WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Arne Slot said Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday is a case of the “same old story” after his team conceded yet another late winner in the Premier League.

Wolves midfielder Andre secured the victory for the hosts with a deflected strike in the 94th minute at Molineux Stadium. It means Liverpool have now lost five games thanks to goals after the 90th minute this term; the most of any side in a single campaign in the competition’s history.

“How do I sum this up?” Slot said of his team’s ninth Premier League loss of the season. “Same old story. Recently, we are picking up points because we score many times from set-pieces, but what didn’t change in the last five, six seven games is that we struggle and find it very hard to score from open play chances that we do create.

“Not as much as I would like from all the ball possession we have, but enough and far more than the other team. But the end result is we scored one and they scored two and another one in injury time so it sums up our season again.

“We have had far more possession than the other team, we have created more in open play in general than the other team, but have struggled to score from open play. Recently we have scored a lot from set-pieces. Again we had a lot of set-pieces, but in the first half were very poorly taken.

“I don’t think we played a very good first half, the second half was better, still not great, but better. We created more, and the just before injury time we were twice very close from chances to make it 2-1.

“Mo [Salah] was dribbling and had to the left and right two players open, but the ball was intercepted by their defender and there was the Virgil [van Dijk] header, and the one we conceded wasn’t even a chance.

“That has happened to us so many times this season. That it happened in injury time may be a coincidence, although it has happened so many times. We hardly gave away a chance today, we gave away one chance and conceded two.”

Liverpool’s latest defeat leaves them in fifth place, though they could drop to sixth if Chelsea beat Aston Villa at Villa Park on Wednesday.

Reflecting on whether the loss has impacted his team’s chances of Champions League qualification, Slot said: “It’s another setback and we didn’t help ourselves with this result, not at all. But there are still nine games to play. We are coming closer and closer to the end.

“Dropping points in a game where it’s absolutely not necessary. If you look at the run of play, I’m not saying we played great, but if we play this game in this fashion 10 times we don’t lose 10 times.

“It’s far from sure that we win every time, therefore we are not good enough. If we don’t have to rely on a deflected shot, we have to play better and do better. But we’ve had enough chances to win the game.

“But credit to Wolves as well. They fight from first second until the end and got maybe a bit of a luck they deserve when you look at how much they put in throughout the whole game.”

Hansi Flick was “disappointed but proud” after Barcelona came desperately close to pulling off an incredible comeback against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday only to ultimately miss out on a place in the Copa del Rey final.

Two goals from Marc Bernal and a Raphinha penalty earned Barça a 3-0 win at Spotify Camp Nou, but they lost the tie 4-3 on aggregate after last month’s four-goal defeat in Madrid.

Atlético will now progress to April’s final in Seville, where they will meet the winners of Wednesday’s Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club.

“We are disappointed, but we can be very proud about the performance we showed,” Flick said in the post-game news conference. “It was an amazing game from us and we created a lot of chances to score even more goals. In the end it didn’t happen and we have to accept it.”

Fermín López, Raphinha, Bernal, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal all had early chances as Barça flew out of the blocks, registering 13 shots on goal in the first half.

Bernal eventually gave them the lead in the 29th minute, converting a brilliant Yamal cross, and when Raphinha made it 2-0 via the spot on the stroke of halftime, the home supporters chanted “Yes we can.”

A second goal of the night from teenager Bernal set the stage for a frantic final 20 minutes, but Barça could not find a fourth, which would have taken the tie to extra-time, with their best chance blazed over by Gerard Martín in stoppage time.

“Normally this level is the benchmark, but we have to show it in every game,” Flick added. “It’s not a given, it’s hard work.”

Bernal, one of the standout performers on the night, has now scored four goals in his last five appearances and is nearing his best form again following over one year out of action with an ACL injury.

“Marc played an unbelievable game today,” Flick said. “This is the mentality I want from him because he’s a fantastic talent. With the ball, the buildup, he’s really good. Today…it was amazing, really good to see.”

Barça’s performance was tainted by injuries to Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde. Koundé was forced off in the first half and Balde, his replacement, came off after the break.

Both will undergo tests on Thursday to determine the severity of the injuries.

“They are out,” Flick said when asked for an update on their fitness. “I don’t know [how long for]. We have to wait until tomorrow to know exactly.

“Everyone was exhausted because they left everything on the pitch. They gave more than 100%. The supporters are happy with this game, maybe also a bit disappointed, but it’s normal. Everyone played with his whole heart for this club and it’s fantastic to see.”

Copa elimination means Flick will miss out on a domestic trophy in Spain for the first time since being appointed Barcelona coach in 2024.

He won LaLiga, the Copa and the Spanish Supercopa in his debut season in charge, following up those three titles with a second Supercopa in Saudi Arabia in January.

However, Barça still have plenty to play for this season. They are four points clear at the top of LaLiga and face Newcastle United next week in the Champions League round of 16.

“It’s a long way to go in La Liga and the Champions League,” Flick said said. “We have a huge opponent coming up, Newcastle, a strong team. Every three or four days we have a match and this is our job for the next weeks, months.

“We want to play many games in the Champions League so we have to do it like this. Recovery, focus on our job and that’s what I want to see from the team. The quality we saw today from the team, it’s there, it’s unbelievable. I am really proud about my team and it’s fantastic.”

Eileen Gu released a statement on social media Monday, reflecting on her controversial decision to compete for Team China despite being born and raised in the U.S. 

Gu’s statement tied the decision back to her passion for promoting women’s sports, and encouraging young girls to pursue sports. 

“I gave my first speech on women in sports and title IX when I was 11 years old. I talked about being the only girl on my ski team, and, despite attending an all-girls’ school from Monday through Friday, becoming best friends with my teammates on the weekends through the common language of sport,” Gu wrote on Instagram. 

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“At the same time, I was made painfully aware of the lack of representation – at age 9, I felt that I was somehow representing all women every time I stepped in the terrain park. Landing tricks was about more than progression … it was about disproving the derisive implication of what it meant to ‘ski like a girl.'”

Gu went on to express gratitude for the one season in which she did compete for the U.S. 

“When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. At the time, I had spent one season on the US team, and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season, and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 setting up summer camps on trampoline and dry slope for kids and adults, ranging from 7 to 47 years old, so I knew the industry was tiny. I felt like I knew everyone,” she added. 

“Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner.”

Gu’s statement concluded by acknowledging that certain people “don’t understand” her decision to compete for China over the U.S., while insisting the choice maximized the impact she would have. 

“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can tell 15 year old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide,” Gu wrote. 

“A lot of people won’t understand or believe that I made a decision to create the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say was once a dream is now a reality.”

Gu has become a target for global criticism this Olympics for her decision to represent China while remaining silent on the country’s alleged human rights abuses.

In an interview with Time magazine, Gu was asked her thoughts on China’s alleged persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. 

“I haven’t done the research. I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big claims on my social media,” Gu answered.

“I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general. … So, it’s not like I can read an article and be like, ‘Oh, well, this must be the truth.’ I need to have a ton of evidence. I need to maybe go to the place, maybe talk to 10 primary source people who are in a location and have experienced life there.

“Then I need to go see images. I need to listen to recordings. I need to think about how history affects it. Then I need to read books on how politics affects it. This is a lifelong search. It’s irresponsible to ask me to be the mouthpiece for any agenda.”

More controversy surrounding Gu erupted after The Wall Street Journal reported that Gu and another American-born athlete who now competes for China, were paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025.

Gu is the highest-paid Winter Olympics athlete in the world, making an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone due to partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China and western companies. 

Her alignment with China prompted criticism from many Americans this Olympics, including Vice President J.D. Vance. 

“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

Later, when Gu was asked if she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics at the moment,” she said she does. 

“I do,” she said. “So many athletes compete for a different country. … People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So, it’s not really about what they think it’s about.

“And, also, because I win. Like, if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions.”

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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026.  (Hongxiang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Gu has claimed she was “physically assaulted” for the decision.  

“The police were called. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had my dorm robbed,” Gu told The Athletic. 

“I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.”

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