Lionel Messi usually makes fans emotional with his magic of play on the pitch but on Friday he tugged on our heart strings with a message to now former teammate Luis Suárez.
Suarez left Barcelona on free transfer to join fellow LaLiga giant Atletico Madrid.
BARCELONA — After selling five key players and employing a coach more than happy to take on the established order, Barcelona begin their LaLiga campaign at home to Villarreal on Sunday in unchartered territory.
Seething from their 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and a first trophyless campaign since 2007-08, Barca have made some big changes and will line up with a very different side to the one that ambled through last season.
After every season, UEFA gives out a litany of awards honoring the best performers. Honors like the goalkeeper of the season, forward of the season and coach of the season are handed out to the elite men’s and women’s players/coaches. The UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award turns the most heads as it is essentially a less glorified Ballon d’Or award.
For about 10 years now, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been, by far, the two best men’s footballers on the planet. I would argue they’re the two most talented players in the history of the game given how they’ve dominated in the world’s toughest leagues for such a prolonged period of time.
And yet, EA Sports’ FIFA ratings don’t reflect just how legendary these two players are. And we’re pretty sure we know why.
Preseason results don’t matter, especially so when you’re FC Barcelona playing against third- and second- division sides, but Barça has followed up Saturday’s 3-1 win over Gimnàstic with a 3-1 victory over Girona on Wednesday.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo being a walking brand, Lionel Messi topped Forbes’ list for the highest paid soccer players in 2020. Christina Settimi of Forbes reported that the top ten wealthiest soccer players are anticipated to rake in a combined $570 million with Messi and Ronaldo receiving roughly 42 percent of the money.
BARCELONA — Barcelona beat second division Gimnastic de Tarragona 3-1 in a preseason friendly on Saturday, with Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele each making encouraging returns by scoring in Ronald Koeman's first game in charge.
Lionel Messi wore the captain's armband in his first match since he opted to abandon his plans to leave Barca, although Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal were left out of the squad as the club is still trying to offload both players.
For those that like to pretend that Lionel Messi is anything but the definition of loyal (see: marriage to childhood sweetheart Antonela Roccuzzo, 138 international appearances spent dragging a woefully unbalanced Argentina to the precipice of glory and 19 years in Barcelona), the Argentine’s latest endorsement deal with Budweiser showcases just how little he cares about your personal quest for social media recognition.
BARCELONA — Lionel Messi looked back in his comfort zone during training with his Barcelona teammates on Wednesday in preparation for the new LaLiga season as he continued to move on from his aborted attempt to leave the club last month.
Barca's all-time top scorer was seen smiling as he and his fellow players worked through persistent rain at the club's Joan Gamper training complex under the orders of new coach Ronald Koeman.