Barcelona's Gerard Pique is envied. Not just for his footballing skills bout also his football jersey collection.
Athletic Bilbao have proudly resisted pressure to abandon their policy of only recruiting players of Basque origin, making it all the more impressive that they are the club standing between Barcelona and a record-extending 27th King's Cup.
Second half of abandoned Rayo-Albacete will kick-off proceedings on return.
'It has been good on pitch and off pitch,' Lampard said.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique had a nerve-racking experience having to watch their stellar run from the sidelines.
Messi opened the scoring at the Nou Camp with an audacious chipped penalty then restored control in the tie after Lyon had pulled a goal back to make it 2-1, hitting a decisive third goal after a trademark dazzling run to shake off four defenders.
Raphael Varane's glancing header and a goalkeeping blunder that gifted Antoine Griezmann a soft goal gave France a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the first World Cup quarter-final on Friday and a set up a last-four tie with Brazil or Belgium.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Goal-happy Manchester City continued where they left off at Manchester United on Sunday as they came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 on Wednesday to march into the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
The Catalans have kept five clean sheets in their last six games, which bodes well for their title run in.
Alexander-Arnold, seeing the Spanish club's defenders still getting organised, feigned to walk away from the corner before racing back to whip the ball to the unmarked Divock Origi, who clipped it past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
South Korean Chung Hyeon managed to hang around against Roger Federer a little longer this time around, but only just, as the Swiss maestro advanced to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.
Injured striker Robin van Persie is expected to miss Manchester United's Capital One Cup tie against Liverpool on Wednesday but could be fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.
'You cannot easily be stricter than we are. You can put everyone into a complete quarantine, that is a scenario that has been debated in several countries'
Images from the La Liga match played between FC Barcelona and Sevilla on at Camp Nou on Sunday
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has ended whatever honeymoon period new striker Mario Balotelli was enjoying at Anfield, telling him he needs to start scoring goals after finding the net just once in seven appearances for Liverpool.
From a Sri Lanka cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara's final Test innings, Virender Sehwag's felicitation ceremony, FC Barcelona's Luis Suarez celebrating the La Liga title with his family, these and many more scintillating moments are frozen in time in this beautiful photo-feature.
Barcelona were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday as both sides remained unbeaten in this season's competition.
Luis Suarez struck twice in three minutes as Uruguay beat Peru 2-0 in an enthralling encounter on Tuesday to reach the Copa America final and remain on course for a record 15th title.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane's side closed in on a first La Liga title since 2012, easing to a 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday while Neymar hit a hat-trick for Barcelona, who thrashed Las Palmas 4-1.
Wildcard entrant Sharapova returned to action this week following her 15-month ban, but has looked like she never really went away in winning her three matches so far without dropping a set.
Uruguay crushed Ecuador 4-0 in their Copa America opener on Sunday with help from an early sending off that deflated their opponents and assured the 15-times champions the simplest of starts to their campaign.
Two goals in the first half from Roberto Firmino and Neymar gave Brazil an easy 2-0 victory over the United States in a friendly match in New Jersey on Friday.
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
Defeat by arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday has threatened to expose Manchester United's Premier League title challenge at the time in the season when they usually come to life.
Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt's hat-trick dealt a body blow to Manchester United's English Premier League title hopes as the leaders were beaten 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday.
Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona overwhelmed Manchester City as Ivan Rakitic's strike secured a 1-0 win.
Barcelona have been linked to a host of forwards during the winter transfer window as they seek experienced backup options for Luis Suarez.
Kim Clijsters pulverised Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, before laughing off a joke about her "looking pregnant."
The Reds' manager believes his team has the ability to finish in the top four and qualify for Champions League next season.
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez can show Liverpool why he would have made the perfect replacement for Luis Suarez when the Chilean travels to Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Barcelona retained the King's Cup with a 2-0 victory over Sevilla to complete a domestic double.
Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova remained on course for a heavyweight Madrid Open final.
"I don't know how this affects my future," Valverde said.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is ready for surprises when he comes up against Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich on Wednesday in what he believes will be an open and attractive game.
Uruguay made light of the absence of striker Luis Suarez to recover from a goal down and beat 2015 Copa America hosts Chile 2-1 in a friendly in Santiago.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez secured victory over nine-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga's top of the table clash, while Juventus won a 12th straight Serie A game to stay hot on the heels of leaders Napoli.
Promoted Alaves dealt champions Barcelona a shock 2-1 defeat at the Nou Camp on Saturday while Cristiano Ronaldo returned from injury to help Real Madrid thrash Osasuna 5-2 and go two points clear at the top of La Liga. With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta on the bench, Barcelona went behind to the visitors in the 39th minute before Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu equalised in the 46th. Ibai Gomez then scored the winner in the 64th.
