THEY’LL be rolling out the red carpet for Ruben Amorim in Manchester on Monday now.

And they should be having a whip round at Old Trafford to get Viktor Gyokeres to follow him to Old Trafford as soon as possible.

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Together they produced the ultimate fairytale farewell to the Jose Alvalade Stadium for the United-bound boss.

What an extraordinary way to endear himself to his new fans.

His team inflicted a first Champions League defeat in 90 minutes on Pep Guardiola’s mighty Manchester City since May 2022 – 32 matches ago.

Not to mention the heaviest loss in any competition in over four years for the ‘noisy neighbours’.

If this is the kind of entertainment that is heading for the Theatre of Dreams, then fasten your seatbelts.

Gyokeres got a hat-trick – including two penalties – to enhance his reputation as one of the hottest properties in Europe.

He could have had more too and looks exactly what goal-shy United need right now.  

They say if you can’t be a good manager then be a lucky one – and Amorim certainly had his share of good fortune.

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City bossed the first-half and should have been out of sight – while Erling Haaland also uncharacteristically missed a second-half pen.

But credit to Amorim and his team for hanging in there and then hitting the English champs with some stunning breakaways.

The manager was given a huge ovation by the crowd before kick-off – while a huge banner showed the trophies he has won and simply said “thank you”.

Yet he had expressed his worries before kick-off that the emotion of the last week might affect his players.

And sure enough they began nervously despite their excellent start to the season and fell behind within four minutes.

Keeper Franco Israel rolled a pass to Hidemasa Morita who didn’t look best pleased when he was dispossessed in the blink of an eye by Foden.

The England ace took a couple more touches before thumping a shot past the Sporting keeper – who might be disappointed not to keep it out.

Foden has now scored in eight of his last nine appearances in this competition and seems to be going through the gears after a slow start to the season.

Yet the home side could have levelled within a couple of minutes as Gyokeres nipped in ahead of Rico Lewis and raced through on goal from his own half.

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The in-form former Coventry man never looked confident though as Ederson stood up to him and his chipped effort was weak.

Back at the other end, Haaland saw one chance clawed away by Israel and blazed another wide after a delightful pass from Matheus Nunes.

The Norwegian was getting plenty of opportunities and saw a looping header hoofed off the line before Israel flung himself to keep out a volley.

Haaland was being made to wait for his 45^th goal in this competition – but you know with him it wont be long.

Stand-in skipper Bernardo Silva latched onto a cheeky back-heel from Foden but steered his shot just past the post.

Sporting have won all ten of their domestic league games this season and were neck-and-neck with City in the table.

City should have been out of sight given their chance – they weren’t though – and were made to pay shortly before the break.

Geovany Quenda found Gyokeres and this time he held off teenage defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey before clipping home his shot.

The Swedish forward – who now has 25 goals this season for club and country – is a huge cult figure in Lisbon and the fans went wild.

Don’t be surprised if a bid comes in from Old Trafford before long.

As the home fans celebrated, Amorim called a quartet of players over to dish out some tactical advice. No sign of him clocking off early.

He can clearly give a half-time team talk too as his side came roaring out for the second-half.

Just 19 seconds after the restart the home side were ahead as Pedro Goncalves threaded a pass to Max Araujo whose shot went straight through Ederson.

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The home fans were still celebrating as Josko Gvardiol lost the ball on the left and then upended Francisco Trincao.

It was a clear penalty and Gyokeres did the rest – sending the City keeper the wrong way with an emphatic spot-kick.

City were shell-shocked as they faced up to the prospect of losing three games in a row for the first time in six years.

They got a lifeline midway through the second-half as Silva’s shot hit the arm of Ousmane Diomande.

After a long VAR check a penalty was given and after an even longer wait, Haaland hammered his spot-kick against the bar.

It was clearly Amorim’s night – and not City’s.

And that much was clear as former Sporting star Nunes shoved over Geny Catamo in the box to earn the third pen of the night.

Gyokeres kept his cool and rattled in from the spot again to spark more bedlam and complete his hat-trick.

Welcome to Manchester, Ruben Amorim.

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Gyokeres’ breakthrough into the first team at Brommapojkarna came as a teenager, and he soon became a key member of the team, scoring 20 goals in 56 games.

“They were struggling in the second division when he was 16, and the coach from the first team came to me when all of his strikers were injured,” Eklund continues.

“He said, ‘David, do you have any players who can play at that level now?’ I said, ‘I have Viktor. He is a good player; he’s strong enough to play with older players and he’s working hard.’

“Nobody at Bromma was thinking about him. It took time – maybe two or three months – but then he started to settle. The coach called me back and said, ‘wow’.”

Gyokeres’ permanent move in 2021 from Brighton to Coventry, where he scored 39 goals, was a seminal moment. He became the main man for the Sky Blues and developed a great understanding with manager Mark Robins, who once again saw through initial scepticism.

“He first joined on loan for half a season and did OK, but not all fans were keen on his returning the following season,” BBC CWR’s Clive Eakin says. “But Mark Robins clearly saw something in his and bought him permanently.

“From then, it was clear he was something special. His ability to run at and through defenders [stood out]. Any time he collected the ball around the halfway line, you fancied his chances of going through to score. He has strength and is confident with his finishing.”

Premier League clubs were linked before Gyokeres joined Sporting. It was Manchester City-bound director Hugo Viana who seized the opportunity to sign him, and the Swede’s reputation has since soared.

After opening with a thumping success over Slovan Bratislava, a sobering shellacking by Borussia Dortmund, and a doughty draw with Atalanta, this victory leaves Celtic on seven points at the midway point of their campaign.

Next, they host Club Brugge, before travelling to face Dinamo Zagreb, welcoming Young Boys and concluding on the road against Aston Villa.

They currently sit 13th in the 36-team table – level on points with Manchester City in sixth – with a top-eight finish securing an automatic last-16 place, and a spot between ninth and 24th ensuring they would be in the play-off round.

According to analysis by Opta, 16 points would almost certainly secure a top-eight place and 10 would be good enough for a play-off spot.

“We have to stay humble in our work, we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Rodgers said.

“It gives us a real nice confidence. We’ve discovered in the last two games we can be really competitive.

“If you told us after the Dortmund game we’d have four points from the next two games, I don’t think too many people would have said we would have done that.

“It’s a great next step and gives us great encouragement to go and make the play-off stage, but there is still so much to do.”

RED Bull Leipzig gave him wings.

Last night at Celtic Park they watched him soar.

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Nicolas Kuhn played for the Bundesliga’s Under-16’s side and showed signs of taking off.

In this Champions League tie against them, he was flying.

There will likely be some Academy coach at the German club telling how he once watched the Celtic star scored 18 goals in 22 youth team appearances.

But they count for nothing compared to his double here and performance to go with them.

Kuhn, at 24, is now the real deal as he produced on the big stage to be the catalyst for this sensational comeback victory.

The German side took an early lead but after Kuhn’s double Reo Hatate sealed the three points.

For Brendan Rodgers, it’s arguably his biggest European result in his two spells at the club given the standard of opposition.

His side gave him everything he hoped for and more to respond to an early set-back. 

Celtic had initial control of the game.

Right up until they didn’t.

Rodgers’ side made such a promising start and were the dominant team for the first 20 minutes.

The packed stadium brought the big match atmosphere and the early signs were the players would deliver the performance to go with it.

But European outfits like Leipzig only need a sniff of a chance to pounce.

And teams like Celtic cannot afford to make two mistakes in quick succession and expect to get away with it.

That’s precisely what Rodgers warned in his pre-match press conference.

He talked about how keeping possession of the ball was the best form of defence.

So there was real frustration when Auston Trusty passed straight to a Leipzig player on 23 minutes.

The centre-back had picked up an ankle knock earlier. 

But it was still slack play from the big defender when he was under no real pressure.

The error led to a shot on target which was going wide.

But Kasper Schmeichel threw out his right arm to turn the ball out for a corner.

Rodgers turned away in annoyance, knowing it was needless.

The first ball into the box was cleared by Arne Engels.

But when it came back in a second time, Cameron Carter-Vickers could only flick the ball on and Leipzig scored through Christoph Baumgartner.

The Bundesliga side started to look like a really, really good side and they could have doubled their lead.

There was a panicky few minutes for Celtic, without doubt.

Alistair Johnston was required to make a vital last ditch block in that worrying spell with Antonio Nusa blasting another chance high over the bar.

Those were big moments.

But just as Celtic had control of the game and lost it, so too did Leipzig.

Rodgers’ side deserve huge credit for the way they composed themselves after that shaky five minutes.

Skipper Callum McGregor led by example in the middle of the park with a proper captain’s performance.

But the star of the show was wearing the number ten jersey.

Kuhn is just playing with so much confidence right now that he doesn’t run around the pitch, he swaggers.

It’s amazing to think he was so ordinary looking last season after he initially joined the club in January.

But he’s settled now, alright. 

Kuhn made it 1-1 with a tremendous goal after 34 minutes.

He struck the ball almost nonchalantly from outside the box to beat goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi with a sensational curling shot.

Kuhn held his arms out, when the ball hit the net off the post, like it was nothing special. 

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But that’s exactly what it was.

Celtic could easily have settled for that before half-time.

But with Leipzig rocking they grabbed the initiative, pushed forward and scored again seconds before the break.

Hatate did brilliantly to feed the ball into the box from the left and this time Kuhn was in the right place at the right time to score again.

The goal raised the roof but no-one inside the stadium believed there were no more goals to come.

The match was still very much on a knife-edge going into the second half.

Leipzig were always capable of getting the next goal and going on to get the much needed victory.

While they turned up here with zero points from their first three European games this season, their defeats weren’t exactly against the minnows of the competition.

In truth, while they lost to Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool, their performances deserved better.

So Celtic had to beware.

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But when push came to shove, Rodgers’ side were in no mood to let this opportunity slip.

They made it 3-1 in 72 minutes, Hatate reacting brilliantly to slam the ball into he roof of the net after the Leipzig keeper spilled a low cross from Johnston.

Rodgers took off Kuhn at that point with the wide-man getting a standing ovation from the Celtic support.

There was still some work to do in the closing stages.

Play being held up as young Celtic supporter invaded the pitch was an unwelcome distraction for the players.

But the final whistle wasn’t long in coming with Rodgers and his team able to take the applause of the whole crowd who were thrilled with their performance.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page

Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid has been suspended for three games for pushing a journalist.

The 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player shoved a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist after the reporter wrote a critical article that referred to his son and late brother, as well as criticising his fitness and professionalism.

The incident happened after the 76ers’ 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

Embiid, a seven-time All-Star, is yet to play this season because of a knee issue.

“Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” league executive vice-president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in a statement.

“While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”

In Embiid’s absence, Philadelphia have won just one of their first six games to start the season.

SPUN around, turned upside down, and twisted into all sorts of shapes, I’ve never been inside a washing machine, but I now know how it would feel.

And it is all thanks to two of Mexico’s top wrestlers, who touched down in London to give us Brits a taste of what they call “Lucha Libre” in the ring.

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After a 42-year career, El Hijo del Santo, 61, is setting off on a tour of Europe as he prepares to hand the reins to his son, Santo Jr, 27.

He will be the third generation descended from the most legendary wrestler in Lucha Libre history — El Santo — known for his silver mask and 50-strong films, in which he defends peace and justice in the Central America country.

Ranking only behind football in its popularity in Mexico, wrestling fills stadiums with thousands of chanting fans, young and old. And now it is my turn to give it a go.

To transform into a “Luchadore”, I am christened with a new name — El Hombre Ingles (The Englishman) — and draped in a red-and-silver sequin cape.

Then comes the mask, the defining symbol of Luche Libre.
Masking up is about a lot more than just looking fancy, as Santo Jr explains.

Summon power

“Ever since the pre-Hispanic times, Aztec warriors and Mexican fighters would use animal masks to summon their power. It’s a symbol. It’s more magic when you don’t know who is underneath.”

For a Luchadore, there is no greater shame than being unmasked by an opponent in the ring. And despite working under every major Mexican wrestling outfit and doing stints in World Wrestling Entertainment, El Hijo has not once been seen in public without his mask.

“When we’re wearing the mask people are always around us asking for photos and stuff,” he said, with help translating from his son.

“But whenever the mask is off no one knows who you are. We have a lot of privacy because of it.”

His dad El Santo also stayed masked throughout his career until during an interview just one month before his death in a goodbye to his fans.

Such were the lengths he went to hide his identity, he even travelled in a separate airplane to his team so that no one saw his face when he went through customs. And when El Santo passed away in 1984, he was buried wearing the mask.

His funeral was one of the largest Mexico had ever seen, attracting over 10,000 mourners.

El Hijo, who was one of 11 children, tells me the moment he inherited his dad’s mask remains the highlight of his career. Back in the ring, El Hijo locks arms with me and I prepare for battle.

But it is hopeless. I am picked up with ease and thrown to the ground.

I even become victim to the family’s favourite finishing move, “la de a caballo”, where El Hijo sits on my shoulders and stretches back my head. It is certainly a humiliating end to my wrestling career.

When asked how easily other famous fighters could fare at their sport, the pair are sceptical. “They would need time to adjust,” says Santo Jr, “but if Conor [McGregor] wants to hop up in the ring, I’ll be happy.”

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Later, I see El Hijo, Santo Jr, and other wrestlers come together at East End boxing venue — Bethnal Green’s York Hall.

Fighter after fighter enters to dramatic music, each with a unique costume and persona. It is entertaining — and there is plenty of very real rivalry between them.

Even the ref got dragged in at points and a mouthy fan quickly shut up when the wrestler he was taunting sat right next to him.

Many people have the same question when it comes to professional wrestling: is it real? From my second row seat, a couple of kicks and punches do look on the slow side. But these are far outnumbered by very-real kicks to the face and body, and slams that shake the floor.

Likewise, it is real enough when El Hijo and Santo Jr come together as a double team to defend the legacy of the silver mask and the man who first wore it. In the end, it is not a question that matters.

Just don’t expect to see El Hombre Ingles return any time soon.