Rory Smith breaks down why Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso turned down Liverpool and Bayern Munich last summer, but could well end up as the next Real Madrid manager next summer.

Watch all the action from the Uefa Champions League on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app from 22:00 GMT on Wednesday 6 November.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shook off a late injury scare as his side won 30-24 in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to continue their unbeaten start to the season.

Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns without an interception while running back Kareem Hunt claimed a two-yard game-winning touchdown to take the Chiefs, playing at home, to 8-0.

Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl winner, had rolled his ankle in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders last week and was left limping again after escaping pressure to send a touchdown pass to Samaje Perine that pulled the Chiefs level at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter.

The 29-year-old needed help to get to the sideline, but after treatment he returned to hit DeAndre Hopkins with a five-yard touchdown pass that put the reigning Super Bowl champions 24-17 up with four minutes and 17 seconds remaining.

Tampa Bay responded when quarterback Baker Mayfield controlled the game, leading to a touchdown from Ryan Miller and when the Bucs opted not to go for a two-point conversion and the lead, the extra-point kick tied it at 24-24.

Kansas City’s final drive in regulation failed to yield anything, but they got the ball to start overtime with Mahomes guiding them to the game-winning score as the Bucs suffered a fourth defeat in their past five games.

Erling Haaland can join Real Madrid from Manchester City if the two European giants can agree on a swap deal, reports said. The Premier League champions are likely to be offered Real Madrid’s proven Brazilian attacker if they are interested in an exchange.

Erling Haaland has openly claimed that he has no intentions of retiring at the Etihad and was open to transfers in future. Real Madrid is a dream destination for most high-profile footballers and the Norwegian has never showed any lack of respect for the “Kings of Europe.” 

Vinicius Jr or Rodrygo: Who will be sold?

The Brazilian duo of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo Goes remain at the heart of Real Madrid’s attack despite the arrival of Kylian Mbappe from PSG. Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius’s availability means French superstar Mbappe is forced to play as a Centre Forward rather than his preferred left-wing for the Los Blancos. Rodrygo, meanwhile operates on the right wing, if not as a CF.

Real Madrid is not willing to swap Vinicius Jr for Haaland, although earlier reports suggested Saudi clubs willing to offer ridiculous sums to get the winger. With his Ballon d’Or dream remaining unfulfilled, it is unlikely that Vini will make a switch to the Saudi Pro League for money.

Rodrygo’s story, meanwhile, is different. According to Spanish media reports, Manchester City gaffer Pep Guardiola is impressed with him and would like to link him up with fellow Brazilian Savinho.   

The Middle-East-funded English champions had made plans to make a €150m (£127m) bid’ for the Real Madrid attacker. Carlo Ancelotti-managed Real, on the other hand, has plans to make an offer worth 200 million euros (£168m) for Haaland, football365.com said quoting multiple Spanish reports. It is in the backdrop of this scenario that the possibility of a player swap has emerged.

NEYMAR limped off with a new injury less than 30 minutes into his return from a horror ACL setback.

The ace was forced to go under the knife a year ago after busting his knee while playing for new club Al-Hilal.

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Neymar missed the entirety of the campaign as his side stormed to the Saudi Pro League title.

And two weeks ago the Brazil star made his tentative first steps on the pitch as a late sub against Al-Ain.

But last night saw Neymar come off the bench against Esteghal just before the hour mark for a proper reintroduction to football.

Al-Hilal won their Asian Champions League match 3-0 thanks to an Aleksandr Mitrovic hat-trick.

However, Neymar was unable to see out the end of the match.

After being on the pitch for just 28 minutes, Neymar pulled up after stretching his leg to receive a pass.

He looked to be in agony as he fell to the floor in a heap.

And the Brazilian ended up limping off the pitch while clutching his hamstring in another fresh injury blow.

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Neymar showed his frustration on the sideline too as he threw his shinpads while looking despondent.

Neymar’s played just seven times for Al-Hilal following a £75million move from Paris Saint-Germain a year ago, scoring once in the process.

He is reportedly being paid £125m a year by the Saudi side — six times his salary at PSG.

But after the game, Neymar took to social media to assure fans he will be back soon by claiming his potential leg injury was hopefully just a cramp.

He said: “I felt like a cramp but very strong! I will do exams and hope it’s nothing more.

“It’s normal for this to happen after one year, the doctors already warned me.

“This is why I need to be careful and have more minutes to play.”

Bruce Thornton scored 20 points, and the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the 19th-ranked Texas Longhorns 80-72 on Monday night.

Micah Parrish added 17 points and six rebounds for the Buckeyes, who led wire-to-wire and shot 55.6% in the second half.

Devin Royal had 16 points and John Mobley Jr. scored 14 off the bench, leading Ohio State to a 33-10 advantage in bench scoring.

Freshman Tre Johnson led all scorers with 29 points and five rebounds for the Longhorns, and Arthur Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick each had 10. The rest of the Longhorns shot a combined 7-of-29 (24.1%) from the floor.

Takeaways

Ohio State: The Buckeyes built a 15-point lead in the first half after opening the game by shooting 50% (10-of-20) from the floor, including 9-of-12 from 3-point range.

Texas: The Longhorns had won 21 of their previous 22 season openers before Monday’s loss.

Key moment

After the Longhorns pulled within four early in the second half, Ohio State’s Evan Mahaffey snatched a rebound off the defensive glass and converted in transition with a layup at the other end. The bucket triggered a 9-3 run that instilled confidence in the Buckeyes, who controlled the pace after rebuilding a 49-39 lead.

Key stat

15 – Johnson showed no signs of freshman jitters in his college debut, as his offense in the first half kept the Longhorns in the game. Johnson scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, in the first 20 minutes.

Up next

Ohio State hosts Youngstown State on Monday, while Texas opens the home portion of its schedule Friday against Houston Christian.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v New Zealand

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Friday, 8 November Kick-off: 20:10 GMT

Coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds, and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app.

‘They reflect my career in a lot of ways, they’ve given me some great moments.’

From coming on for the last 10 minutes of a 66-28 defeat in New Plymouth, to a gut-wrenching quarter-final defeat in his last game as a professional, Johnny Sexton’s experience against the All Blacks started and finished on particularly sour notes.

In between, however, were some of his most cherished experiences on a rugby pitch.

Sexton was the key creative cog in Joe Schmidt’s side that ended Ireland’s 111-year wait for victory over New Zealand, a win made all the sweeter by the fact he felt his missed penalty in 2013 had contributed to a galling last-gasp defeat when history appeared to be on the cards.

Sexton was still in the 10 jersey two years later when Ireland toasted a first home victory over the game’s most famous side and captain in 2022 when, now under the stewardship of Andy Farrell, they won a first Test series away to New Zealand.

From the start to finish of his distinguished international career, he saw the relationship between the two nations change utterly. Indeed, before Friday’s meeting in Dublin, the past 10 encounters have been evenly split at five wins apiece.

“I played in New Zealand a lot of times, especially when you consider how few times I played in South Africa, or went to South Africa, never when I was playing rugby,” Ireland’s record points scorer told BBC Sport NI.

“The amount of times I played in New Zealand was huge. They reflect my story in many ways, in terms of how the early days playing against them were real eye-opening lessons, how good they were, the intensity they played at, how fit they were and the lessons that I took from that. 

“Being able to come full circle, to be lucky enough to be part of a team that beat them on a few occasions with Ireland and the [British and Irish] Lions, that was very special.

“There’s been special encounters and facing the haka has been up there with some of my favourite memories playing international rugby.”