Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other managers in lashing out at the packed European football calendar after deciding to rest Lionel Messi for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.
Barca lost Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto to serious injuries in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, leaving them with only three defenders in the first team squad for the trip to Ukraine.
MADRID — Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has played down notions of a rift between club great Lionel Messi and fellow forward Antoine Griezmann.
Earlier this month Griezmann's former agent, Eric Olhats, told France Football that the Argentine had a problem with his ex-client, leading Messi to snap at journalists upon his return from international duty.
When asked about the subject ahead of Saturday's visit to Atletico Madrid, Koeman said the duo get along.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he is unsure what the future holds for Lionel Messi but hopes as a Barcelona fan that the Argentine forward will remain at the LaLiga club until the end of his career.
Guardiola, who has guided City to two Premier League titles, three League Cups and the FA Cup following his arrival in 2016, signed a new two-year deal on Thursday that will keep him in charge until the end of the 2022-23 season.
The Ronaldinho standing ovation from Real Madrid fans in 2005 is sometimes considered one of the greatest moments in the sport’s history. On Nov. 19, 2005, the Brazilian star put on a Clásico performance so enthralling that it still raises goosebumps 15 years later.
Entering Matchday 12, Barcelona sat second in the league table with Real Madrid trailing one point behind. Osasuna was enjoying a short spell on top of LaLiga.
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 LaLiga club.
Lionel Messi must stay at Barcelona so he can lead the team for the remainder of his career and play a strategic role when he retires, the club's presidential candidate Victor Font told Reuters.
The six-times World Player of the Year and Barca’s all-time top scorer came close to leaving the Catalans in August after his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu turned sour. But the Argentine can leave the club, where he has spent his entire career, for free at the end of this season unless he pens a new contract before the end of June.
A stat crossed my timeline the other day showing that Lionel Messi has 35 goals from direct free kicks for Barcelona over the last decade. That in and of itself is impressive, but perhaps even more extraordinary is the fact that Messi's free kick total is higher than any other club in Europe's top five leagues during that span.
This Messi stat is insane pic.twitter.com/RZpCyf5tXl
After a 2018 World Cup qualifying cycle that included seven draws, four defeats and the necessity of a Lionel Messi hat trick on the final day to secure passage to Russia, Argentina won’t give a damn that the 2022 cycle began with narrow one-goal victories over both Ecuador and Bolivia back in October.
Messi was the hero against Ecuador with a game-winning penalty kick, and he was the hero against Bolivia after dropping a concha tu madre on the opponent’s physio and mercilessly reminding him of his baldness. The Estadio Hernando Siles brings out the demon in all of us.
Barcelona went into the locker room tied with Real Betis after Antoine Griezmann had a penalty saved. Lionel Messi came on to start the second half and completely turned the game around, starting with a masterful dummy run to help Griezmann atone for his missed PK.
Messi scored two goals to help Barcelona eventually beat Real Betis 5-2 on Saturday, including his first goal that wasn’t from the penalty spot this season (though his first was another penalty kick). His fake to set up Griezmann’s goal was the moment that changed the match.
There have been few soccer partnerships like Dani Alves and Lionel Messi. The free-flowing Brazilian fullback built an intuitive relationship with the Argentine maestro; Alves set up more goals for Messi than anyone else during his time at Barcelona. So when Dani Alves speaks about Sergiño Dest’s role as fullback at Barcelona, he knows what he’s talking about.