Real Madrid said their participation in the tournament was never in question.
Liverpool raised the bar so high and enjoyed such a huge winning margin in claiming the English Premier League title last season it would be churlish to doubt their credentials for a repeat showing.
"It's not much better at the moment. With Daniel's injury we have to take it day by day, and see if he's better," Klopp told a news conference on Friday.
Messi, who won the Spanish La Liga title with Barcelona last season as well as the European golden boot having scored 54 goals in 58 games in all competitions, last won the award in 2015.
Borussia Dortmund, a young team assembled at minimum cost, won the Bundesliga for the second season running on Saturday after a 2-0 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Manchester City's Pep Guardiola was named Manager of the Year at a League Managers Association awards ceremony on Tuesday after leading his side to the Premier League title and a host of records.
Mohamed Salah's 100th Premier League goal helped Liverpool cruise to a 3-0 victory at 10-man Leeds United on Sunday in a match that was marred by a nasty injury to teenager Harvey Elliott.
UEFA's FFP rules face likely changes in the wake of the CAS ruling and Mourinho said the system needs to be overhauled if it is to continue to serve its purpose which is to aim to stop clubs running big losses through spending on players.
Colombian super-sub Jhon Duran scored two late goals as Aston Villa salvaged a 3-3 home draw with Liverpool.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said the show of support for Ronaldo during their 4-0 win over Manchester United on Tuesday was the "moment of the game", as both sets of fans stood for a minute of applause following the death of his newborn son.
Liverpool could be crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years, on Wednesday, having turned the Premier League title race into a procession.
Liverpool overcame another obstacle on the path to what looks an almost certain Premier League title triumph as they chalked up a record-breaking 20th win
Liverpool ripped apart Manchester City with three goals inside the opening 31 minutes as they won their Champions League quarter-final, first leg tie 3-0 on Wednesday.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team's trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponent
Liverpool have the joint biggest lead in top-flight history at this stage of the campaign and no team has ever failed to win the title with an advantage of this size. Already there is talk of Liverpool going through the league entire season unbeaten -- matching the 'The Invincibles' of Arsenal in 2003/04 and Preston North End in 1888/89.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Sunday
A summary of Sunday's action in the Premier League.
first English title for 30 years had been sealed almost a month ago with seven games remaining, following a three-month stoppage because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
'This team is really good and we have invested a lot in it. Now we have to work with that'
The 33-year-old centre back Lovren has faced Neymar on three occasions and lost every time, with the unstoppable Brazilian scoring four goals against him.
A 'winning culture' may be one of the most over used terms in modern football but Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti proved on Saturday, at Liverpool's expense, that there truly is meaning and value in the concept.
The following are three talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
It is not yet clear how Liverpool will split their squad and whether Klopp will be present at both games.
'I work for the club. I'm not thinking about myself. I keep saying my ambition is the same, my DNA is the same, but probably I'm in the stage where I look less to myself and my records and I look more to the club'.
Liverpool kicked off the new year three points clear atop the English Premier League standings with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United.
Salah was seen training with a protective cast on his forearm this week but Klopp dismissed any fresh injury concern relating to the Egyptian.
'The run of titles that we won under Sir Alex, I don't think that's going to be easy for anyone to emulate or copy'
Manchester United bolstered their squad with a flurry of transfer deadline day signings, Manchester City and Liverpool also splashed out while ambitious Brighton & Hove Albion sealed an audacious loan deal for Barcelona's Ansu Fati on Friday.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Brazilian Casemiro struck late to send Manchester United into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest as teenagers Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas inspired Liverpool to a 3-0 win over Southampton on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old limped off the pitch in the first 15 minutes of the match at Vicarage Road and was replaced by Adam Lallana but manager Juergen Klopp said that the Brazilian had not been badly injured.
Liverpool's pursuit of a second Wembley Cup final appearance was stalled at Anfield on Saturday as Juergen Klopp's second-string side had to settle for an undistinguished goalless draw with West Ham United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Four days after reaching the League Cup final with their penalty shootout win over StokeCity, Klopp, no fan of English football's congested fixture lists, opted to trust his youngsters as he made 10 changes to the team that played 120 minutes on Tuesday. His faith was only partially rewarded with his young side creating enough chances to earn victory after a dour first half but lacking the cutting edge up front to avoid yet another fixture, an unwanted and difficult replay at Upton Park.
Winter returned to Anfield on Friday but while the temperature dropped, the standards of Juergen Klopp's side certainly did not as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah both struck twice in a 5-0 thrashing of relegated Huddersfield Town.
Ajax wary of attacking Napoli.
City were due to open their season against Aston Villa and United against Burnley but those games will be moved.
Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool boosted their hopes of Champions League football next season
Liverpool have found their identity under manager Juergen Klopp, who has transformed the Merseyside club into genuine Premier League title contenders this season, former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has said. Liverpool have won nine of their 12 games in all competitions this season and are third in the league behind leaders Manchester City only on goal difference. "He has done a really good job and revived Liverpool's enthusiasm," Ferguson, who won the league 13 times, told British media. "It can happen that big clubs lose it. For two decades, Liverpool changed managers without building their own identity.
Sevilla, winners of the Europa League for the past two years, will play Shakhtar Donetsk in this season's semi-final.
Steven Gerrard will return to former club Liverpool to train next week and is looking forward to learning from manager Juergen Klopp, but has ruled out returning to Anfield in a playing capacity.
Mohamed Salah had a remarkable first season with Liverpool, scoring 44 goals in all competitions and helping the club reach the Champions League final
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