Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring, and was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side's final two goals to end their winless run of three games.
The Spanish government has pledged to stop the poll, which is declared illegal by the country's constitutional court.
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho denied reports that he is about to marry two women at the same time in August.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field...
To see the major transfers in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1, Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga in the January transfer window, click on the soccer ball (all transfer fees as reported by British media):
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has decried the fans who booed manager Luis Enrique and the players in Sunday's laboured 2-1 home win over Leganes in La Liga as having a short-term memory.
An early own goal by Luke Shaw, who deflected in a header from Luis Suarez, decided a tight first leg and gave Barca their first victory at Old Trafford in five attempts in European competition.
Liverpool frustrated by 10-man Arsenal in League Cup semi stalemate
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Brazilian authorities have blocked assets of Barcelona star Neymar, including a yacht, a jet and several properties worth almost US$50 million, according to The Associated Press.
Real Madrid need both Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to step up a level to cover for Cristiano Ronaldo's absence and Marco Asensio will also be given a more prominent role.
Barcelona's star striker Messi is an alien who plays with us humans, says the Juventus 'keeper
Barcelona's five-time soccer World Player of the Year Lionel Messi went on trial on Tuesday along with his father on accusations of defrauding the Spanish state of millions of euros (dollars).
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
'I wanted a bigger challenge, and my heart made this decision and I followed my heart'
Luis Suarez completed a hat-trick thanks to a cheeky Lionel Messi assist from the penalty spot as Barcelona crushed Celta Vigo 6-1 to restore their three-point cushion over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
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None of Europe's top five leagues have been able to hold matches with spectators since football has returned, although championships in countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Denmark have allowed fans back in to matches.
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has termed his former club Barcelona as the 'best team in the world', after both the teams were being drawn against each other for the high-octane Champions League semi-final clash.
After losing 4-0 in the first leg in France, Barcelona scored three times in the last seven minutes to win a thrilling last 16 home game 6-1 on Wednesday and march into the quarter-finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that transpired on and off the football field on Friday
Neymar completed his record-shattering transfer from Barcelona to Paris St Germain on Thursday, signing a five-year deal with the French club after they triggered his 222 million euros (200 million pounds) release clause.
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
The 28-year-old did not reveal where he would be playing next but widespread reports in the Spanish media said he would be joining Barcelona.
Southampton's 15 million pound ($19.19 million) purchase of Lazio centre back Wesley Hoedt brought the overall spend by England's 20 elite clubs to a record 1.184.9 billion pounds.
Barcelona forward Neymar finds himself at the centre of unwanted media attention in Spain as his struggling team's promising season threatens to unravel after a run of defeats. The Brazilian has not scored in his last five games and is being portrayed as one of the reasons for Barca's woes after three straight La Liga losses has seen them caught by Atletico Madrid, who have also knocked them out of the Champions League. Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia this week focused on the 24-year-old's conduct off the pitch, particularly his "trips away, parties at unadvisable times and commercial commitments". He visited Brazil in March for his sister's birthday party. TV programme 'El Dia Despues (The Day After) on Tuesday showed Neymar arguing with Jordi Ala during Sunday's home defeat by Valencia after the defender chose not to pass to him. Camera footage showed Neymar appearing to swear at his team mate. Barcelona play Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday looking to get their title bid back on track with the cover of newspaper Mundo Deportivo focusing on Neymar, pictured between Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, below the headline 'This cannot go on'.
The circuit agreed last year an extension to cover this year's race, which was held in August and without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after fears it would drop off the calendar.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barca, who were without injured talisman Lionel Messi, started on the back foot and fell behind when Nabil Fekir netted with a sublime angled strike in the 15th minute. Griezmann, who joined Barca last month from rivals Atletico Madrid, scored four minutes before halftime to level the scores.
'There is no price limit to let him go or a price that we are ready to give in'
Atletico were fined 2800 euros ($3,150), while Costa 6010 euros over the incident.
The match marks just the second time, and first in 35 years, that El Clasico will be played outside Spain.
Spain's soccer federation (RFEF) announced a three-year deal to play the revamped tournament in Saudi Arabia
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Atletico coach Simeone defends VAR for making football fairer
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
An earlier tax fraud case against Messi is to be heard in a Barcelona court between May 31 and June 3 after the World Player of the Year and his father Jorge were accused by the tax office in 2013 of defrauding the Spanish state of 4.2 million euros ($4.5 million) from 2007-09.
The referee said in his match report he showed the card because Messi "delayed his return to his half of the pitch after the goal was scored with the intention of wasting time".
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field on Saturday
