Copa American champions Argentina are unbeaten in 35 games and if this is to be Messi's final World Cup, they are in the form to deliver the title.
Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow and Stoke City sealed places in the last 32 of the Europa League but a 2-0 defeat at Salzburg left Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare looking over his shoulder on Thursday.
IMAGES from football matches played across European Leagues on Saturday.
Hosts France reached the Olympic men's football semi-finals for the first time in 40 years with a 1-0 win over Argentina thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta's first-half goal in a grudge match in Bordeaux on Friday.
Soccer's player transfer system will be in the spotlight and could even be on the brink of collapse on Friday when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announces its ruling on former France player Lassana Diarra's case against FIFA.
Monaco beat Paris St Germain 2-0 and they are now third in the standings with 42 points from 23 games.
With Mbappe on the left flank of France's attack, he will cross paths with right-back Hakimi, the player he took under his wing when the Moroccan joined PSG from Inter Milan in 2021.
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic escaped a ban on Thursday for mimicking pointing a gun at the opposition bench in a Ligue 1 game against Toulouse last month.
Spanish media reports said Ronaldinho was due to arrive in Spain later on Saturday to close the deal.
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Man City to face Spurs in League Cup
Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain supporters clashed on Sunday after their Ligue 1 game was postponed and the whole PSG team quarantined when three players were diagnosed with H1N1 flu.
Modest Braga, who have never won a Portuguese league title, stunned five-times European champions Liverpool 1-0 with a first-half penalty in the Europa League on Thursday.
France teenage sensation Mbappe joins PSG from Monaco
Arsenal were 2-1 winners over Paris St Germain and Valencia beat Inter Milan 2-0 on the first day of the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament on Saturday.
Olympique Lyon's hopes of clinching an eighth consecutive Ligue 1 title suffered another blow when they were held to a goalless draw at home to Paris St Germain on Friday.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the German champions would never spend anywhere near the 222 million euros ($261 million) that Paris St Germain paid for Brazilian forward Neymar this month, saying he would prefer a stadium with that money.
The French taxman is delighted about the prospect of Brazilian soccer star Neymar joining Paris St Germain, the minister in charge of France's public accounts said on Thursday.
Two goals from Luis Diaz and one from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool stroll to a 3-0 victory at Manchester United.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Sevilla failed to reach the knockout phase after a 1-0 defeat at Sampdoria eliminated the Spaniards. Sampdoria's victory sent them through from Group C along with VfB Stuttgart, who thumped Standard Liege 3-0 to progress to Friday's last 32 draw. Paris St Germain, twice winners Tottenham Hotspur, NEC Nijmegen and Olympiakos Piraeus also sealed places in the first knockout round.
Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc admitted it would be hard to play football when they visit Lorient in Ligue 1 on Saturday eight days after the deadly attacks in Paris.
'Football Leaks' documents, showing the two clubs had inflated sponsorship revenues to meet the requirements, were obtained by the German publication Der Spiegel.
Arsenal will have another chance to beat Bayern Munich in a Champions League knockout tie after the sides were paired in the round of 16 following Monday's draw. The teams met in the knockout stages in 2005, 2013 and 2014 with the German champions winning on all three occasions. Bayern, who finished as runners-up in their group, will host the first leg.
'We were aware that if we didn't win it would be more complicated.'
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke last week of his desire to keep the 24-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was also a target for champions Chelsea.
Olympique Lyon failed to capitalise on a Lisandro Lopez hat-trick and missed a chance to narrow the gap with Ligue 1 leaders Girondins Bordeaux when they slumped to a dramatic 4-3 defeat at Lille on Sunday.
A controversial penalty three minutes into added time gave Paris St Germain a 2-1 win over fellow Ligue 1 strugglers Racing Lens in the French League Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday.
The Brazilian signed a five-year contract and will be officially unveiled on Monday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga
Monaco handed Paris St Germain their first defeat of the season in Ligue 1 when a couple of late goals earned them a 2-0 home victory on Sunday.
Barcelona have agreed a deal with Guangzhou Evergrande to sign midfielder Paulinho for 40 million euros, the Spanish club announced on Monday.
PSG said in a statement that the four players were currently in isolation and subject to the appropriate health protocols.
Hamburg SV will play Manchester City in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and could meet Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen in the last four. Shakhtar Donetsk will play Olympique Marseille and Dynamo Kiev face Paris St Germain with the winners lined up to meet in the semis after the draw was made by UEFA on Friday.
Paris St Germain went out of the Europa League despite a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, losing their place to fellow big spenders Salzburg who fought back to win 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava.
Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon lost 2-0 to Lille at the Stade de France on Saturday and saw their advantage at the top cut to just one point.
Girondins Bordeaux reached the French League Cup final with a 3-0 away thrashing of Paris St Germain on Wednesday.
Barcelona have signed centre back Samuel Umtiti from Olympique Lyon for 25 million euros ($27.75 million), the La Liga winners said on Tuesday.
Champions League title holders Porto face a struggle to qualify for the knockout phase after Paris St Germain held them to an uninspired 0-0 draw on Tuesday.
'To see a player that I have always followed, who is an example for me, to see him leave now brings me a lot of pain.'
