A frustrated Lionel Messi said he is tired of being blamed for problems at Barcelona after he was accused by Antoine Griezmann's former agent of making life difficult for the French striker at the La Liga club.
Argentina's two iconic players may be contrasting characters but they shared many traits
In the last two World Cup meetings between Argentina and the Netherlands, in the group stage in 2006 and a semi-final in 2014 which the Albiceleste won on penalties, neither side was able to score a goal in normal or extra time.
Argentina was due to host this year's Copa America but withdrew at the last minute due to a surge of COVID-19 cases. The tournament was moved to Brazil, even though the death toll there is higher than anywhere outside the United States.
"The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something," remembered Van Dijk.
The flying wingback is one of the key players in the north African outfit whose last-16 match in the Qatar World Cup against Spain, at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, gives them a chance to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almeria on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Toure.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year contract.
Past and present Barcelona team mates Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano, Neymar and Luis Suarez were all there, as was Gerard Pique and his pop star wife Shakira.
A majestic solo dribble shredded Chelsea's defence before Messi played in Dembele for the second and the Argentine maestro killed the tie off when he smashed a third through the legs of Courtois again in the second half.
Former India captain and current Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid visited Camp Nou to witness Barcelona playing against Athletico Madrid in the La Liga clash on Sunday.
Koeman grateful for Messi support in transitional season for Barca.
Kohli is also the fourth most followed sportsperson on Instagram
Chelsea's Thomas Tuechel was voted men's coach of the year and Barcelona's Lluis Cortes took the trophy for women's coach.
La Liga on Sunday released a statement saying Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract is still valid, days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the club and hours after he failed to attend a pre-season medical.
Messi announced he wanted to leave Barcelona, on Tuesday, after spending his entire career at the Catalan club.
Barcelona are taking measures to cut the wages of their players and staff to reduce the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis, the La Liga club said on Thursday. All professional players at Barcelona, including six-times world player of the year Lionel Messi, as well as non-playing staff, will face a compulsory wage reduction during the period of lockdown, the club's directors decided at a board meeting held via video conference.
Argentina players will do everything in their power in Russia to help the team lift the World Cup trophy again after falling at the last hurdle four years ago in Brazil, defender Marcos Rojo has said.
The crowd in Tel Aviv cheered Messi throughout and it was the forward who helped Argentina draw level in the 63rd.
Spanish media claims that the Barca talisman was in talks to move to City, a claim that City coach Guardiola denies.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is 'worried' over the coronavirus outbreak and said it is 'time to be responsible and stay at home'.
The Argentine's representatives and Barcelona did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Argentina finished their 2021 Copa America campaign unbeaten. Lionel Scaloni's side finished top of their group with three wins and a draw against Chile. In the quarter-final, they beat Ecuador 3-0 to progress to the final four.
Spain's footballing giants, FC Barcelona won their 23rd La Liga crown after defeating Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Sunday. And after winning, what was their fifth title in seven years, the Barca players let their hair down and celebrated in style at the Vincent Calderon stadium. Rediff.com invites you a peek into their wild celebrations. Have a look...
The three match-ups which are likely to have a strong bearing on the result in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final.
Messi has spoken at length about the dream of winning a title with Argentina and his compatriots know how much an international trophy means to him.
Messi, Barca's all-time top scorer, has been a vice-captain since 2015 and takes the club's armband from Iniesta, who succeeded Xavi Hernandez as captain in 2015 but left for Japanese club Vissel Kobe in June.
'I take responsibility for my errors and if they existed, it was only to make Barcelona better and stronger'.
One could argue that his relationship with the World Cup over the last 12 years reflects his entire career -- a tale of hope, disappointment, controversy, pain and underachievement.
Here are all the records he can break this year.
Messi, who won the Spanish La Liga title with Barcelona last season as well as the European golden boot having scored 54 goals in 58 games in all competitions, last won the award in 2015.
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, are included
'But when I arrived in Barcelona, I was told that it was no longer possible, that I could not stay and that I had to find another club, because Barca could not afford to extend my contract. That changed my plans.'
The two-legged ties will be played from February 16.
PSG's big buy has been left out squad for the Ligue 1 match against Brest.
'I tried to behave with humility and respect and I hope that is what remains of me when I leave the club.'
City completed the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup titles, matching Manchester United's feat in 1999 and drawing comparisons with Guardiola's 2008-09 Barcelona team.
The cases made on both sides came with a host of subtexts: the Argentine versus the Brazilian, the man of the people versus the establishment figure, the party animal versus the quiet man, and the rebel versus the conformist.
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.
Diego Maradona says Lionel Messi's second-half penalty miss was not the reason Argentina failed to defeat Iceland at the World Cup on Saturday.
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