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• Alonso: DFB-Pokal tie with Bayern 'almost a final' for Leverkusen

  Xabi Alonso is viewing Bayer Leverkusen's DFB-Pokal clash with Bayern Munich as "a final".

  Holders Leverkusen, who also won the Bundesliga last season, visit Bayern in the last 16 on Tuesday.

  Leverkusen have been unable to sustain the immaculate form they showed domestically last term, though they have only lost one league match.

  They sit seven points behind leaders Bayern, who drew 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, with Jamal Musiala scoring a late equaliser.

  "The cup is one game and anything can happen," Alonso said on Monday.

  "Tomorrow is like a final for us. There is no tougher game than a game at the Allianz Arena.

  "Normally if Bayern play at the Allianz Arena in the Bundesliga, the Champions League or the DFB-Pokal they are always the favourites.

  "It is the biggest challenge. Almost a final."

  Leverkusen will be without key striker Victor Boniface just as Bayern are missing top scorer Harry Kane.

  But Alonso said he was happy to have forward Patrik Schick firing on all cylinders, with the Czech having netted the winner versus Union Berlin on Saturday after his hat-trick against Heidenheim a week earlier.

  Schick had also scored in Leverkusen's midweek 5-0 demolition of Salzburg in the Champions League.

  "Patrik is in a top moment," Alonso said.

  "He not only scores, but does a lot of other things right, also against Union Berlin in an intense game against a tough defence. I am happy he is having this good feeling."

• Rooney left 'embarrassed' by heavy Plymouth defeats

  Wayne Rooney has been left "embarrassed" by Plymouth Argyle's recent performances on the back of conceding 10 goals in the space of two games.

  Plymouth are winless in four Championship matches, with that run having seen them drop to just one place above the relegation zone.

  Their goal difference has taken a huge hit in the past week, however, following a 6-1 loss to Norwich City and a 4-0 defeat to Bristol City.

  Rooney, who was appointed as head coach in May, is reportedly under pressure, and Manchester United's record goalscorer knows matters must improve swiftly.

  "I've been criticised since I was a 16-year-old boy, my whole career," Rooney said, as reported by BBC Sport.

  "What you always want is weapons to fight back with – at the minute we've got none.

  "So we have to take it on the chin and hope that we get through this, because the last two games arguably have been the toughest and hardest week of my managerial career.

  "So I need to find a way to get through it, but also get that message through to the players to make sure I lift them.

  "It's at a point now where the players need to understand that they need to give more and they need to show more character, more fight, more desire.

  "It was very difficult walking over [to the fans] and not feel embarrassed."

   

  Plymouth have the lowest expected goals (xG) in the Championship this season, having accumulated only 12.7. However, they have netted 18 times.

  It is a bad mix for Rooney, though, as Argyle have the highest xG against, with their 35.8 xGA five clear of next-worst Stoke City (30.8), while Plymouth have also conceded the most goals (38) and shots (324, 40 more than any other side).

  "Ultimately it's my responsibility – I take full responsibility for the results, I pick the team, I pick the tactics," Rooney added.

  "But I think the players are at a stage now where they need to hear, not just in the dressing room, but they need to hear it from outside as well, that they have to show more.

  "We've got a duty to this football club to show a pride, a respect, a passion, a fight for this club and the last two games I feel it hasn't been there."

• Carragher on Salah's new contract: 'Liverpool don't give people what they want'

  Jamie Carragher said that Liverpool are "not built on giving people what they want" after Mohamed Salah reiterated the uncertainty over his future following Sunday's 2-0 win over Manchester City. 

  Salah bagged the assist for Cody Gakpo's opening goal and then netted the second to seal the win over City at Anfield and send his side nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. 

  Despite continuing his sensational form for the Reds, Salah's contract is set to run out at the end of the season, with the Egyptian revealing last week that Liverpool are yet to offer him a new deal. 

  Reacting to the situation on Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Carragher said: "We know Liverpool as a club are run by data. It's a moneyball situation and we're delighted that's back but on the other hand, say give someone what they want, you can't do that."

  "These two, [Virgil] Van Dijk and Salah, if Liverpool do have a rule such as only giving players over 30 a certain length contract, you have to move the data for players like that."

  After his display against Pep Guardiola's champions, 32-year-old Salah has now scored and assisted in 36 Premier League games, the joint-most by a player in the competition's history, equalling Wayne Rooney's record.

  The Liverpool attacker has also scored or assisted in eight consecutive Premier League matches against City, with six goals and four assists. 

  "I'm not saying he shouldn't get a two-year deal, I'm not saying he shouldn't be on big money - he's on big money now and rightly so - but this idea and this saying of 'give him what he wants', this club is not built on giving people what they want, that's why there is success at the club," Carragher said. 

  "Being ahead of the game, buying Mo Salah for £40m when nobody else in the Premier League looked at him, because Liverpool were ahead of the game."

  Salah signed for Liverpool from Roma in 2017, having previously played for Basel and Chelsea, among others. 

  His assist for Gakpo was the 75th of his Liverpool career in the Premier League and saw him overtake Arsenal's Thierry Henry on the list of most assists for a single club in the English to -flight.

  After the game, Salah talked about his contract situation: "Honestly, it's in my head. Right now, this is the last City game I will play for Liverpool [at Anfield], so I was just going to enjoy it."

  Liverpool will face Newcastle United in their next match on Wednesday.