The central defender has been a key man for the Anfield club over the last few seasons, having helped them win the Champions League in his first full campaign on Merseyside.

MATT SPIRO IN FRANCE:Lyon's president Jean-Michel Aulas and his Marseille counterpart Jacques-Henri Eyraud have been going at each other with relish over the past few days.

The father-of-three was subject to an unprovoked attack from away supporters which left him in a coma with serious brain injuries outside Anfield two years ago.

UEFA are set to go easy on Financial Fair Play rules for this season and next. But this approach will not benefit Manchester City, who remain banned from the Champions League for the next two seasons.

Ivan Campo has hit out at the Spanish government over their handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The former Real Madrid star hit out at politicians with the pandemic spreading through Spain.

This season's Champions League final and Europa League final, due to be played in May, have been formally postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA said on Tuesday. 

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: Atalanta is the perfect example of why the best of sport should not be closed to all but a privileged few. Sport can change the worth of a region.

COMMENT: The top 10 - bar Sheffield United, and good for them - seek to ban Manchester City from Europe next season, regardless of the state of their appeal against a UEFA-imposed sanction.

Bergamo mayor Giorgio Gori has labelled Atalanta's Champions League clash with Valencia a 'biological bomb' as he believes it caused the coronavirus to spread in Italy and Spain.   

With Diego Simeone earning £8.9million more than any of his peers in management, it is little wonder Atletico Madrid are one of the clubs who could most struggle financially from the shut-down.

Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires has revealed the REAL reason John Terry wore his full kit at the 2012 Champions League final - and says it was the club's idea.

A European plan is being formed to resume football around July and August, with domestic leagues told Thursday not to abandon competitions yet due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Liverpool council's director of public health has suggested the rise in coronavirus cases in the city may be influenced by the decision to allow the Reds' match against Atletico to take place.

Marcel Garrigou-Grandchamp, a retired Lyon doctor, told Gazzetta Dello Sport 'football was an accelerator of the epidemic'. The doctor published a chart showing an explosion of cases.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says playing behind closed doors is a better option than scrapping the season, but warned European competitions could be abandoned.

The visitors went on to win the game on March 11 and advance to the quarter-final stage of the Champions League - but there were concerns pre-match that it should not have been held.

Made In Senegal charts Mane's rise from humble beginnings in Africa to becoming one of the best players in world football, which culminated with him winning the Champions League last summer.

UEFA president said he would consider finishing the European competitions behind closed doors but will accept they might have to be cancelled if they were unable to resume by September.

Ligue 1 chiefs plan to restart the 2019-20 season on June 17, with a scheduled end on July 25. Clubs face playing every three days to allow enough time for relegation and promotion play-offs.

The Gunners want their squad take a full wage reduction, believed to be in the region of 12.5 percent, for a 12 month period starting from this month, with the club desperate to trim their wage bill.

Belgium is at the forefront of a growing number of nations in favour of ending the 2019-20 season straight away and they intend to lobby UEFA at a showdown meeting next Thursday.

After the final was set to be held on May 30 but was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA have set out a new plan in order to finish the competition but need help from all European leagues.

Jamie Carragher explained that one of the major competitions 'has to give' to allow some free space in the football calendar. The Premier league hope to complete by June 30.

Mark Jenson is the co-founder of The Mag, now the leading independent website on all things Newcastle United. He speaks out about what it is like to support a team owned by the retail giant.

The Swiss international has been on the periphery of Jurgen Klopp's squad this season due to several injuries that have prevented him from challenging the Reds' established front three.

The midfielder has been an important part of a Foxes side that before the coronavirus outbreak were sitting third in the Premier League table and heading towards a return to the Champions League.

PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said in a statement that while they respect the actions of the French government, they fully intend to feature in Europe's premier club competition.

Giggs won plenty of silverware under Ferguson at Old Trafford including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League wins, but it is Van Gaal who he claims has shaped his managerial style.

Following Ferguson's retirement, United have endured a long slump away from England and Europe's elite but would that still have been the case if Ferguson's bold plans had come to light.

The now-Rangers manager is an all-time Anfield great but left Liverpool at the end of the 2014-15 season, just months before the popular manager took the hotseat.

Lindsay Lohan has shot down claims she was trying to flirt with Liam Hemsworth, after leaving several 'thirsty' comments on his Instagram recently.

The Secretary of State said the U.S. 'will no longer behave the way it did under the Obama administration'.'We will no longer appease, we will no longer tolerate,' he said.

CNN's Don Lemon and his fiance Tim Malone were spotted vacationing in Florida with their two adorable pups, Boomer and Barkley, on Saturday. The couple shared a kiss as they held their poodles.

Mark Esper would not explicitly confirm Tuesday if he would resign as Defense Department secretary if Donald Trump instructed him to carry out war crimes.

Australian mining tycoon Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest claimed bushfires ravaging the country have been mainly caused by fuel loads.

Donald Trump argued he's been 'unfairly' treated in his impeachment trial and the victim of a 'totally partisan Impeachment Hoax' as his lawyers wrapped up day one of defending him.

The daughter of an American pilot who died while fighting fires in New South Wales has paid tribute to her 'wonderful dad'.

Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii appeared on Wolf Blitzer's CNN newscast, the Situation Room, on Thursday and insisted that the president was not acquitted because the trial was 'rigged.'

The White House denied reports that Donald Trump is considering appointing a new individual to head the Coronavirus task force as confusion continues to swarm over the outbreak.

President Trump floated that it was possible the U.S. could ban travel from Italy and other countries that have seen higher rates of coronavirus cases.

Michael Smerconish opened his Saturday morning segment of 'Smercornish' by comparing the Vermont senator to the global pandemic that has devastated markets.

Dr Anthony Fauci, of the National Institutes of Health, says the coronavirus outbreak is similar to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s in terms of fear and anxiety among the public.

Cuomo went on his younger brother Chris Cuomo's CNN show on Wednesday night, minutes after President Trump's bombshell address to the nation where he announced the ban.

The news presenter, 49, was discussing the pandemic with CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta on Thursday night when he made his controversial remarks.

The humorous clash between the high-profile siblings took place Monday when Andrew appeared via video link on Chris' CNN program, Cuomo Prime Time.

In an impassioned plea to President Trump on CNN, de Blasio said New York's hospitals would run out of ventilators and surgical masks in two or three weeks.

In an announcement on Friday, he increased the previous rule that 75 percent of the state's workforce had to stay home to 100 percent.

Thousands of New York City stores are boarding up their doors as they face indefinite closure amid the coronavirus crisis. The Big Apple is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US.

GameStop has closed all of its 5,700 retail locations to protect customers and employees from possible exposure to COVID-19, reversing a previous policy to try and stay open during the pandemic.

'I think what the President was trying to do, he was making an aspirational projection to give people some hope,' Fauci said of the proposed April 12 target date on CNN Thursday night.