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.
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.
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'It's evident that we are in a hole, we aren't at our best at the moment nor our most effective.'
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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 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.
Real, Barca topple United off perch to become top earning clubs
Bayern Munich will not only have to overturn a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first leg deficit against Barcelona on Tuesday but they will have to do it against a superb defence and in the midst of their biggest slump in years.
Barcelona will travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach for their Champions League match on Wednesday without Lionel Messi but the Spaniards have enough options and firepower to plug the gap left by the Argentine, coach Luis Enrique said.
'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'
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.
Coach Zinedine Zidane learned the lessons of predecessor Rafael Benitez's disastrous tactics in the last encounter and employed defensive midfielder Casemiro in favour of more attack-minded players, opting instead to sit and wait for Barcelona.
Memories and images of Johan Cruyff will provide an emotional backdrop to Saturday's Nou Camp 'Clasico' against Real Madrid when Barcelona pay tribute to the man who transformed the club from also-rans into one of the game's superpowers.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has rebuffed calls from angry fans for him to step down and backed coach Rafael Benitez after Saturday's humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Barcelona in the La Liga 'El Clasico'.
Barcelona provisionally went top of La Liga for the first time since October after Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi scored in a 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday although the win was overshadowed by a serious injury to Aleix Vidal.
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Barcelona coach Luis Enrique expects Lionel Messi to bounce back from a difficult summer with his usual enthusiasm -- and does not rule out a return to international football.
Former player and reserve team boss Santiago Solari has been put in caretaker charge after negotiations between the club and former Chelsea, Italy and Juventus boss Antonio Conte broke down on Monday, the club added.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
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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.
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.
Setien was named Barcelona coach late on Monday, tasked with the job of restoring the club's iconic passing style, but the appointment represents a huge gamble for the Catalans given the 61-year-old's lack of success at the highest level.
According to a Forbes poll released on Wednesday, Spanish football club Real Madrid once again leads Forbes' most valuable teams list, which mostly includes National Football League franchises.
Barca had the chance to go top after Real drew a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in over a decade but they were rattled by rampant Celta
Barcelona midfielder Xavi raised the King's Cup aloft alongside Andres Iniesta in his final appearance at the Camp Nou on Saturday and now victory in the Champions League would make it a perfect send-off for the club legend.
Girona's Castellanos hits Real Madrid for four in fresh blow to title hopes
After setting a Spanish record 35 matches unbeaten in all competitions, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is relishing the run-in to the end of the season with his side on course for a second successive La Liga, King's Cup and Champions League treble.
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Lionel Messi became the first player to notch 300 La Liga goals as his double blast powered Barcelona to a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon that sent them six points clear at the top of the table on Wednesday.
Luis Suarez is starting to "feel like a footballer" once again after being allowed to train with new club Barcelona following his appeal against a FIFA ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup.
Barca coach, Luis Enrique says that all is well at Camp Nou and the team is united.
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Argentina's Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, English third tier player David Hall and U.S. women's international Carli Lloyd were among players included on the shortlist for FIFA's goal of the year award on Friday.
Pedro hit a first-half hat-trick as Barcelona cruised into the last 16 of the King's Cup with a 8-1 second leg demolition of lower league Huesca at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Argentina's two iconic players may be contrasting characters but they shared many traits
'The gold medal (in Tokyo) has motivated me in life to do even better. Performing well and ending up on podium will be my target in the World Championship (in July)'.
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
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