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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the halfway mark of the European Champions League, Liverpool are poised to comfortably qualify for the round of 16. The Reds have played four matches and have another four left in the group phase. To date, they have won all their games, with the latest being a resounding 4-0 win over German champions Bayer Leverkusen. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coming into the match, no one would have expected such a one-sided affair. Even with the game being played at the intimidating Anfield Stadium, where Liverpool thrive in front of their home support. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, Arne Slot and his men handed the Germans just their third defeat in all of 2024, thanks to a memorable display by Colombian Luis Díaz. The 27-year-old was deployed in a central attacking role, instead of his usual position on the left wing. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It proved to be a tactical masterstroke by Slot, who has hardly made a misstep since taking over from the beloved Jürgen Klopp in Merseyside. Díaz scored thrice to ensure victory. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Things have gone so well with the new manager,” Díaz said after the match. “It wasn’t easy for him to come in and fill Jürgen’s shoes. Hopefully, we’ll have something to show for it at the end of the season.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have top quality players all over the pitch. But I really enjoyed playing in that position,” Díaz said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Wherever I play on the pitch, I work hard and try to help the team,” he added. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result of his hat-trick heroics, Liverpool remain the only team with a perfect record in the Champions League this season. </span>\r\n<h4><b>Strange Mings</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to this round, the Reds shared this honour with fellow English side Aston Villa. However, the Villans ceded this honour in the most bizarre manner.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">England international defender Tyrone Mings, making his Champions League debut after recently returning from an injury layoff of more than a year, conceded a penalty. The spot kick did not come as a result of a rash challenge or anything similar. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez passed the ball to Mings during a goal kick. The latter, believing he was receiving the ball to place it, picked it up in his own box. This resulted in a penalty which Club Brugge’s Hans Vanaken dispatched.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Villa manager Unai Emery said Mings’s mistake “changed everything”. Despite this, they are still in a great position to qualify for the next round with four matches left in the league phase. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The clubs ranked one to eight qualify for the round of 16. The clubs ranked nine to 24 qualify for the knockout phase playoffs, while the clubs ranked 25 to 36 are eliminated.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Favourites thrashed</b></h4>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2451150\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182475615-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Uefa Champions League, Sporting\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1825\" /> <em>Viktor Gyökeres of Sporting CP celebrates after scoring a goal during the Uefa Champions League match between Sporting CP and Manchester City at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, on 5 November 2024. (Photo: Gualter Fatia / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester City will be sweating about potentially having to play extra games via the playoffs. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City were put to the sword by Portuguese side Sporting in their fourth-round Champions League clash, losing 4-1. Striker Viktor Gyökeres emulated Liverpool’s Díaz as he grabbed himself a hat-trick to punish Pep Guardiola’s men. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Sporting is a massive club and we deserve to play in the Champions League. We have done really well so far, which shows that we can compete against the biggest teams in Europe,” Swede Gyökeres said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Madrid succumbed 3-1 to AC Milan, the Spanish side’s first defeat in 15 years to the Italian giants. It was Los Blancos’ second heavy defeat, coming on the back of their 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The team is not compact. We need to be more compact, more organised. We’ve conceded a lot of goals ... The team is not well organised on the pitch and we need to work on this,” manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “On the pitch something is missing and we have not been able to show our best version.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Madrid’s bitter rival Barcelona continued their impressive start to the season as they hammered Serbian side Crvena zvezda 5-2. </span><b>DM </b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the halfway mark of the European Champions League, Liverpool are poised to comfortably qualify for the round of 16. The Reds have played four matches and have another four left in the group phase. To date, they have won all their games, with the latest being a resounding 4-0 win over German champions Bayer Leverkusen. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coming into the match, no one would have expected such a one-sided affair. Even with the game being played at the intimidating Anfield Stadium, where Liverpool thrive in front of their home support. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, Arne Slot and his men handed the Germans just their third defeat in all of 2024, thanks to a memorable display by Colombian Luis Díaz. The 27-year-old was deployed in a central attacking role, instead of his usual position on the left wing. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It proved to be a tactical masterstroke by Slot, who has hardly made a misstep since taking over from the beloved Jürgen Klopp in Merseyside. Díaz scored thrice to ensure victory. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Things have gone so well with the new manager,” Díaz said after the match. “It wasn’t easy for him to come in and fill Jürgen’s shoes. Hopefully, we’ll have something to show for it at the end of the season.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have top quality players all over the pitch. But I really enjoyed playing in that position,” Díaz said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Wherever I play on the pitch, I work hard and try to help the team,” he added. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result of his hat-trick heroics, Liverpool remain the only team with a perfect record in the Champions League this season. </span>\r\n<h4><b>Strange Mings</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to this round, the Reds shared this honour with fellow English side Aston Villa. However, the Villans ceded this honour in the most bizarre manner.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">England international defender Tyrone Mings, making his Champions League debut after recently returning from an injury layoff of more than a year, conceded a penalty. The spot kick did not come as a result of a rash challenge or anything similar. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez passed the ball to Mings during a goal kick. The latter, believing he was receiving the ball to place it, picked it up in his own box. This resulted in a penalty which Club Brugge’s Hans Vanaken dispatched.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Villa manager Unai Emery said Mings’s mistake “changed everything”. Despite this, they are still in a great position to qualify for the next round with four matches left in the league phase. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The clubs ranked one to eight qualify for the round of 16. The clubs ranked nine to 24 qualify for the knockout phase playoffs, while the clubs ranked 25 to 36 are eliminated.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Favourites thrashed</b></h4>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2451150\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2451150\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182475615-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Uefa Champions League, Sporting\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1825\" /> <em>Viktor Gyökeres of Sporting CP celebrates after scoring a goal during the Uefa Champions League match between Sporting CP and Manchester City at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, on 5 November 2024. (Photo: Gualter Fatia / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester City will be sweating about potentially having to play extra games via the playoffs. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City were put to the sword by Portuguese side Sporting in their fourth-round Champions League clash, losing 4-1. Striker Viktor Gyökeres emulated Liverpool’s Díaz as he grabbed himself a hat-trick to punish Pep Guardiola’s men. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Sporting is a massive club and we deserve to play in the Champions League. We have done really well so far, which shows that we can compete against the biggest teams in Europe,” Swede Gyökeres said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Madrid succumbed 3-1 to AC Milan, the Spanish side’s first defeat in 15 years to the Italian giants. 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Viktor Gyökeres of Sporting CP celebrates after scoring a goal during the Uefa Champions League match between Sporting CP and Manchester City at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, on 5 November 2024. (Photo: Gualter Fatia / Getty Images)