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Lionel Messi and the entire Barcelona squad were in good form on Saturday as they faced a first-class Sevilla. At the heart of Barcelona's formidable display was Lionel Messi who scored a goal and provided the assist for Ousmane Dembele's goal to make it 0-2 for Barcelona. Messi has now scored 38 goals against Sevilla, six more than he has scored against any other side. He has also achieved his best scoring streak in two years, netting in eight La Liga games in a row - a total of 12 goals during these matches. Barcelona are now within one point of Diego Simeone's men, though the latter have two games in hand. Barcelona's victory brings an end to Sevilla's 10-game winning run in domestic competitions. Barcelona face Sevilla again on Wednesday, in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. "If we can overturn the tie on Wednesday, our entire season turns around," Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. "After playing like this at Sevilla, not givi...

It was a comfortable La Liga win for Barcelona as they defeated Elche 3 - 0 with second half goals from Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba - a brace from Messi and one goal from Jordi Alba. Messi notched in Martin Braithwaite's backheel into the bottom corner of the Elche goalkeeper's net in the 48th minute, and scored his second 20 minutes later - he picked up a pass from Frenkie de Jong, and fended off a few defenders before scoring. Jordi Alba scored Barcelona's third in the 73rd minute, set up by Braithwaite and Messi. Barcelona lay Sevilla on Saturday - a La Liga fixture, then next Wednesday at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. It will be an uphill task for the Catalans as they already lost the first leg 2-0 away. Barcelona are third in La Liga behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid - 55, 52 and 50 points respectively, albeit Atletico still have a game in hand. Messi's brace has taken him to the top of the La Liga scoring chart, with two goal...

23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen star Leon Bailey has expressed his opinion on the age-long Ronaldo-Messi debate. He told ESPN: "I think he [Messi] has been at one club for too long. "The big difference between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi is Cristiano Ronaldo has done great things in different teams and that's what makes him great. "Obviously they are two great players but Ronaldo will always have that upper hand." Bailey believes Messi is more talented but votes Ronaldo as being more successful. "I believe Messi is more talented when it comes to [pure] talent than Cristiano," Bailey explained. "But when it comes to more success, I would give that to Ronaldo 100 times." 36-year-old Ronaldo has won the Champions League 5 times, and Messi - four. But Messi has won more league campaigns on the other hand: 10 La Liga triumphs compared to Ronaldo's seven league titles. In terms of Ballon d'Or awards, Messi has six and Ronaldo, fi...

For the third time in LaLiga Santander this season, Lionel Messi has had a goal disallowed by VAR in Saturday's Barcelona vs Alaves La Liga fixture. His first-half goal - a shot he tucked home from Antoine Griezmann's deflected shot - was ruled out by VAR, as they deemed Griezmann was slightly offside during the move. As of now, no player has had more goals disallowed by VAR than Messi this season. That did not stop Messi from scoring a brace - both sublime goals, with one scored 25-yards away from goal - and providing an assist in Barcelona's 5-1 undoing of Alaves. He also matched two important records - he equaled Barcelona legend Xavi for most league games played for Barcelona, and has matched Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 573 goals scored from open play - doing so in two fewer years and 145 games less.  

The fourth presidential impeachment trial in American history is over. Former US President Donald Trump was on Saturday February 13, acquitted for his alleged role of inciting the Jan 6 deadly riot at the US Capitol. His acquittal comes exactly one month and a week after the attack on the Capitol. More senators voted to convict Trump, but failed to reach the majority threshold of two-thirds necessary to convict; the vote fell 10 short, the final vote being 57-43.  Seven Republican senators -  Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania - joined the Dems to vote Trump guilty of "incitement of insurrection". "This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country. No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million ...

Messi and a couple of first-team regulars did not feature in the starting XI for the Barcelona vs Real Betis clash, with a Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla due Wednesday, and the first leg of their Champions League clash with PSG eight days away. In-form Griezmann however debuted, but Barcelona trailed Real Betis 0-1 by the end of the first half. Barcelona did not register a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes of play. In the 56th minute, Koeman brought Messi in, who scored two minutes later to level the game. A Victor Ruiz own goal later put Barcelona ahead. But it was Trincao's curled strike that sealed the win for Barcelona. This victory places Barcelona 7 points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid, who have two games in hand.

Mathew Fraser or Mat Fraser - as he's popularly known shocked the world on Tuesday with an announcement of his retirement from competition. Fraser picked up CrossFit as a whim, but leaves it as a legend - the Fittest Man in history. The 31-year-old wrote on his Instagram account: " Like so many others that wandered into a CrossFit gym, I wasn't expecting to find my best friends, business partners, wife, countless life lessons, and 5 gold medals. Today I leave the sport older, wiser, fitter, and grateful. "I’m diving into the next chapter of my life with the same HWPO mentality. From now on, decisions I make won't be solely based off how they affect my performance, but how they affect my family, friends, health and happiness," Fraser added. "I look forward to remaining a part of the CrossFit community, I just won't be doing it from the competition floor any longer." Fraser, a Vermont native has been crowned Fittest Man on Earth five conse...

Barcelona returned home to Camp Nou for their La Liga fixture vs Athletic Bilbao on January 31, 2021. It was a triumphant home as they moved up to second in La Liga - goals from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann helped them beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1. Barcelona were the better team from kick-off - played with intensity, had the majority of ball possession and pressed to recover the ball when they lost it.  A very active Messi opened scoring for Barcelona in the 20th minute with a brilliant free kick (his 650th goal for Barcelona), though Athletic leveled through a Jordi Alba own goal early in the second half. Griezmann struck the winner for Barcelona with 15 minutes of play time left. This win stretched Barcelona's unbeaten run in the league to 10 games. They still have a long way to go however as they are still 10 points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid.