The Japan Times - Liverpool edge Inter in Champions League as Chelsea lose in Italy

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a late penalty as Liverpool snapped Inter's 18-game unbeaten home run in Europe despite the absence of Salah, who was left out of the squad after his extraordinary public criticism of manager Arne Slot.

Szoboszlai drilled his spot-kick past Yann Sommer two minutes from time at the San Siro after Alessandro Bastoni was punished for tugging the shirt of substitute Florian Wirtz, clinching a much-needed win for the troubled Premier League champions.

"Huge result. We knew we were coming to a tough place, to a team that's in a good moment. We had to show fight and dig in," Liverpool defender Andy Robertson told Amazon Prime.

A fourth victory in six Champions League games bumped Liverpool up into the top eight to keep them in the hunt for direct qualification to the last 16 as they contend with the fallout of Salah's weekend outburst.

The Egyptian forward said he felt like he had been "thrown under the bus" by Liverpool during the club's dip in form and no longer had a relationship with Slot.

"A tough situation. We're talking about one of the greatest players to play for this club," said Robertson. "Whatever has happened, happened. Internally, we're all together."

Chelsea lost 2-1 at Atalanta despite taking a first-half lead when Joao Pedro poked in a cross from Reece James.

Gianluca Scamacca headed Atalanta level after half-time and Charles De Ketelaere, who set up the equaliser, smashed in the winner for the Bergamo-based side on 83 minutes.

"We need to learn. We're disappointed but we have to be focused on the next game," Joao Pedro told TNT Sports.

"In the Champions League, if you concede one goal, and then another (soon), it is difficult to come back."

Atalanta are third with 13 points, two adrift of leaders Arsenal and Bayern Munich, while Chelsea dropped down to 11th place.

- Bayern rally as Spurs cruise -

Bayern came from behind to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 as they bounced back from a loss to Arsenal last month.

Hosts Bayern fell behind to a Joshua Kimmich own-goal in the second half but Serge Gnabry and 17-year-old Lennart Karl led the fightback.

Gnabry swept in a corner from close range to equalise and Karl fired Bayern ahead as he controlled a pass and shot past Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva from a tight angle. Jonathan Tah bagged a third to seal the win.

Jules Kounde emerged as the unlikely hero for Barcelona as the France defender scored a pair of headers in a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ansgar Knauff sent the visitors into a surprise lead but Kounde's brace early in the second half swung the game in favour of Barcelona in their first Champions League match at Camp Nou since 2022.

"We wanted to start at the Camp Nou with a win, it was a tricky game," Pedri told Movistar.

"We came back in the end, got the three points and we're happy."

Tottenham eased to a 3-0 home win against Slavia Prague courtesy of penalties from Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons after David Zima's 26th-minute own-goal in north London.

Spurs climbed up to ninth and sit just a point behind Liverpool.

Mason Greenwood struck twice as Marseille held on to beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-2 in Brussels, while Folarin Balogun scored the only goal as Monaco edged Galatasaray 1-0.

Atletico Madrid won 3-2 at PSV Eindhoven with goals from Julian Alvarez, David Hancko and Alexander Sorloth.

Olympiacos earned their first win of the competition as Gelson Martins was on target in a 1-0 victory away to Kairat Almaty, who have just one point in their debut campaign.

S.Yamada--JT