LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool's season has been far from perfect. Now coach Arne Slot says the remainder of the campaign will have to be near-faultless if the defending Premier League champion is to secure Champions League qualification.
It says everything about Liverpool's ever-worsening title defense that Slot is focusing on a top-four finish with 13 rounds still to play.
But Sunday's dramatic 2-1 loss to Manchester City was the Merseysiders' eighth defeat in the league this season and left them 17 points adrift of first-place Arsenal.
Liverpool is still in the Champions League and the FA Cup, so there is a lot yet to play for. But in the Premier League, at least, Slot, who won the title in his debut season last year, has had to lower his sights.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's game at Sunderland, Slot said his team had to be “close to perfection” to secure a place in next season's Champions League.
The top four places qualify for European club soccer's elite competition. England is likely to receive a fifth spot because of the performances of English teams in Europe this season.
Liverpool is sixth — five points behind Manchester United in fourth — and four back from fifth-place Chelsea.
“So to close the gap of four or five points towards the number three, four or five that means you have to win a lot,” Slot said Tuesday. “And that’s not what we’ve done this season a lot, so that’s why that has to be better and we have to come close to perfection.
“If we don’t have Champions League football it has definitely not been an acceptable season.”
Liverpool has won one of its last seven Premier League games and Slot said it was the most challenging season he has had as a coach.
“The players are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I’m not used to that as well,” he said. "It’s always more of a challenge after you lose a game of football to get them going again than after a win (and) telling them we were not as good as they might think they were.
“So, yes, this season has been more challenging for me as well, but you also take nice things out of it, weird (as) that may sound because I also look at how much improvement we are making.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Liverpool's manager Arne Slot gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Newcastle in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych will be allowed to wear a black armband in competition at the Milan Cortina Games, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday, but not the helmet he wants to wear that is painted to commemorate the lives of athletes from his country who were killed in the war with Russia.
The IOC called the move a compromise.
“I think what we’ve tried to do is to address his desires with compassion and understanding,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday. “He has expressed himself on social media and in the training and, as you know, we will not stop him expressing himself in press conferences, as he leaves competition in the mixed zone and elsewhere. We feel that this is a good compromise in the situation.”
Not long afterward, Heraskevych wore the tribute helmet for his first of two training runs on Tuesday, which suggests that Ukraine has filed an appeal. He did not appear to be wearing a black armband.
In a letter to the Ukrainian Olympic Commmitte, the IOC said Heraskevych would not be able to “compete” in the personalized helmet. What is permitted for training runs was not specified.
Heraskevych said the IOC told him Monday night that he could not wear the helmet that shows the faces of several Ukrainian athletes who have been killed since 2022 because Olympic officials decided it broke the rule banning political statements.
Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter in part states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
Heraskevych — who was fourth at last year's world championships and is generally considered a medal hopeful at these Games — has more training runs scheduled for Wednesday, and he is expected to compete in the Olympic men's skeleton race Thursday.
The IOC noted that it has banned armbands in the past, but is willing to make an exception in Heraskevych's case. The move by the IOC doesn't mean all athletes can wear armbands, and if Heraskevych chooses to do so, it cannot include any text, Adams said.
“We don’t want everyone wearing a black armband for every competition," Adams said. "But where there’s a good reasoning, it will be considered properly.”
Heraskevych said he is still pushing for a fair outcome, adding that he has seen Russian flags — which were supposed to be banned at these games — in the stands at some events, and wonders why they are allowed by the IOC.
“We didn’t violate any rules, and it should be allowed for me to compete with this helmet,” Heraskevych told The Associated Press on Monday, before Ukrainian sliding officials met with a representative from the IOC and learned the helmet would not be allowed. “I cannot understand how this helmet hurt anyone. It’s to pay tribute to athletes and some of them were medalists in the Youth Olympic Games. That means they’re Olympic family. They were part of this Olympic family, so I cannot understand they would find a reason why not.”
Figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, a onetime Youth Olympic Games teammate of Heraskevych, is on the helmet, as are boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, hockey player Oleksiy Loginov and others. Some, Heraskevych said, were killed on the front lines; at least one died while trying to distribute aid to fellow Ukrainians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in on Heraskevych’s quest, with a post on his Instagram page saying that he wanted to thank the slider for “reminding the world the price of our struggle.”
Heraskevych, a flag bearer for Ukraine at last week’s opening ceremony, displayed a sign after his fourth and final run of the 2022 Beijing Olympics saying “No War in Ukraine.” Days after those Games ended, Russia invaded his country and the war has continued since.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych starts a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych starts a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
