Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has rejected claims of wrongdoing after reports that Gerard Pique asked him to intervene in the selection of Spain's squad for the Tokyo Olympics.

A series of conversations between Rubiales and Pique have been leaked by Spanish publication El Confidencial in recent days, focusing on Pique's involvement in moving the Supercopa de Espana to Saudi Arabia.

New leaks, however, appear to show Pique asking Rubiales to ensure he was picked for the delayed 2020 Olympic Games, at which he wished to make his Spain return after retiring from international football in 2018.

Pique is allegedly heard telling Rubiales in one audio message: "You have to do this for me Rubi, you have to get it for me," referencing a spot in the Olympic squad coached by Spain U21 boss Luis de la Fuente. The Barcelona centre-back is also have said to have hit out at Sergio Ramos' more public request to be involved.

At a news conference held on Wednesday, however, Rubiales denied the messages exposed any wrongdoing from himself or Pique, saying it was "normal" for players, with many of whom he is close, to make such requests.

"Maybe another one [player] appears who asked me to, and it's not Pique. I'm going to keep talking to them like that. I have a conversation with someone I've known for years and I speak as I speak," Rubiales said.

"There were more [players] who asked me. He [Pique] announced a long time ago that he did not want to return, and I spoke with Luis de la Fuente so that he would know who had called me. 

"It is common when one is a great player and he wants to come back [to the national team]. Then Luis made a very different decision. We act with the utmost honesty. He is not the only footballer who has asked me to do so."

Pique, along with Ramos, was ultimately left out of the squad, with Spain earning the silver medal after a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Brazil in the final.

Meanwhile, attention has also been drawn to the new four-team format introduced for the Supercopa since it moved to Saudi Arabia, with Rubiales' federation accused of being motivated by a financial need for giants Real Madrid and Barca to remain involved.

Rubiales admitted that the likelihood of those two clubs being involved did result in greater revenue being generated through TV rights sales, but denied that this amounted to any sort of favouritism.

"We sell the TV rights to the final all over the world. There are some countries that wait to bid when they are the finalists," Rubiales added. "If there is a derby or Clasico, the offer multiplies a lot. 

"That adds to the management and would affect the variable. [But] we have no idea who is going to play in the final."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hopes to have Roberto Firmino available for the Merseyside derby against Everton.

Brazil forward Firmino sat out due to a foot injury on Tuesday as Mohamed Salah's double, as well as goals from Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane, led the Reds to an emphatic 4-0 win over Manchester United, sending Liverpool top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester City facing Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday.

Liverpool are now unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games against United, winning five and drawing three, the joint-longest run any team has enjoyed against the Red Devils in the competition (also Chelsea between 2013 and 2016).

After the dominant victory, in which Mane started as a central striker with Diogo Jota named on the bench, Klopp revealed Firmino had suffered a knock in last Saturday's FA Cup win over City but was hopeful the 30-year-old would be fit to face relegation-threatened Everton.

"Bobby was not involved because in the very last situation of the City game he got something on his foot," Klopp told Sky Sports after the win. "It's not really bad."

Pressed on whether Firmino will be fit for Sunday's derby, the Reds boss added: "We hope so. 

"Actually, we were a bit worried, but the scan was fine. But it's still very painful and that's why there was no chance [against United]."

Injuries and the form of Liverpool's other attackers has seen Firmino restricted to just 16 starts in all competitions this season, although the Brazilian has still managed 11 goals and four assists during his 31 total appearances.

Firmino has yet to score against Everton in 12 appearances, but has finished on the losing side just once against the Toffees since joining Liverpool in 2015, albeit that was in the corresponding fixture at Anfield last season when the visitors won 2-0 – their only derby victory since October 2010.

Liverpool hit four past Everton at Goodison Park earlier this season but despite having scored nine goals against United without reply after winning 5-0 at Old Trafford in October, Klopp insists his desire is not to "humiliate" opponents, acknowledging that superiority over their rivals "will not last forever".

"I'm not here to humiliate opponents or whatever," Klopp said during his post-match press conference. "That is absolutely not the reason. We did what we had to do, and we won the games, that's how it is. 

"Whether it is a derby or not it is not easy to play against us. That's why the 9-0, I'm not interested. That's really something for the supporters, if they want to celebrate 9-0 then they can do that, but it's not for me. 

"We wanted three points and if it had been 1-0 twice I would feel exactly the same, and I know it will not last forever. They will strike back, they will be there again, this club is too powerful, but in the moment we were too good, that's the truth."

Only once in United's history have they suffered a heavier combined defeat in reverse league fixtures against the same side, shipping 11 goals without reply against Sunderland in 1892-93.

Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has refuted claims of wrongdoing amid controversy surrounding the Supercopa de Espana.

Messages and phone calls between Rubiales and Barcelona stalwart Gerard Pique have been leaked to the media.

The audio recordings revealed Pique helped negotiate a €24million commission when the Supercopa was expanded to four teams and moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.

It was a deal reportedly worth €40m to the RFEF for every tournament played in the middle-eastern state.

Spanish publication El Confidencial, which released the audio on Monday, claimed Pique's Kosmos group, a sports entertainment company founded in 2017, would benefit to the tune of €4m per tournament over the six-year agreement with Saudi Arabia.

Pique insisted he had done no wrong, telling a Twitch stream: "I have nothing to hide, everything we have done is legal."

On Wednesday, Rubiales gave a news conference to address the issue and hit out at the people who hacked the RFEF communications, calling them "gangsters" and suggesting more than one person or group was involved in the hacking as he denied charging any commission.

"I qualify as a gangster whoever has used that information for a spurious interest. I know who benefits," Rubiales said.

"I do not charge commissions. How would you be if the information about your life was stolen, private conversations? I qualify this as a mafia. I don't think this can be achieved by one person."

Explaining how the switch to Saudi Arabia came about, Rubiales said: "Kosmos proposed a change of format for the Supercopa. They started to work on it.

"We spoke to Saudi Arabia, the US, China, countries in Africa and other countries. It was clear that their financial relationship would not be with the RFEF, but with Saudi Arabia."

Rubiales also insisted there was no conflict of interest "because there is no economic relationship with Kosmos".

He suggested the hackers could go as far as to plant evidence of wrongdoing against him and added: "There are several complaints. We have suffered several attacks. Here are some criminals who are trying to damage my image [and the] RFEF.

"We are going to collaborate with the police, and it is under investigation."

Peter Schmeichel is confident Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold is aware of the scale of the task ahead of him at Old Trafford.

Having watched United lose 4-0 to old rivals Liverpool on Tuesday, Schmeichel believes a new manager alone will not be enough to turn his former club's fortunes around.

Erik ten Hag is widely expected to be confirmed as United's next permanent boss, replacing interim appointment Ralf Rangnick, but he faces a daunting challenge.

United remain just three points outside the top four in the Premier League but offered little hint of a late-season fight for Champions League football in their meek Anfield reverse.

Various United legends bemoaned the state of the club following that awful defeat, but Schmeichel at least feels Arnold – appointed earlier this year – is the right man to take the club forward.

"Make no mistake, this is not a case of getting a new manager in and everything will be brilliant again and he will create this wonderful team," Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"This is about a rebuild of the club. We changed leadership at the beginning of February. Richard Arnold has started the job of CEO, and it's the first CEO we have had since David Gill.

"He has a bit of power now to do what he thinks is right for the job, and I welcome that.

"I have had lots of conversations with him about the future of Man United, and he understands it's not about the manager, it's about restructuring and modernising the club.

"We pride ourselves on our fantastic history, but at some point, we have to plan ahead. I have great faith in him and the direction he wants to take the club."

Jimmy Butler became only the third Miami Heat player to have three 40-point playoff games with a big performance in Tuesday's Game 2 win against the Atlanta Hawks.

The six-time All-Star finished with 45 in a 115-105 win to give the Heat a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Only LeBron James (also three) and Dwyane Wade (seven) have previously had as many 40-point games for the Heat in the postseason as Butler.

Indeed, only James (26.9) and Wade (22.6) have averaged more points per game for the Heat in the postseason than Butler (21.9).

And coach Erik Spoelstra, who led a Heat team containing James and Wade to titles in 2012 and 2013, considers Butler worthy of comparison to the latter.

"It actually is a good comparison," Spoelstra said. "If you get in those pressure moments and the moments of truth, if you're on the other side, would you ever want to just give Dwyane Wade an open three?

"You would not, because he's a killer. He's going to seize that moment.

"And Jimmy has a lot of those same qualities. You can say whatever the percentage is – throw those all out when it becomes about winning. He'll find a way to kill you."

Butler's latest display was unlike anything previously seen by a Heat player, though.

At the start of the week, no player had finished with 40-plus points, five-plus rebounds, five-plus assists, no turnovers and no fouls in a playoff game since turnovers became an official statistic in 1977-78.

Butler became the second player to achieve such a stat line in two days, following in the footsteps of breakout Dallas Mavericks star Jalen Brunson.

The two previous 40-point playoff games from Butler had come in the 2020 run to the NBA Finals, which played out in the 'bubble' in Orlando.

But Butler, now paired with point guard Kyle Lowry, feels he is "a different player" in 2022.

"I am a different player now than I was then," he said. "I just always want to play basketball the right way and do whatever it takes to help this team, this organisation win. That's why they brought me here.

"I'm not as ball-dominant as I was in the bubble. We've got a point guard, and that's Kyle, and I love him being a point guard.

"I just get to go out there and try to score. And if I can't score, pass the ball. We're a different team; I'm a different player."

Ronald Acuna Jr. claimed he feels better than he ever has after returning from an ACL tear for the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers.

The two-time All-Star suffered the serious knee injury last July and missed the Atlanta Braves' run to the World Series title.

Acuna led MLB with 72 runs in 2021 at the time of his injury and has had to stay patient in his rehabilitation, also sitting out the start of this season.

But the left fielder took a significant step forward on Tuesday in his first game back in the minors.

According to The Athletic, Acuna said he was "very good" and "ready to go" as he went one-for-three with a double in a 2-0 defeat to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

"I didn't know if I would come back and be the same," he added. "Now, I'm healthy again. Actually, I feel I'm better than I was."

The Braves have made a 6-7 start in 2022 but have an eight-game homestand starting on May 6, which Acuna could target.

"I hope sooner [than that]," he said.

Ja Morant gave the Memphis Grizzlies a brief scare but declared himself "good" after returning to the floor in their Game 2 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Grizzlies are the second seed in the West but dropped the first game of their first-round series to the seventh seed T-Wolves.

They needed a response then on Tuesday and got it, predictably, through Morant, who had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a 124-96 win to level the series.

But it was not all plain sailing for the Most Improved Player finalist, who took a knee to his thigh in the third quarter and limped off.

Morant returned to play four minutes in the fourth quarter, though, and said afterwards: "I'm good, a warrior. I played on concrete."

The former second overall pick is undoubtedly the Grizzlies' star man, but the team have at least proven they can play without him this year.

As part of their run to finish with a 56-26 record, second behind only the Phoenix Suns across the NBA, Memphis went a remarkable 20-5 in games Morant missed.

Sam Darnold was confirmed as the Carolina Panthers' starting quarterback for 2022, although offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo quickly clarified his comments.

Former third overall pick Darnold joined the Panthers from the New York Jets ahead of last season but again struggled.

In 12 games, he completed just 59.9 per cent of his passes for 2,527 passing yards, only nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Darnold did just about beat out competition from the returning Cam Newton to end the year as the starter, but the Panthers have the sixth pick in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft – and a second return for Newton has not been ruled out.

However, incoming OC McAdoo seemingly announced Darnold's role for 2022 when he answered "yes" to a query as to whether he would be the starter – the sort of question other Panthers have skirted around.

The former New York Giants head coach revealed a big part of his decision to come to Carolina was to work with Darnold, yet he then acknowledged the situation could still change.

Coach Matt Rhule still has a say, McAdoo explained, but: "The way it is in the building right now, Sam is our starting quarterback."

McAdoo added: "One of the things I've been working on is being better talking to you people [media], so announcing the starting quarterback here I just put my foot in my mouth.

"That wasn't something I should have said."

Triple Crown wide receiver Cooper Kupp insists he is looking only for a "fair" deal with the Los Angeles Rams and is not worried about "trying to beat anybody" during a stunning offseason for players at his position.

Kupp was the NFL's dominant wideout last year in a title-winning season for the Rams.

The fifth-year star led the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16), also setting clear career bests in each category, to be named the Offensive Player of the Year.

He continued that form into the playoffs, with 33 receptions for 478 yards and six TDs, including two scores in the Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Kupp, who is under contract through 2023, should therefore be in line for a big pay day given the deals handed out to his fellow receivers since the end of last season.

Davante Adams left the Green Bay Packers to land a five-year, $140million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, before Tyreek Hill similarly departed the Kansas City Chiefs and signed for four years on a $120m deal with the Miami Dolphins.

Stefon Diggs stayed on the Buffalo Bills but was also rewarded and is set to earn $96m over four years.

Kupp, who outperformed all three players in 2021, will make just $14.9m next season, yet he insists he is not concerned by what others are doing.

"I don't think that's really kind of the approach that I take," he said.

"I definitely think there's a place you want to be. There's a place that you feel like is fair, a place for me and for this organisation.

"I'm not trying to beat anybody. I'm not trying to compare myself to anyone else. It's more about being in a place that's just right for both sides."

Other star wide receivers, including Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers, are skipping on-field offseason workouts as they pursue lucrative contracts.

But Kupp is not following suit, explaining: "I think it's important to be here, be around the guys and be around this team.

"The goal at the end of the day is to win a world title. Whatever is going to get us in a place where we can compete for another world title, put us in a better position where we can be a better football team, that's the goal.

"I think the best thing I can do is to be a part of that."

Max Fried starred with eight strikeouts across seven innings as the Atlanta Braves won 3-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

Braves left-hander Fried went perfect across the first five innings, before allowing two hits, while Freddie Freeman was quelled against his former side.

The Dodgers' only run of the game, scored by Chris Taylor, came in the eighth inning once Fried had been relieved, with Kenley Jansen closing it out in the ninth.

Travis d'Arnaud hit a solo home run at the top of the second inning, before Orlando Arcia's RBI double in the fourth and Austin Riley's single on a line drive for Ozzie Albies to score in the fifth.

Franco's maiden 2022 blast... at last

Wander Franco blasted his first home run of 2022 in a three-hit game as the Tampa Bay Rays won 6-5 over the Chicago Cubs.

Franco had missed Monday's game to rest his right quad but returned in style with a two-run homer on a 2-0 pitch in the third inning.

The young Rays star has now had seven multi-hit performances across 11 games this Major League season. Franco is a joint leader in the majors for hits, with 19.

"He's unique, special, talented, and we're seeing it in every part of his game," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Vintage Scherzer and Perez

Reliever Clarke Schmidt stepped up for the New York Yankees after Gerrit Cole's early struggles by tossing down six strikeouts in their 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Cole had walked four batters, included with base loaded.

Max Scherzer was at his vintage best with 10 strikeouts in the New York Mets' 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants, which backed up their earlier 5-4 victory on a double-header.

Salvador Perez put aside blurry vision to slug two home runs as the Kansas City Royals won 4-3 over the Minnesota Twins.

The Phoenix Suns lost Devin Booker to a hamstring injury as they were stunned 125-114 by the New Orleans Pelicans who squared up their first-round playoffs series.

Brandon Ingram scored 37 points, including 26 in the second half, with 11 rebounds and nine assists, while CJ McCollum added 23 points including six three-pointers.

But the hamstring injury to Suns All-Star guard Booker was the major talking point, leaving the Western Conference's top seed severely weakened if he is out for an extended period.

The Suns were leading 61-56 at half-time with Booker having scored 31 first-half points including shooting seven-of-11 from three-point range, before he left the game in the third quarter and did not return.

Chris Paul could not lift the Suns in Booker's absence, finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges added 19 points.

Butler on fire as Heat win

Jimmy Butler scored 45 points with 15-of-25 shooting from the field as the Miami Heat claimed a 2-0 lead in their series against the Atlanta Hawks with a 115-105 win.

The Heat went on an 11-0 run the third quarter to open up the game-winning lead led by Butler while Tyler Herro (15 points) and Max Strus (14 points) contributed well.

Trae Young, coming off a playoff career-low display, managed 25 points for the Hawks with Bogdan Bogdanovic landing five triples in his 29-point haul.

Grizzlies claim franchise-best playoff win

The Memphis Grizzlies overcame a Ja Morant injury scare as they levelled their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 124-96 victory.

Morant left the court in the third quarter after copping a knee to his left leg but returned, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. That was Morant's third career playoffs double-double.

The victory was the Grizzlies' largest in their franchise playoff history, despite Anthony Edwards' best efforts with 20 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves.