Lionel Messi was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
The repeated use of the technology appeared to contribute to a bad-tempered second half between Iran and Portugal which saw players feigning injury and repeatedly mobbing the referee.
Real Madrid are set be thrown out of the Spanish King's Cup after playing banned Russian winger Denis Cheryshev in their last-32 win over Cadiz on Wednesday.
Struggling Rayo win at Valladolid after late penalty save
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
Five-times European champions Barca, with their trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar subdued, have not exited in the last 16 since going out to Liverpool in the 2006/07 season and the score equalled their worst Champions league loss.
Barcelona crushed Slovakia's Puchov 8-0 at the Nou Camp to go through 9-1 on aggregate.\n\n
Transcripts of both the conversations that happened on January 27 and 28 respectively were posted by The Washington Post.
Luis Suarez grabbed a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged two goals as Barcelona began their quest for a third straight La Liga title with a 6-2 rout of Real Betis on Saturday. Arda Turan, whose two goals against Sevilla helped Barca lift the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday, gave them an early lead at the Nou Camp before Ruben Castro equalised in the 21st minute. Barca went back in front thanks to a trademark 37th-minute goal from Messi before Suarez, La Liga's top scorer last season, made it 3-1 before halftime.
Barcelona closed to within a point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi scored one goal, created two and conceded a penalty in a 3-1 win at home to champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday that eased pressure on under-fire coach Luis Enrique.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone, a month on from a second Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in three years, has made it clear that his immediate future is with the Spanish club. The Argentine, who has been at Atletico since 2011 and is under contract for another four years, said after the loss on penalties to Real that he wanted to explore his options. But now he says he is only concentrating on making the team better. "I spoke in the heat of the moment," Simeone told reporters on Wednesday in Buenos Aires. "We Argentinians are like that. Others are not at fault for beating you, I learned that a long time ago.
Victory for Barcelona took them to within a point of third-placed Deportivo Coruna and kept second-placed Valencia in their sights.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up contrasting wins to progress to the Round of 16, but World No. 11 H S Prannoy suffered a shock defeat to unheralded Brazilian Ygor Coelho to bow out of the World Championship.
No amount of preparation is enough to snuff out the threat of Argentina's "assassin" Lionel Messi, Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez said ahead of Friday's Copa America clash between the teams. Messi was an unused substitute in Argentina's 2-1 win over holders Chile in their opening Group D match in Santa Clara, California on Monday after a back injury but will reappear when they face Panama in Chicago. "Leo trained normally, he will play," coach Gerardo Martino told a news conference on Thursday. Both sides have three points after Panama marked their first appearance in the world's oldest international tournament with a surprise 2-1 win over Bolivia, who face Chile in Foxborough on Friday.
Argentina's Lionel Messi has unfinished business going into the Centenary Copa America that is being staged in the United States with the Barcelona star keen to help his nation capture a first major title in 23 years.
Brazil's Neymar has been banned for four matches after being sent off at the Copa America and will play no further part in the tournament, the South American football federation CONMEBOL said on Friday.
Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
Damir Dokic accused his daughter of abandoning her family for Brazilian Formula One racing driver Enrique Bernoldi.
A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
A first-half goal from Jeison Murillo gave Colombia a 1-0 win over Brazil at the Copa America.
He scored twice in a 4-2 win over Barcelona in the Spanish League.\n\n
King's Cup holders Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg to end a nine-and-a-half year barren spell at home of the Basque side while Atletico Madrid crushed Eibar on Thursday.
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic embraced the art of winning ugly after they beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 to move closer to retaining their La Liga title.
Lionel Messi notched his 250th La Liga goal to move one off the all-time league scoring record as leaders Barcelona won 3-0 against Eibar on Saturday ahead of next weekend's Clasico with Real Madrid.
The 1-1 draw put Real four points clear at the top of the table.\n\n
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team's spirit after knocking holders Barcelona out of the Champions League.
Several of the injured are said to be critical and rescue workers are searching for more casualties in the scorched area.
Xavi's agent has declined to comment on reports the Barcelona midfielder is set to leave the La Liga leaders at the end of the season and sign a lucrative contract with Qatari side Al Sadd.
Real Madrid warmed up for their crunch meeting against Barcelona by thrashing Sevilla 4-0 and coach Zinedine Zidane believes his team "can do great things" if they match the performance they produced against Unai Emery's side.
The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers are still digging out people trapped beneath mounds of rubble.
Spain began a new era under Luis Enrique in impressive fashion as they came from a goal down to outplay England in a 2-1 win in their Nations League opener at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
There was no dearth of praise for little magician Lionel Messi who struck his 500th goal for FC Barcelona on Sunday.
Chelsea will pay 30 million euros ($33.54 million) for the player, three of which will be based on performance, the Spanish champions said on their website.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
Manchester City suffered from deja vu as Luis Suarez's double gave Barcelona a 2-1 first leg lead in a Champions League last 16 tie at the Etihad although Lionel Messi's late penalty miss left the door ajar on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will again be duelling for the title of world's best footballer after their names once again headed the shortlist on Thursday for The Best FIFA Men's Player.
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino resigned on Saturday after just one season in charge having finished second to Atletico Madrid in the La Liga title race and failed to win a major trophy.
The anger is all in the fun of the sport of "lucha libre," which pits rule-breaking bad guys, or "rudos," against noble "tecnicos," he said. After the match, fans line up to get photos with the blond wrestler and have him sign autographs for their kids.
Neymar and Lionel Messi grabbed a goal each in the first half as Barcelona rolled over Roma 3-0 in the traditional Gamper Trophy pre-season match on Wednesday.
US sanctions Mexico captain Rafa Marquez for alleged drug ties 'I deny categorically any type of relation with this organization'
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