Lionel Messi missed Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Malaga at the weekend because of the birth of his third child, Ciro. Ciro joins Thiago, age 5, and Mateo, age 2, as nearly 30% of the Messi children needed to field an entire XI of Messi children.
Lionel Messi pulled out of the Barcelona squad Saturday (it didn't matter, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho scored and Barcelona beat Malaga 2-0) in order to be present at the birth of his third child. He and his wife Antonella shared Instagram posts indicating everything had gone well.
Tiago and Mateo have a new baby brother named Ciro.
With only nine matches remaining in the 2017-18 Primera Division Femenina, Sunday’s meeting between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will likely decide the title. The two sides have rarely been troubled by the rest of the division, and they’ve distanced themselves at the top of the table, where Atletico hold a one-point advantage over Barca.
One year ago, Barcelona came into the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 down 4-0 on aggregate to PSG. They left with a 6-5 aggregate scoreline after one of the silliest soccer games this professional soccer writer has ever seen. Sergi Roberto's goal broke PSG hearts and shuffled Barca into the quarterfinals to be beaten by eventual runners-up Juventus.
The real heroes here, though, are the referees. I seriously forgot how terrible both penalties Barcelona "won" were. Neither of those are fouls in a just universe.
Joan Gaspart, the former FC Barcelona president from July 2000 to Feb. 2003, used some pretty choice words with regards to former players Luis Figo and Neymar when speaking with Radio Marca on Monday.
Gaspart was a hugely successful vice president when serving under Josep Lluis Nunez at Barca, but his short-lived stint as president was immediately rocked by the departure of club captain Luis Figo to eternal rivals Real Madrid.
After hitting a Ronaldinho-esque free kick in Barcelona’s 6-1 victory over Girona last Saturday, Lionel Messi scored his fourth direct free kick of the La Liga season to give his side an early 1-0 lead over Las Palmas on Thursday.
Messi’s rocket from 20 yards out — a free kick he earned himself after a spectacular run at the heart of the Las Palmas defense — flew into the top corner, leaving Las Palmas goalkeeper Leandro Chichizola fanning at air.