Former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o was taken to the hospital over concern from his involvement in a nasty car crash near the town of Nkongsamba, Cameroon, on Sunday.
Reports say that Eto’o was driving home from a wedding when a public transportation bus collided with his car head-on. He was taken to the hospital with fears of a head injury, but BBC Sport reported he escaped the incident unscathed.
Barcelona forward Ansu Fati will be sidelined for four months after undergoing knee surgery, the LaLiga club said on Monday.
Fati, who turned 18 last month, ruptured the internal meniscus in his left knee during Barcelona's 5-2 home win over Real Betis on Saturday.
"Ansu Fati has been operated on successfully by Dr. Ramon Cugat... under the supervision of the Club's medical staff," Barcelona said in a statement. "The player will be out for approximately four months."
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.
It’s not at all what you want to see when you turn on the TV to watch Barcelona play at the Camp Nou, but Wednesday’s Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv transformed into a goalkeepers’ duel between the returning Marc-André ter Stegen (six saves) and 18-year-old Ruslan Neshcheret (11 saves).
With Lionel Messi still unable to score from open play and Antoine Griezmann unable to score by any definition of the word, Barcelona’s 2-1 victory was narrowly achieved but ultimately retains the club’s 100 percent record in Group G.
VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain — Barcelona goalkeeper Neto made an embarrassing gaffe as his side were held to a 1-1 draw away to Alaves on Saturday, despite playing the final half an hour with an extra man.
Barca fell behind in the 31st minute after a moment of madness from Brazilian keeper Neto, who clumsily allowed a back pass from Gerard Pique to trickle through his legs towards goal, and Luis Rioja nipped in to nudge the ball into the empty net.
Barcelona's 17-year-old midfielder Pedri may not have got on the scoresheet in his side's 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus but the teenager was the unmistakeable star in a victory that gave life to his wounded side and put him on the map.
Given a second start in a row despite looking fazed in Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid, Pedri played with ambition and bravery against the Italian champions, driving Barça's play with slick passing and confident dribbling.
Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.
But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Juventus squad for the Champions League match at home to Barcelona later on Wednesday, two weeks after first testing positive for COVID-19.
The Portuguese had been hoping to return in time for Wednesday's match and, although there was no official comment on his condition, he was not included in the squad announced by Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo. Reports on Tuesday suggested Ronaldo tested positive for Covid again this week.