Guillermo Amor praised Lionel Messi s genius for helping Barcelona overcome Atletico Madrid in LaLiga on Sunday.
Messi s wonderful 86th-minute goal was enough for Barca to edge to a 1-0 victory at the Wanda Metropolitano and return to the top of the table.
The forward has been in spectacular form and Amor – Barcelona s director of institutional and sporting relations – praised Messi s latest piece of magic.
Leo has been back to his level again, Amor told Movistar.
It is a match won by the teams. Atletico is a great team and could have taken the game too. It has been fairly even.
There have been several phases during the match – a start very strong by Atletico, then we have reacted and we have finished at a good level. In the second half w…
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo pulled level with long-time rival Lionel Messi after collecting his fifth Ballon d’Or on Thursday.
The award, which recognises the best player in the world, has been shared by the formidable duo since 2008, with Ronaldo now celebrating two consecutive wins.
A number of players have come close to breaking their stranglehold on the award over the past decade, but sustained brilliance and spectacular feats of goalscoring ensured their iron grip is as tight as ever.
Here, we shine a spotlight on the five breathtaking seasons when Ronaldo got the better of his bitter rival.
2008: The 2007-08 season with Manchester United provided the first evidence of the Portuguese’s soon-to-be-common eye-popping goal tallies, nettin…
Manchester United are in a bad need of a striker at the moment, and according to Sky Sports, they re considering whether to try and work out a loan move for Islam Slimani, currently on loan at AS Monaco from Leicester City, or Odion Ighalo of Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua.
Last summer, they allowed misfit Alexis Sanchez to join Inter Milan on loan and they sold Romelu Lukaku to the same club, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer obviously choosing to rely on the pace and skill of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and newcomer Daniel James, rather than the experience of Sanchez or the strength of Lukaku. Mason Greenwood has consequently been given the role of the primary backup option upfront, but with Rashford now facing a longer spell on the sidelines, it seems Solskj…
According to a recent report from Sky Germany, Mauricio Pochettino is being considered by Bayern Munich as the potential new boss at the German club. The former Tottenham Hotspur manager was sacked by the North London side after a string of poor results this season which has left them languishing down in 14th. However, many top teams around Europe feel the same as most Spurs fans, in that they don’t feel like Poch was given the kind of treatment he deserves at the club.
There has been no contact between the two parties up to this point, but he is certainly on the shortlist when it comes to who Bayern wants to bring in.
The popular Argentine has a determined, attack-minded way of playing that led to a lot of success for him at Tottenham, and the hope is that he’l…
Antonio Cassano announced his decision to leave Verona on Monday, just a fortnight after joining the club on a free transfer.
It was rumoured last week that Cassano was going to retire from the game, only eight days after arriving, but the charismatic forward held a media conference to state he had opted to play on with the Gialloblu.
The saga took a (probably) final and definitive twist on Monday, however, and the 35-year-old s second U-turn may not come as a surprise to many, given his reputation for individuality throughout a checkered career.
But it got us thinking back to other examples of players and coaches enjoying or should that be enduring comically short stints at a new club.
Ali Dia, anyone ?
Ufficiale, Antonio è un calciatore del…
Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka is looking forward to the challenge of taking on Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi after going up against Cristiano Ronaldo.
When he was at Schalke, Goretzka twice faced Ronaldo s Real Madrid, losing 6-1 in February 2014 and winning 4-3 at the Santiago Bernabeu a year later – with both matches part of Champions League last-16 exits for the Bundesliga side.
The imposing midfielder will get his first chance to take on Messi in a professional match when Bayern play Barca in the Champions League quarter-finals in Lisbon on Friday.
However, Goretzka knows it will take a team effort to contain Messi, who was pivotal in getting Barca past Napoli in the last-16 second leg last week.
After having played Cristiano Ronald…
Lorenzo Colombo scored on his full debut in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to help Milan overcome Bodo/Glimt 3-2 in the Europa League third qualifying round.
The teenage forward was brought into the side in place of Ibrahimovic, who tested positive for coronavirus ahead of Thursday s one-legged tie at San Siro.
Milan were given a scare as Kasper Junker fired the Norwegian visitors ahead after 15 minutes but it took just 106 seconds for Hakan Calhanoglu to equalise from long range.
Colombo put Milan in front and Calhanoglu appeared to give the hosts breathing space, only for Jens Hauge to pull another back, but the Italian giants held on to set up a play-off with Rio Ave.
Bodo/Glimt entered the game unbeaten in 20 matches and took the lead through Jun…
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri has been inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) recognised Allegri – who will leave the Serie A champions following Sunday s trip to Sampdoria – following five successive Scudetto triumphs and six in total.
Allegri led AC Milan to Serie A glory in 2010-11 before replacing Antonio Conte at Juve in 2014, resulting in a relentless run of success in Turin, where four Coppa Italia trophies and two Supercoppa Italiana crowns have followed.
The 51-year-old – who has been linked with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain – received the award from Italian and Juve legend Marcello Lippi in Florence on Monday.
Massimiliano Allegri officially joins other Bianconeri legends i…
Kylian Mbappe must behave differently if he is to be universally adored, according to Metz coach Frederic Antonetti.
Paris Saint-Germain continued their 100 per cent record in Ligue 1 this season as Achraf Hakimi, who had also opened the scoring, netted a stoppage-time winner with the last kick of the game against Metz on Wednesday.
Hakimi s goal came four minutes after Metz captain Dylan Bronn had received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away to waste time, with Antonetti then seeing red for his protestations on the touchline, the furious coach even going as far as gesturing with two fists towards the referee after his dismissal.
As PSG celebrated Hakimi s winner moments later, Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja charged out to confront Mauricio Poch…
The prospect of England appointing a foreign manager if Gareth Southgate leaves the role is unacceptable , according to his predecessor Sam Allardyce.
Southgate s future as England manager is uncertain following the Three Lions 2-1 World Cup quarter-final loss against France.
He remains under contact until the end of Euro 2024 but has indicated he will make a decision on his future after Christmas.
The likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel have been touted as potential replacements if Southgate does depart, but Allardyce is against the appointment of a non-British coach.
It can t happen, not again. There are enough qualified British managers in this country to pick the right man, Allardyce, who led England for one game in 2016, told Sky Sports.…