Former Brazilian great Ronaldinho feels that Lionel Messi has been the perfect senior to Neymar at Barcelona, exactly the role played by him when the Argentine stalwart joined the first team of the Catalan giants more than a decade ago. "I think so. When Messi came in, he was a young kid and there was so much potential in him. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with him and we did share a great rapport on the field and off it too.
Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol.
Regarded as the Oscar of sports, the nominations for 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards were finalised following a ballot by the world's sports media.
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Conte wants 'perfect game', while hoping Messi's goal drought continues
Luis Suarez scored four goals and Lionel Messi grabbed a hat-trick as Barcelona all but wrapped up their King's Cup semi-final by crushing Valencia 7-0 in the first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team's spirit after knocking holders Barcelona out of the Champions League.
Barcelona talisman has become just as dangerous from dead ball situations too
Unzue is one of the two leading candidates to succeed Luis Enrique, who announced this month he will leave at the end of this season, along with Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde.
Iniesta has spent all of his senior career at Barcelona and is their most decorated player ever along with Lionel Messi, having lifted 31 trophies, which is soon to be 32 if Barca clinch the Liga title on Sunday at Deportivo La Coruna.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Federico Valverde finished off a stunning move in extra time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona
The Catalans have kept five clean sheets in their last six games, which bodes well for their title run in.
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
As Ronaldo cried over his fate while the moth sat on his eye, some smart folk decided to create a meme out of the situation.
Lionel Messi's exquisite Champions League double for Barcelona against Bayern Munich was a case of history repeating itself with an added magnificent assist for Neymar to seal an emphatic 3-0 semi-final, first leg win.
Barcelona were third on 648.3 million euros.
Barcelona rubber-stamped a decade of domestic dominance by clinching the La Liga title on Sunday
Barcelona have had to overcome many changes to win their 23rd La Liga title, coach Luis Enrique said.
Barca overcome solid Bilbao challenge to scrape through 1-0.
Claudio Bravo was pictured leaving Barcelona Airport on Tuesday and his expected move to Manchester City is likely to trigger the departure of England goalkeeper Joe Hart. The 33-year-old Bravo is set for a medical this week at the Etihad Stadium where he will team up again with Pep Guardiola, his former manager at Barca. The Spanish champions said on Saturday they had reached a "preliminary agreement with City" for the sale of the Chile captain.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
'Dad, I understand and respect your opinion but my decision has been taken. I ask that you support me as you always do'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Girona's Castellanos hits Real Madrid for four in fresh blow to title hopes
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi reclaimed the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world player of the year on Monday from his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo who had walked off with the award for the previous two years.
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.
'It's evident that we are in a hole, we aren't at our best at the moment nor our most effective.'
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.
Lionel Messi may lack a World Cup for Argentina but his 10 years with Barcelona have seen him rewrite the history books and become symbolic with the club's golden era.
Rediff.com gives you a pictorial rewind of all the excitement that unfolded in the sporting world in the week gone by...
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
The club could also sell other players to in order to create a new contract for Messi, who is the top scorer in La Liga this season with 13 goals.
Barcelona's Champions League last-16 second leg match with Napoli scheduled for March 18 will take place without spectators due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus, a club spokesman said on Tuesday. The match will take place at Camp Nou after a 1-1 draw in Napoli, but no supporters will be allowed to enter the stadium.
Real, Barca topple United off perch to become top earning clubs
Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title by thrashing local rivals Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday as Atletico Madrid dropped out of the race after losing 2-1 at Levante and Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-2.
'We aren't playing well and we can't blame the coach, as the players are the ones who have to perform on the pitch'
Take Norma Godinho's quiz to find out just how much you know about sport.
Lionel Messi, who is Barcelona's all-time top scorer with 634 goals in 731 games, is expected to spend three seasons at Manchester City before moving to CFG's Major League Soccer franchise New York City FC.
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