The Argentine joined Barca on a free transfer during the close season, but made only five appearances in all competitions due to a calf injury and his cardiac issues, scoring once in a 2-1 home defeat by Real Madrid.
When it comes to diversity, swimming has a way to go.
Neighbours Manchester United and City recorded convincing wins to continue setting the pace in the Premier League but European champions Barcelona dropped points in La Liga. There were plenty of goals in Italy as the Serie A season finally got underway after a players' strike and German leaders Bayern Munich scored seven times in their match against Freiburg.
The world's biggest superstars landed in Paris and enjoyed a game of soccer.
A number of football leagues around the globe will resume after the COVID-19 stoppage in the coming weeks but the matches will be played without fans.
Neymar overtook Ronaldo and moved into second place behind Pele on Brazil's all-time goalscoring list after notching a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory over Peru on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier.
Images from the Nations League matches played on Thursday.
After a long and sometimes arduous courtship, soccer has finally revealed its charms to Americans who have embraced the World Cup in record numbers.
Factbox on Rafael Nadal, who beat Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday to win a record-extending 13th French Open title:
The 25 year-old pop star managed to win 13 million followers in just four months.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported that Swiss business tycoon Hansjoerg Wyss is considering buying football club Chelsea from Abramovich, Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick as British lawmakers continued to push for sanctions against the billionaire.
Cardiff City soccer player Emiliano Sala was on board a light aircraft that lost radar contact over the English channel late on Monday, French police sources said.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Malcolm Glazer, a reclusive self-made billionaire and patriarch of the family that owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Manchester United soccer club, died on Wednesday, the teams said. He was 85.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
Jennifer Lopez has assured fans that she will be joining Pitbull at the World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil on Thursday, June 12, two days after soccer officials announced she had pulled out of the performance.
Finances aside, though, there is an even bigger question mark hanging over Lionel Messi. Is he a fading force?
US Soccer said they expect to announce an interim coach within the next seven to 10 days, who will oversee two planned friendlies in November.
Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has terminated his contract with Manchester United with immediate effect, the Premier League club said in a statement on Thursday.
'I know that he has pushed me to be a better player and I have pushed him to be a better player as well.'
David Beckham, one of the so-called "Class of 92", went on to win six Premier League titles under Alex Ferguson at United alongside youth-team buddies Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and Gary and Phil Neville. Beckham also won two FA Cups and, memorably, the Champions League in 1999. He topped up his trophy collection with a La Liga winners' medal for Real Madrid and added two MLS Cups during a north American adventure with LA Galaxy.
A New York Times report last month said the showpiece event will not be held in the Turkish city and alternative venues were being considered.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
It will also come in front of 5,000 spectators who are being allowed into Saturday's game at the Amsterdam Arena.
Serie A soccer matches in the northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto will not be played on Sunday because of an outbreak of the coronavirus, the government said in a statement. The three impacted fixtures are clashes between Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona against Cagliari. Italy is tackling the worst outbreak of coronavirus yet recorded in Europe, with two people dying in the north since Friday and nearly 60 infected.
Spain's La Liga on Thursday rejected payment of a record-breaking release clause that would allow Neymar to leave Barcelona for Paris St Germain, a source from the national soccer league said.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "This is Paris," Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital after his flight from Barcelona.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi equalled the Champions League scoring record of 71 goals when he struck for the second time in the 76th minute of Wednesday's Group F match at Ajax Amsterdam.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators after organisers introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus. Here is a list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Chen scores world record for massive lead over shocked Hanyu
This is his 'Test' and for Kohli, a century to mark a 'century' is something he would be craving
Novak Djokovic said he expects a "great battle" against Italian powerhouse Matteo Berrettini in Sunday's Wimbledon final when victory will earn the Serb a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title.
All you must know about soccer's return to action after coronavirus
'I do stand unified with them, trying to do what I can over here'
Players in the men's soccer team deserve to get more recognition than their female counterparts in Sweden and people should stop whipping up a gender storm about it, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said.
Indian American Sunil Gulati, who is currently serving a record third term as President of the US Soccer Federation, could be in the race to replace Sepp Blatter as the new FIFA chief.
British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, a triple European gold medallist, would like to raise the profile of female athletes and believes the best way of doing that is to have more women telling the story.
World pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has been named Russia's Athlete of the Year in a nationwide poll conducted by sports journalists.
