Lionel Messi insisted his fifth-place finish in Monday's Ballon d'Or awards was not a motivating factor behind his sensational performance in Barcelona's 4-0 thrashing of local rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.
Croatia were in dreamland on Thursday after advancing to the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years with a 3-0 rout of Argentina that left a subdued Lionel Messi and his team mates facing yet another flop.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi said his side were superior to every team in the league after he scored a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-2 win at Deportivo which clinched the club's 25th Spanish title with four games left in the season.
Valencia coach Cesare Prandelli has conceded there is no point trying stop Lionel Messi as he prepares to face the in-form Barcelona talisman when his side host the La Liga champions on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Paulo Dybala said his two-goal performance against Barcelona on Tuesday was the sort of night he had dreamed about since he used to play on the bumpy pitches of the Argentine second division as a slightly-built teenager.
Barcelona have condemned FIFA's decision to impose a four-match international ban on striker Lionel Messi for verbally abusing a match official in Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Chile last week.
Aditi Rao Hydari wore a black and yellow floral dress from Gauri and Nainika's Fall Winter 2024 collection.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi found himself the unlikely figure of controversy in Egypt after a local politician and a soccer official reacted angrily when he donated a pair of his boots to raise money for charity. MBC Masr channel broadcast an interview last Saturday with Barcelona's Messi on the television programme 'Yes I am Famous', but the announcement that the Argentina forward would auction his boots for charity provoked an unexpected response. Member of parliament and television presenter Said Hasasin, appearing on his own talk show, took off his shoes and said he would donate them to the poor of Argentina. "Whose shoes do you want to sell, Messi? How much do you think it will get? You don't know that the nail of a baby Egyptian is worth more than your shoes? Keep your shoes to yourself or sell them to Israel." "Messi, we Egyptians are 90 million people, who have pride, we have shoes."
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has heatedly denied suggestions that he calls Argentine ace Lionel Messi offensive nicknames.
Li Qian who emerged victorious, securing a 4-1 decision from the judges
Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid athletes for the fourth time in his career.
A video circulating on social media that showed members of the Argentina national team singing about France striker Kylian Mbappe's African descent.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
Diego Maradona says Lionel Messi's second-half penalty miss was not the reason Argentina failed to defeat Iceland at the World Cup on Saturday.
Barca finished the season second in the standings on 82 points, four behind champions Real Madrid who visit Leganes later on Sunday. Alaves are 16th on 39.
Chhetri will make his final appearance for India on the international stage when he takes the field in the FIFA World Cup Qualifying clash against Kuwait
Under intense scrutiny, Iyer looked rusty at the start of the IPL and got out for a two-ball duck in their opener against SRH. He had some significant contributions later on but his efforts were all overshadowed by Narine and Salt's explosive batting.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hailed hat-trick hero Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the world "in every position" after the Argentine maestro sent another record tumbling in a thumping 7-0 Champions League win over Celtic.
After lifting his fourth Ballon d'or award, Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that the competition for the trophy would have been fiercer if he and Lionel Messi were in the same team. Ronaldo, who inspired Zinedine Zidane's side to the Champions League glory and Portugal to the European Championship 2016 trophy, defeated Messi and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann to win the coveted prize.
Defending champions Bayern Munich must face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid after they were drawn together in Champions League Group A alongside Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.
Lionel Messi scored a record eighth Champions League hat-trick as Barcelona kick-started their campaign with a 4-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven, although they had defender Samuel Umtiti sent off late in the second half on Tuesday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Argentina look lost and have no leadership after the 3-0 loss to Croatia which left them on the verge of a disastrous early exit from the World Cup, in an audio message leaked to Spanish and Argentine radio stations.
'We want to clarify that our desire has always been to apply a drop in salary because we fully understand that this is an exceptional situation and we are the first ones who have ALWAYS helped the club when asked'
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said he believes Lionel Messi will sign a new contract with the Spanish champions despite reports the five times World Player of the Year is stalling over a new deal.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi scored twice in a 3-0 win over Las Palmas in a match played without fans following clashes between police and voters in Catalonia over a disputed independence referendum.
'I know that he has pushed me to be a better player and I have pushed him to be a better player as well.'
Messi doesn't need to win a World Cup to prove his greatness, feels iconic former Argentine striker Hernan Crespo.
Neymar injured as Brazil lose 2-0 in Uruguay
Lionel Messi scored two spectacular free kicks as Barcelona thrashed local rivals Espanyol 4-0 in Saturday's Catalan derby to move three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Messi agreed the new contract with Barcelona in July but the club did not release the usual photo of the player putting pen to paper, fuelling speculation he could depart in June 2018, when his previous deal ran out, for free.
Full of seduction and schemes, she'll use her sultry charms and slinky moves to trap and trick her fall guy until he's putty in her hands. Call her femme fatale, man-eater, gold-digger or temptress, morality be damned so long as she gets her way.
Argentina showed once again how reliant they are on Lionel Messi as the Barcelona forward scored a hat-trick in their 4-0 World Cup warm-up win over Haiti on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored twice each as La Liga champions Barcelona turned on the style to hammer Huesca 8-2 on Sunday and join Real Madrid as the only teams in the league to win their opening three games.
