Jurgen Klopp believes England manager Gareth Southgate should have no concerns about playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
The Liverpool right-back has come in for criticism from sections of the media for his defensive displays this season, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville claiming he should not feature in knockout games should the Three Lions make it that far in Qatar.
Alexander-Arnold was named in Southgate's 26-man squad on Thursday, and Klopp has backed his player, pointing to the numerous finals he has played in and trophies he has won.
"It's nice. It's a big tournament, everybody dreams of these kind of things and he was very pleased about the news and I am very happy for him," Klopp said at a press conference on Friday.
Though Alexander-Arnold has been questioned about his defensive work, he has averaged more progressive passes per 90 minutes (9.5) than any other player in the Premier League this season.
The 24-year-old has played in three Champions League finals, winning one, as well as lifting both the EFL Cup and FA Cup with Liverpool last season.
"I know Trent now for long enough, he knows that apart from playing football he has no influence [on selection decisions], it's a lot of talk around him," Klopp added.
"I heard now that Gary Neville said something about in the knockout games [Alexander-Arnold] cannot play or whatever, I'm not sure he said it really or somebody wrote it down and changed the words a little bit.
"He is now 24, he won quite a few finals, that's a very important game where you have to defend, he played finals against Chelsea last year for example, they were incredibly intense and world-class players were in moments better than players they face at the World Cup, definitely.
"[Champions League] finals against Tottenham and Real Madrid, he was always there and he always defended well. I don't know exactly why we have this discussion but it's fine.
"I think he would have been disappointed if he had not been there... I saw his face and realised he was really happy about it."
Klopp's Liverpool host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday in their final game before the World Cup, with the visitors bringing a new manager to Anfield after Ralph Hasenhuttl was replaced by Nathan Jones this week.
"I actually thought Ralph Hasenhuttl did an exceptional job there," Klopp said. "Everything has its time, but if Southampton showed anything then it was for sure attitude. They were a highly-motivated team, always really going for it.
"Yes, with a new manager there might be an extra few per cent if that's possible but for us that's not our problem because we always expect a really motivated opponent."
Ancelotti lauds Real Madrid goalscorer Vinicius after first-leg double
Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior is constantly developing his attacking output, after the Real Madrid forward delivered again in the Champions League.
Vinicius scored twice as Madrid drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday.
Those strikes took Vinicius to 31 goal involvements (16 goals, 15 assists) in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, which is more than any other player in the competition in the same time period.
Vinicius' opener came when he cut inside and latched onto an exceptional pass from Toni Kroos, and Ancelotti pointed out how the Brazil international is beginning to change how he attacks.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ancelotti said: "Vinicius is starting to understand how important it is for him to move inside the pitch and not only close to the line.
"He's learned really well how to move. It was a fantastic pass from Kroos but a fantastic run from Vinicius."
Reflecting on his team's performance, Ancelotti said: "It was an interesting game, an open game of course – as it has to be for a semi-final. I think we could play better, I don’t think we played our best and we had problems in the first half.
"We started to put pressure on in the second half to level the game – it was much better.
"We are comfortable with a low block but we didn’t play with intensity. With a low block you have to have intensity, you have to win duels, second balls. We were too low. We tried to change something.
"The game was difficult at 2-1 down, but then we had the energy and character to equalise – the second part of the second half was really good."
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
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