ARNE SLOT has opened up on the remarkable story of the time he played against Virgil van Dijk back in 2013.

Liverpool boss Slot incredibly lined up against his now-club captain during a Dutch league game some 11 years ago.

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Slot, 46, has impressed massively since taking over at Anfield this summer, with the Reds top of the table having conceded just two league goals in seven games.

No small part of his success is thanks to the imperious Van Dijk who has long been one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League – if not the world.

But Slot once faced off against Van Dijk when the Netherlands international was rising through the ranks in his home country.

The pair came face-to-face in 2013 during a match between Slot’s FC Zwolle and Van Dijk’s Groningen in the Eredivisie – a clash that ended with Groningen winning 1-0.

Discussing that day with Men in Blazers, Slot joked: “Virgil was lucky that I only came on 10 minutes before the end. That’s why he could keep a clean sheet.”

Slot – who was a midfielder during his playing days – hung up his boots at the end of that season, while Van Dijk was just starting out his career and was only 22 at the time.

Even with his wealth of experience under his belt, Slot couldn’t have predicted that a young Van Dijk would one day be one of the best centre-backs around.

He added: “Everybody thought that Virgil was a very talented and good centre-back, but it was a bit strange that no top clubs came in for him.

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“He had to go to Celtic first and then to the Premier League to become such a star player for Liverpool.

“If you would have asked me back then ‘would you expect him to be the new centre-back at Liverpool?’, I probably would have said no.

“If you would have asked him ‘did you expect to play against your new manager?’, he would probably have said no as well”.

Slot will be hoping his star defender is on top form when his side welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Sunday.

The league leaders will need to be on top form to stop Enzo Maresca‘s transformed Blues.

Only Manchester City have scored more goals than Chelsea in the league this season with the Stamford Bridge outfit bouncing back from a lacklustre campaign last term.

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Maverick Vinales did not shy away from the hand gesture he made at a motionless Marco Bezzecchi following the pair’s high-speed crash in the latter stages of Saturday’s sprint race at the Australian Grand Prix.

The factory Aprilia rider had qualified third on the grid for the Phillip Island race but was unable to maintain his position at the start, losing several places to eighth, a position he held for five laps.

Then, amidst crashes and overtaking, Vinales began to make his way up to sixth, behind VR46 Ducati rider Bezzecchi. But despite being the only frontrunner on the medium rear tyre, the Italian fought tooth and nail until the incident on lap 11, two laps from the end of the sprint.

Vinales overtook Bezzecchi approaching Doohan corner and pushed hard under braking, but the Italian lost his reference and didn’t brake where he was supposed to, slamming into the Aprilia from behind.

Both went into the gravel at high speed, fortunately, without serious consequences in terms of injuries, despite Bezzecchi lying still for a short while following the crash. Both riders were conscious after the incident, although Bezzecchi was taken away on a stretcher.

A statement from the Aprilia team said that Vinales was “transferred to the medical centre where he was examined following the contusion of his left elbow. No fractures were reported, but an additional ultrasound exam subsequently highlighted modest post-traumatic swelling. For this reason, the Spanish rider will undergo anti-inflammatory therapy.”

Vinales was confident of racing on Sunday when he spoke to the media. He also explained how events unfolded from his point of view.

“When I crashed I felt a cramp and then I couldn’t feel my hand,” revealed the Spanish rider. “That’s why I was a bit scared.”

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Bezzecchi must have misunderstood the braking point. We spoke and he told me that he would come and talk to me afterwards. Let’s see what he says.”

Further conversation was not possible in the immediate aftermath of the race as Bezzecchi went to hospital in Melbourne for further checks. For this reason, Bezzecchi’s point of view and any possible sanction from race direction will also have to wait until Sunday.

Following the initial checks performed at the circuit’s medical centre, Bezzecchi is understood not to have any fractures.

After the crash, with Bezzecchi lying motionless on the ground, Vinales showed him the middle finger, which attracted some criticism.

“I get thrown off at 300 kilometres per hour – what am I going to do, give him a kiss?” was Vinales’ comment on the matter. “At home, I would have done something else.”

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez said he regarded the crash as a racing incident.

“If you look at it, it looks like it’s Bezzecchi’s fault, but for me, it’s a racing incident.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“In 2017, I had exactly the same situation. I overtook using the slipstream, but then when I arrived at the braking point the wind pushed me out.

“You don’t want to go into the middle of the track because you know that with these bikes if you go in front of the guy you are overtaking, the slipstream sucks the second guy.

“So you never want to be in front because you know it’s a dangerous situation for you. But today the wind was pushing laterally and I think Vinales could not avoid that movement while Bezzecchi couldn’t avoid the sucking.

“But guys, we are riding at 320km/h, shaking, and it’s windy at the end of the straight. So for me it’s a racing incident.”

“It was a great bounce-back from last week’s result, some of the backs were on fire.

“Not much really changed from last week with the game plan but we were able to put our DNA on the park.

“We had some unlucky stuff happen last week, but this week it came our way, which was awesome.”

The Australian made his 50th appearance in a new look back row, which saw him and Tom Pearson joined by youngster Henry Pollock, making his first Premiership start.

“We have different strengths. We do complement each other. It was really exciting to see HP running around like a mad thing and TP is always a physical presence,” said Scott-Young.

“I love playing with them, it’s a great combination.”

Northampton expect a tougher challenge next week against a Bristol side at the top of the table ahead of Saturday’s fixtures.

“They do seem to be a bit of a bogey team for us especially playing down there at Ashton Gate,” he added.

“They’re pretty dynamic and a box of surprises as well. We’ll definitely need to play our best rugby to counteract them when they’re playing at home.”

The first Ferrari Challenge qualifying run of the day for the Coppa Shell AM grouping took place under mainly appalling weather conditions, with the pouring rain making it a complicated session, which was interrupted to allow the track to dry out.

A few minutes into the session, Race Direction put the red flags out after two Ferrari 296s (one of which the #171 of frontrunner Andrea Levy) ended up against the inside wall, at the entry to Tamburello.

After an interruption of about 15 minutes, qualifying resumed with track conditions better but still tricky, and leaving no margin for error.

Lap after lap, a drier line appeared and the times started to come down. With the chequered flag fast approaching, Eric Cheung (Formula Racing) set the quickest time of the session, the only driver able to lap under 1m56s.

The Canadian’s time of 1m55.728s was almost four-tenths quicker than second-placed Roland Hertner (Gohm Motorsport), who looked certain to take the pole right until the end.

Third place went to Shair, who finished ahead of Coppa Shell AM Europe champion Zois Skrimpias, Jan Sandmann and Henrik Kamstrup. These are the six drivers qualifying for this afternoon’s Superpole, the classification of which will make up the first three rows of the grid for tomorrow’s Ferrari Shell AM World Finals.

Although the top-6 had an international flavour about them, they all came from the Shell AM Europe class, while those from the North America section struggled a bit more in the conditions and were further back in the final standings.

Andreas Koenig (Ghom Motorsport) was the first non-Superpole qualifier in seventh, ahead of Shintaro Akatsu (Ineco), Stephen Earle (Kessel Racing) and Norikazu Shibata (Cornes Osaka), who wrapped up the top-10.

RAPHAEL VARANE has landed a new job just three weeks after hanging up his boots.

The 31-year-old officially retired from football, having sustained a severe knee injury on his debut for Como.

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But Varane is staying with the Italian side and has been appointed as a board member, with a particular role in the running of the club’s youth teams.

Como revealed in a statement: “Varane will bring his experience and leadership to this new role, marking the next chapter of his career off the pitch.

“He will collaborate with Osian Roberts, Como’s head of development, and Juliette Bolon, head of the education program, to support the club’s youth development efforts.

“His involvement will benefit not only the players but also the broader community through educational initiatives.

“By integrating academic, leadership, and vocational training into the youth programs, Varane aims to help young athletes prepare for life beyond football.”

Como, who are embarking on their first season in Serie A since 1989, are managed by Cesc Fabregas and have Thierry Henry as a minor shareholder.

Ex-Liverpool duo Pepe Reina and Alberto Moreno are in the squad.

Varane signed for Como on a free transfer in the summer after his contract at Manchester United expired, having spent a total 219 days out injured while at Old Trafford.

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The French centre-back signed off by lifting the FA Cup in his final Red Devils appearance.

But just three months later, he managed just 20 minutes on his Como debut before hobbling off injured.

He later revealed he has battled knee injuries throughout his career and it impacted his decision to call it a day.

Varane won the World Cup with France in 2018 and four Champions Leagues with Real Madrid.

PFL: Battle of the Giants goes down Saturday with three title fights atop the bill, including the return of one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts, and MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” will host a live-streamed watch-along right here at 1:30 p.m. ET. 

In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou makes his highly anticipated return to the sport against 2023 PFL season winner Renan Ferreira. And in the co-main event, Bellator women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg meets two-time PFL champ Larissa Pacheco. At stake in both bouts are the first PFL Super Fights title belts.

Also featured on the card is a Bellator middleweight title-fight rematch between champ Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards. Eblen won their first fight in September 2023.

PFL: Battle of the Giants takes place at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, with a main card that streams on pay-per-view (ESPN+, DAZN). As part of the watch-along, the full preliminary card will stream in the video above. 

Below is the complete PFL: Battle of the Giants lineup:

PFL: Battle of the Giants main card

• Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira – for heavyweight super fights title
• Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco – for women’s featherweight super fights title
• Champ Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards – for Bellator middleweight title
• Husein Kadimagomaev vs. Zafar Mohsen
• A.J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes

PFL: Battle of the Giants preliminary card

• Marcos Breno vs. Raufeon Stots
• Dedrek Sanders vs. Makkasharip Zaynukov
• Nacho Campos vs. Ibragim Ibragimov
• Taha Bendaoud vs. Tariq Ismail

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.