The Catalan club is also close to reaching a deal to sign Sporting Lisbon's highly rated young winger Ricardo Quaresma.
West Indies registered a tight five-wicket win over South Africa in their Group B decider of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Australia won the 4th ODI to take an unassailable lead in the seven-match series.
Coach Fernando Santos blamed a lack of pace and a failure to stay calm in the frantic final minutes for Portugal's inability to beat rank outsiders Iceland in their Euro 2016 opener on Tuesday.
The move is likely to spark a tug-of-war with the midfielder's Italian club AC Milan.
An unbeaten century from opener Chris Gayle guided West Indies into Saturday's triangular series final.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher turned 50 on Thursday with Formula One and his fans paying tribute to the sport's most successful driver with a mixture of celebration and sorrow.
West Indies, chasing a modest 145 for victory, collapsed from 81 for two to 133 for nine before winning by one wicket in the first ODI.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Tuesday
The 57 year-old coach, who led Brazil to a fourth World Cup title in 1994, will be in charge of the team till the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Barcelona took a big step towards the Champions League semi-finals.
Two goalkeeping blunders from Ricardo Gonzalez gifted a below-par Mexico a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica.
Zamorano shares the record for the most international goals for Chile with Marcelo Salas, both having scored 34.
German football great Franz Beckenbauer on Wednesday became the latest FIFA official named as under investigation, along with FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar and several other former executive committee members.
Ricardo Powell's half-century proved in vain as rain washed out the third one-day international between South Africa and West Indies on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals, including two in the first five minutes, to lead European champions Portugal to a 6-0 win over nine-man Andorra in their World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Windies bowler Jermaine Lawson failed a fitness test and will not play.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
A mix of interesting events, coupled with big, shocking results, in the sporting world, grabbed headlines last week. From Manchester United being stunned by Watford to lose their third consecutive match to Nico Rosberg taking the World Championship lead from Mercedes teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton by clinching the Singapore Grand Prix. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were brought to a close inside a packed Maracana Stadium on Sunday evening. Not before, we witnessed some enthralling action.
The victory sent Valencia to the top of the Spanish league.
Lewis Hamilton has told his Mercedes Formula One team mates they are all 'legends' after completing a fifth successive constructor and driver title double in Brazil on Sunday
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Ten-man Arsenal suffered a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Leicester City on Sunday in another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.
Uruguay's Edinson Cavani has always played second fiddle to his more illustrious attacking colleagues at country or club level but the long-haired marksman emerged out of those shadows with his twin strike in the World Cup round of 16 last week.
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz reacted angrily after a 1-1 draw with Portugal on Monday doomed his team to elimination from the World Cup, saying they had deserved to win.
Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has promised to give his Australian counterpart Mile Jedinak 'a big hug' before Tuesday's match between the teams as a thank you for his personal support in overturning Guerrero's drug suspension.
Barcelona suffered a first home defeat of the season when they lost 3-2 against Valencia after finishing with 10 men in La Liga on Saturday, leaving the door open for Madrid rivals Atletico and Real to move above them.
Brazil need solutions after coming unstuck against Swiss
Brazil's Neymar has been banned for four matches after being sent off at the Copa America and will play no further part in the tournament, the South American football federation CONMEBOL said on Friday.
A first-half goal from Jeison Murillo gave Colombia a 1-0 win over Brazil at the Copa America.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has urged his team mates not to get carried away by the 7-0 romp over Estonia ahead of their campaign at the Euro 2016. The 31-year-old forward, warming up for his side's Group F opener against Iceland on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne, made his first appearance with Portugal this summer in Lisbon on Wednesday night. "It was just a friendly and even though we won 7-0, it doesn't mean anything," Ronaldo was quoted
Bravo stopped Portugal's first three spot kicks from Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani while Chile converted their first three to win the clash of South American and European champions.
The evacuation of coastal areas of Florida and neighboring Georgia was the biggest seen in the US in a dozen years.
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
