Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola believes that Bradley Barcola, who recently joined the team, does not need special preparation after his first appearance in the 2-0 win over Ipswich Town on Friday.
Barkola came on as a substitute after 64 minutes, playing his first match since participating in the 2026 World Cup bronze medal match between France and England.
After long negotiations, Liverpool announced on Monday its contract with Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain for 106 million pounds sterling (144.5 million US dollars) as a first payment, in addition to another 17 million pounds sterling financial incentives.
“We have to deal with Barcola with caution, because he has been out of action since the World Cup,” Iraola said in statements reported by the British news agency (PA Media).
The Spanish coach added: “He is training well, he is in good condition, and I think he has helped us.” Perhaps we did not notice his movements in some situations in which he was advancing toward the goal with the goalkeeper.”
He continued: “Barcola becomes more dangerous whenever he has possession of the ball, and his participation in 30 minutes will be useful in preparing him physically for this season’s competitions.”
The Liverpool coach continued: “We will continue to work, and we have many matches ahead of us, so he will have more opportunity to play.”
He continued: “It is natural for us to be patient with him, because he did not participate in any friendly match during the preparation period, and despite that, his condition is good.”
Iraola concluded: “I do not think he needs a special plan to prepare him, but we must not forget that he has not participated for a long time, and we must also take into account that the atmosphere of matches is different from training.”
Schalke returned to its home stadium in the German League in the best possible way, after forcing its guest, Bayern Munich, the defending champion, to a goalless draw, on Saturday, in the second round of the “Bundesliga”, in a match whose first hero was goalkeeper Loris Karius.
Bayern entered the confrontation in high spirits after beginning the campaign to defend its title by sweeping Stuttgart 5-1, but Schalke, who returned this season to the top flight, refused to turn their first appearance at the Veltins Arena after returning into an outing for the Bavarian team.
Bayern imposed pressure in search of a goal that would break the hosts' resilience, and threatened Schalke's goal on more than one occasion, but Karius regained some of his old luster, and repelled dangerous attempts, most notably against Englishman Harry Kane and Colombian Luis Diaz, to keep his sheet clean until the final whistle.
The draw stopped Bayern's perfect start in the "Bundesliga", and gave Schalke a valuable point that carries great moral value at the beginning of its career after returning to the first division.
As for Bayern, they exited Gelsenkirchen with two lost points and an early message that the path to retaining the title may not be easy, before turning their attention to their next match in the Champions League against their Norwegian guest, Bodo Glimt, on Thursday evening.
American Amanda Anisimova, ranked tenth in the world and runner-up in the last edition of the US Open, the last of the four major tennis tournaments, bid farewell to the competition in the third round, after losing to Austrian Anastasia Potapova (25) 6-2 and 7-5, on Saturday.
Anisimova also had difficulty in the second round to overcome the other Austrian, Lily Tager (49), before deciding the confrontation in her favor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
In front of Potapova, the runner-up in the 2025 edition of “Flushing Meadows” paid the price for her great risk and lack of accuracy, as she committed 46 direct errors, and only used three opportunities to break serve out of 16.
The Austrian won the match from the first match point, after Anisimova committed her 23rd direct error with a backhand kick, after more than an hour and a half of play.
In the quarter-finals, Potapova will meet the winner of the fifth match between Russian Mira Andreeva, who won the Roland Garros title in June, and Czech Nikola Bartonkova (34).
