Page 3 - Fc Barcelona

Messi's departure from Barca is a mess everyone could see coming

To come so close to losing Messi once might be regarded as unfortunate. To do so twice looks an awful lot like carelessness

As Messi's Barcelona career ends, a look at his top 10 goals for the club

Lionel Messi scored a club record 672 goals in his 17 seasons with Barcelona. Here are 10 of his best and most important strikes for the blue-and-burgundy: April 18, 2007 Messi emulates fellow Argentine great Diego Maradona with an epic goal, ghosting through half of Getafe's side while his teammates could only gape in awe. Taking the ball from Barcelona's own half, Messi pokes the ball behind the first would-be tackle to make him miss. He then nutmegs a second challenger before taking off and sliding past two more defenders and the goalkeeper. He finishes his move by lifting a shot from an angle over the desperate slide of the last man. May 2, 2009 Messi scores twice in a 6-2 thrashing of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in one of the most lopsided clsico matches ever. Messi gets his second goal after exchanging passes with Xavi Hernndez inside the box before he uses a feint to freeze Iker Casillas and fires home. May 27, 2009 Messi hangs in the air to meet Xavi Hernndez's

Real Madrid, Barcelona oppose Spanish league's $3 bn funding plan

Real Madrid and Barcelona expressed their opposition to the Spanish league's deal with an investment fund that secured $3.2 billion in funding to help its clubs.

A timeline of Lionel Messi's incredible 17-season career at Barcelona

Lionel Messi's incredible 17-season career at Barcelona appears to have come to an end.

Lionel Messi moves closer to signing new contract with Barcelona

A person with knowledge of the negotiations between club and player told AP on Friday that Messi was prepared to accept Barcelona's offer of a five-year contract at 50 per cent of his previous salary

Copa America: Argentina beats Brazil 1-0; Messi wins his 1st major title

When the match ended, a tearful Messi was thrown into the air by some of his joyous teammates

Two long droughts end as Messi's Argentina lifts Copa America trophy

The trophy is a relief for Argentina, which won its last major title when Messi was only 6 years old.

Brazil has World Cup hopes dented after Copa America loss to Argentina

Brazil trusted its defense even more than Neymar to keep its Copa America title. It was a move that failed.

Lionel Messi pays his debt to Argentina with Copa America title

Argentina finally made Lionel Messi cry with joy. After losing four times in finals, early exits in major tournaments and even a decision to retire from the national team, the superstar celebrated a much-awaited title with Argentina at Saturday's 1-0 win against Brazil in the Maracana Stadium. The title ended Argentina's 28-year drought of major trophies, with Messi as the best player with four goals and five assists. The captain also broke the team's record for international appearances with 151 matches. When Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich blew the final whistle, Messi knelt down on the pitch and covered his face with his hands. The next challenge is to win the World Cup in Qatar next year, which would be the first since Maradona took the team to glory in 1986. Until Saturday, Messi's titles with Argentina were only the U-20 World Cup title in 2005 and a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His first frustration at the senior-team level started at age 19 in the World

Barca coach Koeman 'confident' of Messi signing new contract

FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said on Friday he was confident that Lionel Messi will sign a new contract with the club

Impossible for Barcelona to match previous salary of Messi: La Liga prez

La Liga president Javier Tebas believes it would be impossible for FC Barcelona to match the salary Lionel Messi was on as the Catalan club is currently going through a financial predicament.

Club Football: Barcelona's finances holding up new Lionel Messi contract

Barcelona's poor finances have become the stumbling block to getting Lionel Messi to sign another contract, according to club president Joan Laporta.

Lionel Messi becomes free agent as Barcelona contract expired on June 30

Argentine striker Lionel Messi has finally become a free agent after his contract with Barcelona expired on June 30

Busquets proves key as Spain gets back on track at Euro 2020

After helping Spain avoid elimination at the European Championship, Sergio Busquets had to pause for a moment while talking about his time away from the squad because of the coronavirus. The Spain captain teared up recalling the doubts that went through his mind after being told he had to go into isolation only days before the tournament was to begin. I'm emotional because I had to go through some difficult times, Busquets said. I had to stay at home for 10 days, not knowing if I was going to be back or not. Spain was glad Busquets did make it back, just in time to lead the team to victory over Slovakia on Wednesday. The Barcelona midfielder was voted the man of the match in the 5-0 win that sent Spain to the round of 16 after opening with disappointing draws against Sweden and Poland. The result allowed Spain to finish second in Group E, setting up a meeting against Croatia in Copenhagen on Monday. All this helped us grow, Busquets said. Now whatever challenges we have in front

European Super League project still alive, says FC Barcelona President

FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta insisted on Sunday that the controversial European Super League project "is still alive".Joan Laporta told the FC Barcelona's members about the European Super League project and presented a thorough review of the background, the evolution of the process and the current situation of a competition that was initially promoted by a group of 12 European clubs and that is currently "alive, but not mature enough to leave it in your hands", so it was not possible to submit the item to a vote in the assembly."The economic conditions are very favourable, because the sporting and economic programme behind the Superleague includes an investment of 3.5 billion euros and "guarantees us more than 700 million euros per season plus variables," Laporta told the club's members, an official statement by Barcelona revealed.After the 12 initial founder clubs of the competition announced their intentions, there were reactions from the world of football and also from the ..

Euro 2020: France forward Ousmane Dembele ruled out with injury

France forward Ousmane Dembele has been ruled out of the ongoing Euro 2020 with an injury he picked up in the draw against Hungary, the French Football Federation(FFF) confirmed on Monday.The FC Barcelona forward came on as a second-half substitute at the Puskas Arena, when France was trailing against Hungary in the Group F clash, but he had to be replaced by Thomas Lemar in the 87th minute as he limped off with an apparent knee injury."Ousmane Dembele had an X-ray at the Budapest hospital on Sunday night," the French Football Federation(FFF) said in an official statement."The recovery time is incompatible with him staying in the squad. After discussing with the player and (team doctor) Franck le Gall, (coach) Didier Deschamps has acknowledged that Ousmane Dembele is ruled out for the rest of the tournament."France head coach, Didier Deschamps earlier confirmed in the press conference that it was a tendon issue in Dembele's knee. On Saturday after the game, Deschamps said, "Dembele, ..

Copa America: Messi eyes Copa America for "biggest dream" with Argentina

Lionel Messi has won it all with Barcelona in a decorated career. Winning a title with Argentina remains one of his biggest ambitions. The 33-year-old Messi might have one of his final chances at the Copa America. Argentina's campaign will begin on Monday against Chile at the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Copa America opened Sunday in emergency mode in Brazil, where the tournament was shifted after Colombia and Argentina were dropped as co-hosts. "I am always available to my national team. My biggest dream is to win a title with this shirt," Messi told a news conference in Rio. "I was very close m "any times. It didn't happen, but I will keep trying. I will always fight for this dream." Messi said most of the group had played together for a while and "the way this Argentina plays is very clear." "That's why it is is time that we win this Copa," he said. "We know it will be a special one, different because of all that the world is going through." The Argentina captain

Copa America: My biggest dream is to get a title with Argentina, says Messi

Argentina football captain Messi has reiterated that his biggest dream is to win a title with the national team and feels the team is currently "on the right track" ahead of the opener against Chile

Paris Saint-Germain signs Georginio Wijnaldum until 2024

Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Thursday announced the transfer of Georginio Wijnaldum.Arriving from Liverpool, the Netherlands international midfielder has signed with the club from the French capital until June 30, 2024."Signing for Paris Saint-Germain is a new challenge for me," explained Georginio Wijnaldum after signing his contract in an official release issued by PSG."I'm joining one of the best squads in Europe and I want to bring all my desire and commitment to this ambitious project. Paris Saint-Germain have proved how good they are in recent years and I am convinced that together, with our supporters, we can go even further and higher," he added.Born in Rotterdam, and a product of the Sparta Rotterdam youth academy, he played for two of the biggest clubs in his homeland in Feyenoord (135 matches, 25 goals) and then PSV Eindhoven (154 matches, 56 goals) with whom he won the 2014-15 Eredivisie title.After a season at Newcastle United, 'Gini' joined Liverpool FC in ..

Humor, sarcasm, anger: Reaction to European Super League proposals

As a slew of foreign-owned clubs announced plans to rip up European soccer by forming a new League, one club with North American leadership was happy to announce its intention to keep the status quo