News Headlines

Rafael Benítez is assured his 'job is safe' despite crushing exit

• Liverpool's managing director, Christian Purslow, backs Benítez• Club now targeting Europa League consolation prizeRafael Benítez has been assured his position as Liverpool manager will not be undermined by Champions League failure as he admitted the 2005 winners and 2007...

Liverpool could be counting the cost of this early exit for years to come

• Liverpool earned over £7m from last year's knockout stage• It may be difficult to sell-out Anfield for Europa League matchesIt is impossible to calculate precisely the financial cost to Liverpool of their dire failure to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage but it is...

Editorial: In praise of… inhalers

Hippocrates advocated breathing in plant vapours, and the ancient Egyptians puffed black henbane evaporated on hot bricks. Treating wheezing at source is intuitive but, from the earliest times to the first 18th-century "inhaler" (a pewter tankard adapted for sucking opium fumes) and the Edwardian...

Liverpool plug the holes as faint hopes of salvation drain away | Andy Hunter

Liverpool's defensive display against Debrecen encouraged hopes of a brighter season, despite their exit from the Champions LeagueIt illustrated the extent of Liverpool's predicament here that Jamie Carragher came in search not only of another European salvage operation but help for the psyche....

Asthma, David Beckham and me

The football star was photographed using an inhaler this weekend. Who knew we had anything in common?Me and David Beckham: who'd have thought it? It turns out we have a lifelong affinity. That small plastic object in the pocket, wherever you go. You could reach for it instantly, though you might...

Send out the 'clown' Sir Dave Richards

• Premier League chairman 'not popular' figure• Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini 'dislike' RichardsSir Dave Richards' withdrawal from the England 2018 World Cup bid yesterday was not met with universal disappointment in football's corridors of power. Indeed, one well-connected individual...

World Cup bid tears up Olympic Stadium blueprint | David Conn

The 2018 campaign's inclusion of the Olympic Stadium exposes a bitter dispute over its future after the GamesThe smouldering controversy over the viability of London's 2012 Olympic stadium will reignite tomorrow when the stadium is formally proposed as a football venue, still at 80,000 seats six...

Ngog strike not enough as Liverpool face grim reality

The travelling contingent cheered the warm down around the pitch but the Liverpool players could barely lift their eyes towards them last night. Javier Mascherano flashed a wave but the rest quickly trundled on; a squad most obviously devastated – their agonies in the tunnel as they watched...