and it keeps those standards really high."

England have not won a Test series in New Zealand since 2007-08, when a 26-year-old Anderson tore through the hosts' top five in Wellington to kick-start their comeback in a 2-1 triumph.

Anderson was invited to play for Auckland against Wellington in the State Championship ahead of that impressive outing in the second Test, a decision criticised by several members of the New Zealand team – including McCullum – for enabling the England man to find form. 

"It was amazing for me. It turned out to be a very good decision. I bowled a lot of overs. I didn't set the world alight but it got me into a good rhythm to play the next Test," Anderson recalled.

"Baz brought that up the other day. He was fuming at the time! Apparently the whole New Zealand team were fuming with Auckland. It was huge for both of us.

"And not just the way we played, but with [Matthew] Hoggard and [Steve] Harmison having been such a massive part of England's success – the 2005 Ashes and Harmy being number one in the world at one point. 

"Them being the senior bowlers and us taking their places gave us so much confidence to go on and try and emulate them. We never looked back."

Nick Sirianni has seen Jalen Hurts deliver some remarkable performances in victory, but the Philadelphia Eagles coach believes there has been no more impressive display than the one the quarterback produced in their heartbreaking Super Bowl LVII loss.

Hurts and the Eagles fell victim to a vintage comeback from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium, seeing a 24-14 lead slip away.

The Chiefs fought back to prevail 38-35 in an Arizona thriller, despite an MVP-calibre performance from Hurts.

Hurts broke the Super Bowl record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback (70) and also tied records for the most points scored by a single player (20) and the most touchdowns from scrimmage (three).

He did, by contrast, also lose a second-quarter fumble that was recovered by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton and returned for a touchdown.

But to lay the blame at the feet of Hurts would be grossly unfair, with Sirianni perhaps more worthy of criticism for settling for a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter at the end of a 17-play drive.

That drive saw Hurts connect with Dallas Goedert on two outstanding throws, and Sirianni highlighted such high-difficulty completions as he lauded his signal-caller's efforts.

"To me, Jalen played the best game I've seen him play in the two years that we've been together," Siranni said. 

"He was outstanding. I really thought he was in complete control. He did things with his legs in the run game. He did things with his arm in the pass game, made some unbelievable throws, unbelievable reads.

"I thought he played outstanding. And you know you really look at the game and that was good for the NFL in the sense that the two best quarterbacks in the NFL played against each other on the biggest stage in the biggest lights. And Jalen played great."

Asked what he said to Hurts after the game, Sirianni added: "I know he's hurt and he's hurting. I just said, 'We'll work our butts off every day.' 

"I know he's going to get better from this, and he played really good. That's why I keep saying I don't think we know what Jalen's ceiling is because he is just going to continue to get better.

"But I said I was happy for him that he played his butt off. He left it all out there, played good in the run game, played good in the pass game, was in complete control of our offense. He led us to 35 points.

"I just told him I was happy for him. It just wasn't this year. I told him I thought it was his best game that he's played. It wasn't just this game. It was this entire season that he's shown to be a special leader, a special player. I'm sure glad he's our quarterback."

Kansas City Chiefs tackle Chris Jones said Patrick Mahomes simply has to be appreciated as he hailed the "once in a generation" talent setting the standards for another Super Bowl triumph.

Mahomes once again got the better of his ankle issue to propel the Chiefs to their second Super Bowl championship in the space of four seasons in Arizona on Sunday.

The Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at State Farm Stadium, as Mahomes – who took a blow late in the second quarter, having already had to deal with a high ankle sprain he suffered in the Divisional round – went on to become the first NFL MVP since Kurt Warner in 1999 to win the Super Bowl in the same season.

Mahomes threw three passing touchdowns and was not intercepted or sacked, leaving Jones in awe of his team-mate's excellence.

"He is a dog, next year y'all, we will be like 'is this his flu game?'," Jones said in a post-game press conference.

"I appreciate it, Pat is a once and generational lifetime type of player and sometimes he does things so special that it becomes normality for him.

"We've got to just appreciate Pat."

Asked what he thought when Mahomes was hobbling, Jones cited the standards set by coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs' QB as the reasoning behind the organisation's sustained success.

He said: "I knew there was blood in the water, because Pat is the type of competitor where if he's hurt or he's sick, he wants to come back and show everybody that he's even better now.

"That trickles down from coach Reid, he's the type of coach you'll never see hurt, never see sick. Even if he is sick, you wouldn't even know it.

"I think one time he had to get taken to the hospital after the game and no one knew. And he was at work the next day, he was handing schedules out the next day. It just trickles down the type of coach Reid is, the type of player Pat is, the type of organisation we have here."

Jones, who said he would be celebrating with a bottle of Yamazaki Japanese whiskey, added: "Coach Reid is legendary.

"I'm just very fortunate honestly, heck of guy, better person. He makes us all look good."

When it was put to Jones that he was now part of a dynasty, the 28-year-old said: "Do you think so? Well then there it goes, I don't have to speak about it.

"I told y'all this after our first Super Bowl, we going back-to-back, everybody laughed, everybody just thought I was talking out the side of my neck. We've been very fortunate, the core here, Pat Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Bud [Harrison Butker], Tommy [Townsend], Frank Clark.

"Clark came here his first year and won a Super Bowl, the core here is special. It's a special group of guys, that I was fortunate enough to play with this year in the D-line room. Got my fingers crossed that we can bring everybody back but I still want them to get paid and be successful.

"This is the bittersweet part about it, because you have a special room and you guys win it and you know the room is always changing, always evolving, players always coming in and out. I just want to say here on record that I am super, super grateful for the D-line this year.

"This is probably the most unselfish group that I've been a part of. Starting with Frank Clark, number three in all-time in sacks in the playoffs.

"I'm so grateful just to be in the Chiefs organisation, to be in this position, Just a kid from Houston, Mississippi coming out of Mississippi State. I didn't think I had a chance of going to Kansas City [inaudible] coming to visit me.

"Seven years later, two Super Bowl rings, four to five AFC championships and we're still going. This team has a lot of fight in them, I definitely feel we can be in position to compete again for another one. This is a special team, we keep this core together, keep Frank Clark, keep killing it, keep me and him together, I think we can be very, very special."