Bayern Munich's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic believes Robert Lewandowski's return to the club in the Champions League with Barcelona will not be a "distraction".
The Poland international departed the Bundesliga champions during the transfer window, bringing an end to a trophy laden eight-year spell in Bavaria.
Lewandowski has quickly settled into life in his new surroundings, scoring nine goals in six games for Barca in all competitions – including a hat-trick in the Champions League victory against Viktoria Plzen last week.
All eyes are now firmly focused on the midweek clash between Bayern and Barca in Munich, but Salihamidzic is not worried about the prospect of Lewandowski affecting the preparation of Julian Nagelsmann's team, though he admitted better performances are required after a run of three straight Bundesliga draws.
"We have to go up one or two more gears. Even three. We need to play much better against Barca than we are currently doing," he told Sport.
"Barca have top-level players with Lewandowski at the helm and they will take advantage of every opportunity.
"We don't think Robert's return can be a distraction, we don't think so."
Bayern conceded a last-gap equaliser on Saturday against Stuttgart, Matthijs de Ligt giving away a penalty, while Barca swept aside Cadiz in a 4-0 win.
Rangers and Napoli's Champions League tie has been delayed by a day over limited police resources following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, UEFA has confirmed.
The pair were set to play their second group stage encounter on September 13, having got their campaigns underway last week with defeat to Ajax and victory over Liverpool respectively.
But now the duo will see their game postponed by 24 hours in order to facilitate a lack of officers amid a nationwide shuffle following the monarch's passing, aged 96, at her Balmoral home on September 8.
In addition, Napoli fans will not be allowed to travel to the match, while Rangers supporters in turn will be barred from making the trip to Italy for the return fixture later this year.
"The UEFA Champions League tie between Rangers FC and SSC Napoli, originally to be played on Tuesday 13 September, has been rescheduled for Wednesday 14 September at 21.00CET," read a UEFA statement.
"This is due to the severe limitations on police resources and organisational issues related to the ongoing events surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
"In addition, it was agreed to also postpone the UEFA Youth League game between both teams from Tuesday 13 September to Wednesday 14 September at 15.00CET.
"Away fans will not be authorised at the games, and as a matter of sporting fairness, Rangers’ fans will not be authorised for the return legs in Naples.
"UEFA urges fans not to travel and to respect this extraordinary situation."
The news casts further doubt on a return to action next weekend for football across Britain, with the Premier League potentially facing a double-weekend blackout ahead of the state funeral on September 19.
Luka Modric believes Real Madrid are well-equipped to thrive in the aftermath of Casemiro's move to Manchester United, as he praised Los Blancos' midfield options.
Casemiro left Madrid to join United in a £60million (€70m) move last month, but his departure has not stopped Carlo Ancelotti's men from making a strong start to the new season.
Ahead of Sunday's home clash with Mallorca, Madrid have won all four of their games in LaLiga and began their Champions League defence with a 3-0 thrashing of Celtic on Tuesday.
Madrid are the only team with a 100 per cent record in the top five European leagues this season, and are now bidding to win their opening five league matches for just the second time in the 21st century, having also done so in 2009-10.
The likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde have stepped up in Casemiro's absence.
Of Madrid's midfielders, new signing Tchouameni leads the way for minutes played in LaLiga this season (328), followed by Valverde (265), Modric (260) and Camavinga (222). All four have made more starts than the two managed by Toni Kroos, who has played 173 minutes.
Modric believes the strength of Madrid's options means Casemiro will not be missed, telling the club's website: "We've started really well this year and we have a strong team.
"In midfield, we lost an important player in Casemiro, but we've got a lot of other good players to replace him and do a good job.
"Tchouameni has adapted really well. This is Camavinga's second year and he had a great first year.
"Kroos has been here for a long time. Valverde is also doing really well in any position. [Dani] Ceballos is helping the team a lot, so we're well-equipped in this position."
Meanwhile, Eden Hazard capped Madrid's trip to Celtic by finishing off a 33-pass move for their third goal. Since Opta data began in 2003-04, that is the longest uninterrupted build-up to any of Madrid's 434 goals in the competition.
But speaking on Saturday, Ancelotti insisted the Belgium forward's strike was not representative of a change in Madrid's style of play.
"Madrid deserves the credit it gets but scoring a goal from a 33-pass play doesn't mean that's our whole identity," the Madrid boss said.
"The game was almost over and we wanted to finish it out with a long spell of possession, but the stats say it's easier to score in under 10 passes. The numbers show very few goals come from over 10 passes.
"You could say that playing a possession-based game has been fashionable and has seen success in recent years, but football is changing and it's more direct.
"Possession football is less popular than it has been recently in every country."
For the past three seasons, the top four in LaLiga has been somewhat predictable.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have made up the top three, while Sevilla have claimed sole possession of fourth place and the final Champions League qualification spot.
While that could still ultimately be the case in 2022-23, a wobbly start for Julen Lopetegui's men has seen them claim just one point from their first four games as they sit in 17th place.
Predictably, the early running in Spain has seen Madrid and Barca set the pace, though two other teams who have made promising starts meet at Estadio Benito Villamarin on Sunday.
Ahead of Real Betis v Villarreal, Stats Perform has taken a look at whether Sevilla's city rivals and the Yellow Submarine can challenge for a place in this season's top four.
Betis have shown steady progress in recent seasons, having finished 15th in 2019-20. Then Manuel Pellegrini arrived, seeing them climb up to sixth the following year, and fifth last season, as well as winning the Copa del Rey.
Pellegrini's impact has been impressive at Los Verdiblancos, taking them from flirting with relegation to fighting for European spots and winning a trophy, and they have made a promising start to this campaign as well.
Wins against Elche, Mallorca and Osasuna gave them nine points from nine, before a narrow defeat away at domestic and European champions Real Madrid.
They also got off to a winning start in their Europa League campaign on Thursday, winning 2-0 at HJK.
Betis have not finished ahead of rivals Sevilla since 2017-18, but with the platform they have given themselves in the early weeks of this season, perhaps it is time for their fans to dream again.
As for Villarreal, they have made an even more impressive start, winning three and drawing one of their first four league games.
Unai Emery's men are also yet to concede a goal in LaLiga, with flawless victories against Real Valladolid, Atletico and Elche accompanied by a 0-0 draw at Getafe.
In fact, Villarreal are the fourth team to keep a clean sheet in each of their opening four games of a LaLiga season in the 21st century, after Celta Vigo in 2001-02, Barcelona in 2014-15 and Real Madrid in 2015-16.
Like Betis, Villarreal have also enjoyed a good start in Europe, though oddly they have been a little more gung-ho than in the league, beating Hajduk Split 6-2 on aggregate to qualify for the Europa Conference League, before edging a 4-3 thriller at home to Lech Poznan on Thursday in their first group stage game.
The club from Castellon has had a similar trajectory to Betis, finishing 14th in LaLiga in 2018-19, before advancing to fifth (2019-20), seventh (2020-21) and seventh (2021-22).
Villarreal actually had the third-best goal difference in the league last season behind Madrid and Barca (+26), though finished 12 points and four places behind Atletico in third despite having a better GD by four.
Under the guidance of Emery, they even added an impressive European campaign to their CV last season, beating Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League semi-finals, where they gave Liverpool a scare in the second leg before losing 5-2 on aggregate.
This suggests the components are all there for an effective and dangerous team, they just need to spread their goals out across games and avoid the sort of collapse at key moments that saw them submit control of the tie against Liverpool in the second half at El Madrigal in May.
Emery will have to break through a barrier to ensure success at home and abroad, though.
His record of four Europa League wins with Sevilla (three) and Villarreal is remarkable, but in each year he has lifted the trophy, his teams have never finished higher than fifth in the league, which is also where his Arsenal team finished in the Premier League when they were beaten by Chelsea in the 2018-19 Europa League final.
His opposite number on Sunday, Pellegrini, has had less success in European competition, but does have a Premier League title to his name from his time at Manchester City, as well as league titles from Ecuador and Argentina from much earlier in his career.
The goals of Borja Iglesias will be important, especially with Juanmi injured, with the former already hitting four in four games, while keeping Nabil Fekir in the transfer window will also feel like a new signing. There is also, of course, the experience of the evergreen, in more senses than one, Joaquin at 41 years young.
Villarreal can look to build their success on the solid defence of Raul Albiol and Pau Torres, while Dani Parejo continues to run things in midfield, and similarly to Fekir for Betis, keeping Samuel Chukwueze should be a big boost, especially after his delightful goal against Lech Poznan.
Of course, Sunday's clash is only the fifth game of the season, and there is plenty of time for either team to fall away, or to push on even further, while other sharks are likely to circle as the campaign progresses.
It will be an interesting marking-post though, and perhaps an early indicator of who could be the team for everyone outside the usual top three to chase.
Or who knows? Maybe the one Madrid, Barca and Atletico have to worry about.
Gianluigi Donnarumma remains the clear first-choice goalkeeper at Paris Saint-Germain, coach Christophe Galtier indicated on Friday as he defended the error-prone Italian.
On the eve of a Ligue 1 clash with Brest, Galtier was asked whether he might consider rotating his keepers and give veteran Keylor Navas a fresh chance to stake a claim.
Donnarumma was exposed in PSG's Champions League game against Juventus on Tuesday, when Galtier said it was forgetfulness that led to the visitors pulling back to 2-1 early in the second half.
From a short corner routine on the left, Filip Kostic crossed into the heart of the penalty area and Donnarumma came for the ball but failed to get close, allowing Weston McKennie the chance to head into a near-unguarded net.
The goal came just moments after Kylian Mbappe threatened to put PSG 3-0 up but shot into the side-netting, with strike partner Neymar crying out for a pass.
PSG did not concede again, so it was an error that did not prove too costly on the night, and Galtier is determined to back the 23-year-old Donnarumma.
"There will not be rotation in the goalkeeping position," said the former Lille, Nice and Saint-Etienne boss.
"We often forget that Gianluigi Donnarumma is still a young goalkeeper, even if he has been playing for quite a while. He often forgets that things can happen from a corner, and he misjudged it the other day, but he also made two brilliant saves. Of course, I've spoken to him about it.
"I always hope to have a goalkeeper who comes out for set-pieces and is very present in the box. He has the physique, technical quality, the jumping ability, so I don't want that mistake from a corner to stop him doing what I want to see from him."
Donnarumma was a European Championship winner with Italy last year, but he has a howler in him. Since joining PSG as a free agent in July 2021, the former Milan keeper has played 32 games and committed four errors leading to shots, two of which have cost his team a goal.
That is certainly not the worst record among goalkeepers from Europe's top five leagues, with 13 making more errors resulting in shots and 21 conceding more goals through mistakes since August 1, 2021.
However, it is far from the very elite level, with Manchester City's Ederson one of six goalkeepers with 30 or more appearances across all competitions to make no errors leading to a shot or goal.
Navas, the 35-year-old now serving as deputy, has made just one error, which led to a goal, across 26 appearances during Donnarumma's time in Paris.
The goalkeepers were rotated last season by Mauricio Pochettino, but that policy has been shelved by new boss Galtier.
It is seemingly only the goalkeeping role that Galtier is not inclined to switch around from game to game, as he said on Friday that others will be coming in and out of the team in the coming weeks, as PSG contend with Ligue 1 and Champions League commitments.
"I don't like the work rotation, but we need freshness," Galtier said. "That will happen automatically because I have a squad that is ready and available with quality. We will need freshness, so the team can continue to perform well."
Barcelona head coach Xavi warned his side will face a "dangerous" opponent in Cadiz on Saturday, making it clear he is not yet considering the upcoming test against Bayern Munich.
The Catalan giants will travel to Bavaria for a huge Champions League clash in Group C, with both sides having won their respective opening fixtures against Viktoria Plzen and Inter.
Tuesday's fixture will also see Robert Lewandowski, who scored a hat-trick on his European debut for Barcelona, return to face the side he recently departed and that adds further intrigue to the game.
Xavi, however, is focusing on Saturday's LaLiga away clash against Cadiz and is expecting a difficult encounter, with Barcelona's opponents desperate to secure a first win of the season.
"It's a difficult, rocky, very defensive opponent. It's been tough for us the last four games, we haven't beaten them. Good day for football revenge," Xavi said in Friday's press conference.
Indeed, Cadiz have won two and drawn two of their last four against Barcelona in LaLiga, but this season they have been slow starters, losing four in a row to sit bottom of the Spanish top flight, in which Barcelona hold down second spot.
"They haven't won, but that makes them more dangerous, they will come out more aggressive," Xavi said. "It's a difficult place to go, one of those which [can decide who] wins the league. Here they secured their safety [from relegation] last year, they work very well even if they have not started very well.
"We are focused on the Cadiz alone. I understand the euphoria, but this has just begun. We have to be humble, we play for three very important points, and we are waiting to win against Cadiz, not thinking about Bayern.
"It's not difficult to manage, there are experienced players as well as young players, and they're all motivated and plugged in, I need them all."
Xavi echoed that sentiment when asked about Real Madrid losing Karim Benzema due to injury, with the first Clasico of the season coming up next month.
"We are waiting for the Cadiz game. Neither of Benzema, nor of [Antoine] Griezmann, nor of debates, I think of Cadiz, of how to play them, surprise them," Xavi said.
"We are looking out for ourselves, not the rest. If I'm looking out for others, we're going [to do] badly."
Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were spoken to privately by Paris Saint-Germain boss Christophe Galtier following their latest on-pitch contretemps.
The PSG forwards have begun the season in fine scoring form, but their relationship has faced intense scrutiny after appearing fractious at times.
It has again come under the microscope after Neymar's upset reaction to Mbappe ignoring the chance to feed him a pass for a likely tap-in in the 2-1 Champions League win over Juventus.
That moment early in the second half of Tuesday's game saw Mbappe charge in from the right flank after receiving a pass from Lionel Messi and blaze a shot wide, rather than square the ball for the advancing Neymar. With two goals already in the game, the France international was chasing a hat-trick.
Mbappe faced criticism earlier in the season for his actions during the 5-2 win over Montpellier, which included a public argument with Neymar.
Frenchman Mbappe missed a penalty in that game but felt he should have another chance from 12 yards when PSG were awarded a second spot-kick, only for Neymar to disagree, taking responsibility and scoring.
A seemingly sulky Mbappe then did not celebrate a goal of his own, and after the Juventus game Galtier had a familiar topic on his hands once more.
The PSG head coach said on Friday: "The relationship is very good. That is the truth. They are often together in training.
"Yes, there is a situation in a match, but having spoken to Kylian Mbappe yesterday – and I have also spoken to Ney – but from the discussion with Kylian Mbappe there were two moments: there was the first acceleration when there was possibly a chance to pass the ball but it was more difficult, and the second time was when Kylian Mbappe got into the box and did not see Ney.
"When you see the clip it looks simple, but at the time he had to make a decision. Kylian Mbappe was focused on the ball for shooting. I am convinced that Kylian Mbappe will get assists for Neymar, just as Neymar is capable of performing assists for Kylian Mbappe.
"There is nothing else negative about that since that piece of play in the game."
Neymar has seven goals and six assists from five starts and one substitute appearance in Ligue 1 this season, while Mbappe has seven goals from five starts but has yet to set up a goal for a team-mate.
Mbappe said ahead of the Juventus game that his relationship with Neymar had in the past "been colder or hotter" with moments where they have been "best friends" and others where they have been more distant.
Galtier could rest one or more of his strikeforce when PSG play Brest in Ligue 1 on Saturday, ahead of Wednesday's Champions League trip to Maccabi Haifa.
Asked whether he could considering resting all three of his star forwards – Messi, Neymar and Mbappe – Galtier's response was a punchy "No!".
But he confirmed one could miss out, saying: "That is possible."
PSG have taken 16 points from six games so far, scoring 24 Ligue 1 goals already, with only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (10) scoring more league goals than Neymar and Mbappe in Europe's top five leagues.
Brest are the only team Neymar has played against in Ligue 1 without registering either a goal or an assist; however, he has faced them just once in his career to date.
Anything other than a convincing home win for the leaders against their 17th-placed visitors would be a surprise, with PSG having won each of their last nine Ligue 1 matches against Brest. Among current Ligue 1 sides, they only have a longer winning run against Angers (12 games).
Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta says coach Simone Inzaghi retains the club's backing despite a poor run of form.
The Nerazzurri have lost two of their past three Serie A matches, falling to defeats against Lazio and Milan, and began their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 reverse against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Should Inter suffer another defeat against Torino on Saturday, they will have recorded three defeats from their opening six matches of a league season for just the fourth time in their history, after doing so in 2011-12 (four), 2000-01 and 1983-84 (both three).
The Italian press reported Inter held an emergency meeting on Thursday as they look to respond to their underwhelming run, but Marotta still has faith in the Nerazzurri coach.
"The mood is that of a healthy realism, every defeat brings with it a more careful analysis of the problems," he said.
"We have a very united staff both at managerial and technical level. From a confrontation, something positive always comes out for the future.
"Inzaghi has a quality squad that he must use in the best possible way, based on the indications of the opponents and the training sessions.
"I think he is doing it in the best way, even if unfortunately the last two games coincided with two defeats.
"But god forbid, he is doing a great job, he knows how to coach and manage the team very well."
However, Marotta did apologise to the Nerazzurri's supporters for recent performances, adding: "We are Inter, and if we want to say one important thing, everyone is more careful, from the management to the technical area and the players.
"When you wear this shirt, you must be honoured, I'm sorry for yesterday's 60,000 and for the 70,000 of other occasions.
"We have an obligation, we have to pay them back in the best possible way and we can only believe these mistakes will serve well for the future."
Inter's midweek defeat to Bayern means they have lost all four of their competitive home games against the Bundesliga giants.
That represents Bayern's best 100 per cent away winning record against any team in European competition, and Marotta acknowledges it is difficult for Serie A outfits to compete with their more monied European peers.
"We know that football in Italy is in the second row in the ranking," he said. "The excessive power of the Premier League, the Bundesliga, LaLiga is evident.
"They are teams with great spending power and great champions. But this is no excuse, we lost against a stronger team, but we have to look for any defects."
Richarlison described his Champions League debut as "one of the best days of my life" after scoring his first two Tottenham goals in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Marseille.
The Brazil international opened the scoring for Spurs in the 76th minute of the Group D contest with a header after Chancel Mbemba had been issued a red card.
Richarlison, a £60million signing from Everton, glanced in a second five minutes later as Tottenham won their opening match in the competition for only the second time.
He became the 39th Brazilian to score on his debut in the competition, the most of any nation, and is the first Brazilian since Oscar in September 2012 to net a brace on his bow.
The 25-year-old was in tears at the end of the game as he embraced his father in the stands and later took to social media to reflect on a day to remember.
"After hearing the anthem, I started to smile, it was my dream as a kid," he said in an Instagram post, alongside an image of himself with his father as a youngster and an adult.
"Being there, listening to the anthem, playing the match, I got very emotional and I was rewarded after scoring these two goals with the help of my friends.
"The whole team helped me a lot. I'm very happy, it was one of the best days of my life with my father and family here.
"My father was here, he has been with me through all my career. He helped me a lot to make my dreams come true.
"To have him here today was very emotional for me because he's a huge part of my success."
Richarlison's double came in his sixth match since arriving from Everton, just two of those being starts, with the versatile forward also contributing a couple of assists.
Spurs boss Antonio Conte hailed the former Watford player's impact after the game.
"First of all, I am happy for Richy," said Conte, who ended a run of four games without a home victory in the Champions League.
"He deserved to have a night like this. I remember very well when we signed him, he said he cannot wait to listen to the Champions League music and play in the competition.
"This morning I said I remember what he said and you have your opportunity and chance. I think he did his best."
"Stick together, don't point fingers. Everyone knows that everyone can do better. What I said, we're not robots, we're trying to perform and you can have bad moments.
"It's how you deal with them and now we'll definitely have a good look at what happened, speak with each other and focus on the game ahead of us.
"It's good for us that there's a game quite quickly after this and hopefully [we] get a great performance and result."
Liverpool host Wolves in their next Premier League outing on Saturday, before resuming their continental campaign against Ajax on Tuesday.
Van Dijk knows the importance of getting their Champions League group-stage campaign back on track as quickly as possible, adding: "It can change, definitely.
"There's so many games still to play but you wanted to have a good start. The situation is how it is.
"Next game in the Champions League will be Ajax at home and we need the fans, we need a good performance from us.
"It starts obviously on Saturday with a good opportunity against a good side as well, so we'll give everything. What I said, the key is to be together. We need everyone.
"If you start blaming others and don't look at yourself or create negativity around the club, then you're not getting out of this. I'm fully confident that we'll turn this around together."
Wednesday's demoralising reverse means Liverpool have lost on all three of their trips to Napoli under Jurgen Klopp, the most they've travelled to a particular side without avoiding defeat during his tenure.
Marco Rose has been appointed as the new coach of Bundesliga side RB Leipzig on a deal until June 2024.
Leipzig acted swiftly following the dismissal on Wednesday of Domenico Tedesco, who lasted just nine months in the role after replacing Jesse Marsch.
Tedesco paid the price for a poor start to the season that yielded just one win from five Bundesliga matches, while their Champions League campaign got under way with a 4-1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
In his place comes Leipzig-born Rose, who parted company with Borussia Dortmund in May after just one season in charge despite securing a second-place finish.
Rose is a familiar face in the Red Bull set-up having previously coached Salzburg, after rising through their youth-team coaching ranks.
It was his work in Austria, where he won two top-flight titles and the Austrian cup, that meant Rose earned admirers in Germany, and a move to Borussia Monchengladbach occurred prior to the 2019-2020 season.
He helped Gladbach to a fourth-place finish in his first season in charge and, although they placed eighth in the following campaign, a run to the Champions League knockout stages saw Dortmund come calling.
Dortmund finished eight points behind champions Bayern last term, and the two parties went separate ways, but Rose will now have another crack at a big job in the Bundesliga with Leipzig.
Ousmane Dembele has shown the same ability to beat defenders as Neymar did in his Barcelona prime, according to head coach Xavi.
The French winger delivered three assists on Wednesday as Barcelona hammered Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in their Champions League group opener, an ideal result ahead of tougher tests against Bayern Munich and Inter.
Robert Lewandowski grabbed a hat-trick, with Dembele setting up the striker's second as well as goals for Franck Kessie and Ferran Torres.
It is remarkable to think that Barcelona and Dembele were in a fractious stand-off barely eight months ago, which at one point saw the club tell the winger to leave amid a contract row.
He has since signed a new deal at Camp Nou, giving club and player security through to 2024, and his form on the wing has been largely outstanding.
"I don't want to throw flowers, but the ability he has in one-on-one situations is at the level of the best Neymar," said Xavi, who played alongside Neymar for Barcelona.
The only aspect where Xavi would ask more of Dembele is in pushing to add to his goals tally.
"He has to dare more to shoot at goal and score," said Xavi. "He's a good boy and he has to take advantage of these characteristics. He's here to make a difference and he's doing it."
Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 and remains with the French giants.
His prowess in front of goal is something Dembele can only aspire to, as despite Xavi's assertions there is a huge gulf between Neymar's output and Dembele's own.
Since the start of 2022, Dembele and Neymar have played a similar number of minutes across all competitions (Dembele – 1,814; Neymar – 1,681) and Dembele edges the assists comparison 13-11 but is 66-62 behind on chances created.
However, their form in terms of finishing has been strikingly different, with Neymar scoring 19 goals and Dembele managing just three. That is despite Dembele attempting 68 shots to Neymar's 54.
Of that high shot tally, Dembele only hit the target 15 times, while Neymar has done so on 31 occasions.
Neymar is exceeding his expected goals (xG) tally of 12.44, while Dembele's xG of 4.99 suggests his shots are often coming from areas where it is highly unlikely he would score. The xG metric looks at the quality of a chance and the likelihood of it resulting in a goal.
Neymar's shots-to-goals conversion rate is an excellent 35.19 per cent, while Dembele is found lagging on 4.41 per cent.
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool's owners "expect me to sort it out" when asked if he feared going the same way as compatriot Thomas Tuchel.
Klopp's fellow German coach was dismissed by Chelsea on Wednesday, with new Blues owner Todd Boehly cutting ties with the former Paris Saint-Germain boss in the wake of Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
That was Tuchel's 100th match in charge of Chelsea in all competitions. In his 18 months at the helm, he guided the Blues to a Champions League success, a Super Cup triumph and Club World Cup glory, as well as three domestic finals.
Chelsea failed to win any of those three domestic finals, with two of them coming as penalty shoot-out losses to Klopp's Liverpool last season.
The Reds, meanwhile, have hardly enjoyed a strong start to the new campaign. A 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth aside, Liverpool have looked a shadow of their best, and were thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in their opening Champions League match on Wednesday.
It was the heaviest defeat suffered by an English side in their Champions League opener since Arsenal lost 3-0 to Inter in 2003, while it also marked Liverpool's joint-worst loss in the competition.
Yet asked if he was worried for his future, Klopp – who has been at Anfield since 2015 – told reporters: "Not really, but who knows? The difference [between us and Chelsea] is we have different kinds of owners.
"Ours are calm and expect me to sort it and not think someone else will."
Klopp has plenty of goodwill in the bank, given the enormous success he has enjoyed at Liverpool, taking the Reds to three Champions League finals, and winning one in 2019, as well as their maiden Premier League title (2020) and winning both of England's domestic cups this year.
Jamie Carragher, who helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2005, is concerned as to what the immediate future might hold, however.
Carragher, a pundit for CBS Sports, said: "The problem is not that game, forget this game, for me the big worry is that is this almost something that’s going to carry on through the season, is this the end of a cycle, have Liverpool massively got their transfer ideas wrong?
"This team looks so far off it and it has been at full pelt for five or six years under Jurgen Klopp and in seven games Liverpool have played this season, they've conceded the first goal in five, so they're not starting games well.
"I'm not going to criticise their attitude because what this team have done, certainly in Europe, the Premier League – the mentality is fantastic – but is this a massive drop off physically? Can this team get it back, that's the worry for me. What's going to happen in the future for this team?
"This is only the fourth game Liverpool have lost in 2022, it shows how consistent they've been, but the performances, more than the results, are what's worrying me right now."
Diego Simeone described Antoine Griezmann as "one of the most important players" in Atletico Madrid's history after his dramatic winner against Porto on Wednesday.
After 100 minutes and 21 seconds, Griezmann nodded home the latest Champions League goal on record (excluding extra-time) to guide Los Colchoneros to a stunning 2-1 victory.
Mario Hermoso had broken the deadlock in the 91st minute before conceding a penalty that was scored by Matheus Uribe, meaning Atleti's win over Porto is just the second Champions League match to ever feature three goals scored after the 90th minute (excluding extra-time).
Remarkably, the previous instance was when these two sides met last December, when Diego Simeone's men ran out 3-1 winners in Portugal.
Griezmann has had to settle for the role of impact substitute this term, with Simeone recently hinting the France forward's minutes were being managed to avoid activating a purchase clause in his loan deal from Barcelona.
The Atleti boss was fulsome in his praise of the France international afterwards and urged him to remain resilient.
"I love Griezmann very much," he said in a press conference. "Apart from the affection towards him, he is one of the most important players in the club's history.
"We will continue to improve. He is giving us a lot and he has to be strong in his head."
Simeone's son, Giovanni, was also in Champions League action on Wednesday, with the 27-year-old scoring his first goal in the competition in Napoli's thumping 4-1 win over Liverpool.
The Atleti boss added: "Gio was looking to play in the Champions League. He goes to a phenomenal club like Napoli and I'm very happy because he deserves it.
"He needs to continue because what you did today, nobody remembers tomorrow."
Atleti are back in action on Saturday when they host Celta Vigo in LaLiga.
Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi lamented his side's failure to "play the perfect match" after their 2-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
A first-half goal from Leroy Sane and a Danilo D'Ambrosio own goal were enough for the Bundesliga champions to open their group-stage campaign with three points at San Siro.
The winners of the 2019-20 edition of Europe's premier competition dominated Inter, attempting 21 shots at goal compared to the Italian side's nine as Inzaghi's men only registered two shots on target.
Inzaghi was frustrated with his team's lacklustre performance, telling Sky Sport Italia: "In the first 20 minutes we lost many duels against an intense, extraordinary team, one of the strongest in Europe.
"After the first goal, where we had to do better as a team, we created many potential chances but we missed several last passes unfortunately.
"We brought more pressure in the second half and had opportunities to [get back into it].
"It is clear that you have to play the perfect match against such opponents, we were facing a team of the highest quality, among the best three in Europe in my opinion."
The defeat to Bayern is Inter's second in a row, after they were beaten 3-2 by city rivals Milan at the weekend.
Striker Edin Dzeko knows his team must improve if they are to compete for Serie A and Champions League silverware, telling Mediaset Infinity: "I think Bayern were stronger than us today. It is the truth. Teams like this punish you for every mistake.
"I'm not worried. I know we are strong and we are definitely not 100 per cent yet. These defeats just prove that we have to work."
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