Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will again be duelling for the title of world's best footballer after their names once again headed the shortlist on Thursday for The Best FIFA Men's Player.
La Liga's organising body has said it is filing for criminal action against the man who ran on to the pitch during Real Mallorca's behind-closed-doors match against Barcelona on Saturday to try to get a photo with Lionel Messi. The fan, wearing an Argentina shirt with Messi's name and number 10 on the back, breached strict security measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus by going onto the pitch early in the second half.
The Spanish government's top sports official has sent out a message of calm and said there is no reason for Saturday's La Liga 'El Clasico' between Real Madrid and Barcelona to be postponed following Friday's attacks in Paris.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has labelled Lionel Messi has the 'best' player he has seen after the Argentine forward spurred a 2-0 victory over Ajax Amsterdam that secured the Spanish side a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
'It's useless trying to make a leader out of a man who goes to the toilet 20 times before a game'
The plane carrying Chapecoense to the Copa Sudamericana final, first leg against Atletico Nacional crashed into mountains outside Medellin, Colombia on November 28 after running out of fuel, killing 71 of the 77 people on board
Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring, and was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side's final two goals to end their winless run of three games.
La Liga champions Barcelona's domestic struggles continued as they dropped points for the third game in a row, drawing 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets had begun the match on the substitutes' bench.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi hit his 400th career goal for the La Liga leaders.
'It's a prize that's called The Best and the guy who is, for us, the best player in the world wasn't there.'
Beat Real Madrid's unbeaten run in the 1988-89 season, and thump Rayo Vallecano 5-1
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his current squad is the strongest he has ever had and he is very confident of retaining the La Liga and King's Cup titles. The Spanish champions have recruited Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Denis Suarez since the end of last season while Marc Bartra, Thomas Vermaelen, Adriano Correia and Sandro Ramirez have departed. "On paper, this is the best squad that I have had in my three years at Barca," Luis Enrique told the club's website. "We have a squad that has been strengthened brilliantly.
Luis Suarez struggled to get into his stride with new club Barcelona after his ban for biting an opponent expired in October and the Uruguay striker is determined to avoid the same fate when the new season starts next month.
Paco Alcacer enjoyed a rare outing for Barcelona by scoring twice in the club's 2-1 La Liga win over Sevilla at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Roger Federer has joined the list of sports stars helping out the needy during the coronavirus pandemic, with the former world number one and his wife donating one million Swiss Francs ($1.02 million) to vulnerable families in his native Switzerland. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had each donated one million euros ($1.08 million) to help clinics and medical centres fight the outbreak.
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.
Earlier in the night, Bolivia were denied their first win when Kaku scored with 18 minutes remaining to rescue a 2-2 draw for home side Paraguay in Asuncion.
Lionel Messi reclaimed the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world player of the year on Monday from his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo who had walked off with the award for the previous two years.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi beat Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo to take home the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award on Thursday.
Lionel Messi will not chase a second Olympic football gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August, Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said on Monday.
Argentina president Mauricio Macri has personally contacted star striker Lionel Messi and urged him not to call it quits to the national team.
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.
'He's an exceptional talent, him and Cristiano have been the best players in the world the last decade and he showed why we think that and why this team have won the Champions League so many times'
Di Maria to retire from international soccer after World Cup
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi raised eyebrows when he said in passing on Monday that he did not know where he would be next year.
So, who in your opinion, dear readers, is your favourite to win the prestigious prize at the ceremony in Zurich on January 12? Take your pick and vote now!
Lionel Messi says he is retiring from international soccer after Argentina lost to Chile in Copa America final.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is hoping for an injury free 2014 as his recovery from a thigh injury nears completion, the World Player of the Year said on Monday.
A tax fraud case involving Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father Jorge should be dropped because of errors in the investigation and court proceedings, their lawyers said.
They were two small Argentina players with the same enormous challenge -- to meet the expectations of a soccer-mad country. Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi have both proved themselves to be skilful giants on the world soccer stage despite their diminutive frames of 1.65 and 1.70 metres respectively.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi has backed Atletico Madrid to seal this year's Champions League title, saying his team don't want to see Real Madrid claim the trophy.
Lionel Messi scored yet another hat-trick and surpassed 400club goals as Barcelona came from behind to win the Catalan derby 5-1 against Espanyol.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is close to agreeing a deal to join Barcelona after his contract expires at the English Premier League champions, manager Pep Guardiola said.
Chhetri is currently the highest goal-scoring active Asian player with 64 strikes from 101 matches and third in the world after superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Barcelona's hopes of staging another sensational Champions League comeback fell flat against a hardened Juventus side who held the Catalans to a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals 3-0 on aggregate.
Defending champions Bayern Munich must face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid after they were drawn together in Champions League Group A alongside Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.
Real Madrid showed their character by beating Barcelona 2-0 in Sunday's top-of-the-table 'Clasico', leapfrogging their rivals at the La Liga summit after a week in which their pride had taken a beating at home and in Europe. Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr scored the opener in the 71st minute with a strike that deflected off Gerard Pique, flummoxing goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who had made some jaw-dropping saves, and substitute Mariano added the second in added time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann appear among the 55 nominees for the FIFPro 2016 World 11 released on Friday but England forward Wayne Rooney failed to make the shortlist for the first time. Portugal captain Ronaldo, led his country to victory at Euro 2016, while France forward Griezmann was the top player at the tournament. It is the first time that 25-year-old Griezmann has made the cut, but England captain Rooney is absent for the first time in the competition's 12-year history, after England crashed out of Euro 2016 to lowly Iceland.
Having won eight of the past 12 league titles coming into this campaign, where has it gone so wrong for Barcelona?
Barcelona blew the La Liga title race wide open when Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 comeback win for the champions at 10-man Real Madrid in an action-packed 'Clasico' on Sunday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances