The clinical Argentine Messi now has 11 goals in his last five games in all competitions and with record signing Ousmane Dembele injured and Luis Suarez rested, he put on a sensational show at Camp Nou to extend Barcelona's La Liga lead.
On the eve of the big game, the Malian footballer tell Rediff.com's Norma Godinho why Real Madrid are favourites and what is plaguing Barcelona this season.
Raphinha excited to follow in footsteps of Brazilian greats at Barcelona
Rangers joined Barca in the last eight despite losing 2-1 at Red Star Belgrade, progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
Barcelona were in danger of being toppled from the top of La Liga standings on Sunday after they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona star Gerard Pique and his Colombian pop star partner Shakira have found themselves at the centre of a storm.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has decided to rest Lionel Messi, Neymar and most of his regulars for the King's Cup last 16, second leg match at Elche later on Thursday.
A magical Lionel Messi goal, the first of a personal double, led treble-chasing Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
'We tried to keep him, but there is nothing we can do'
'We do have to examine new mechanisms like luxury taxes and in particular sporting criteria like squad limitations and fair transfer rules, to avoid player hoarding and excessive concentration of talent within a few teams' The last few years have seen the increasing dominance of a few elite clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Barcelona have filed a formal complaint against two former Real Madrid players turned pundits after they suggested Barca forward Neymar deserved the kick he received from Real midfielder Isco in this month's La Liga 'El Clasico'.
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.
Upset by referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea's decision to dismiss him, Ronaldo shoved the official, which landed him in further hot water.
Laggards in international rankings, India finally made their presence felt by pulling off an impressive under-17 World Cup that drew all-round praise even though the country was eliminated in the very first round.
A Brazilian judge threw out a tax evasion case against Barcelona forward Neymar on Thursday because Brazil's inland revenue has yet to finish its own deliberations in the case.
Lionel Messi and his Barcelona team mates have been back at the club's training ground conducting individual sessions since last week, following La Liga's four-phase protocol for returning to activity since it was halted in March due to the pandemic.
Messi's damning assessment of the team came home to roost when the season re-started after the coronavirus stoppage and Barca surrendered the league title to Real Madrid, prompting the captain to launch a new tirade against the team.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Luis Suarez has received a second European Golden Shoe of his career after becoming the leading scorer in Europe's top domestic leagues last season.
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid led a Spanish Armada into the Champions League last 16 with home wins on Wednesday and in-form Aaron Ramsey steadied Arsenal's boat with a battling win against rocky Borussia Dortmund.
Roundup of Champions League matches played on Wednesday night
Trippier suspension temporarily halted by FIFA
The 32-year-old, who joined Barcelona in 2014, said before the second leg at Anfield that he only had fond memories of his time in England.
Real Madrid top Forbes' most valuable soccer teams list, followed by their La Liga counterparts, FC Barcelona. Here is the list of the 10 most valuable soccer teams (in billions):
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Juventus may have become the only club to lose six European Cup finals but they took heart from pushing Barcelona to the limit in Saturday's riveting final and restoring the honour of Italian football, coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has failed to recover from a calf strain and will miss Tuesday's Champions League Group F match at APOEL Nicosia.
Lionel Messi broke a Spanish hat-trick record and Luis Suarez struck twice as a rampant Barcelona took over top spot in La Liga with a 6-1 hammering of Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Barcelona have promised that their women's team will travel first class for the remainder of their tour of the United States after sending them economy on their outward journey, while the men's team enjoyed business class on the same flight.
United topple Real Madrid off its perch in Forbes' list, Barca are at No 2 spot
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two best players in the world right now but Neymar will eclipse them both next year, former Brazil striker Ronaldo told Reuters.
Barcelona followed up last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid with another reverse on Saturday, squandering a host of chances to lose 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo and handing the lead in La Liga to their arch rivals.
Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign.
Lionel Messi scored twice to earn Barcelona a 2-0 derby win over Espanyol and send them 13 points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
The Dutchman burst through the middle of the pitch and laid the ball off for Messi to dribble into the net for an 18th league goal of the season, extending his lead at the top of the scoring charts.
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has returned home to Argentina but remains doubtful for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela with his club confirming the 29-year-old is struggling with a sore left hamstring.
Barcelona need to avoid getting sucked into the Spanish obsession with El Clasico when they face Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League on Tuesday.
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