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Barcelona faced Girona at Estadi Montilivi on Sunday in a La Liga clash. Barcelona was able to restore their five point lead atop the La Liga table with goals from Nelson Semedo and Lionel Messi. Nelson Semedo gave Barcelona an early lead inside the opening 10 minutes in the game - his first goal for Barcelona, and Messi scored Barcelona's second goal - after being set up by Jordi Alba - twenty minutes into stoppage. Girona''s Cristhian Stuani made three concrete attempts to equalize but was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stergen all attempts. Things got tougher for Girona after Bernardo Espinosa was sent off for a second booking, at the 51st minute. Philippe Coutinho still put up a dull show, made a number of misplaced passes, and looked low on confidence. He also wasted two scoring opportunities, one being from Messi in the first half, and another in stoppage time. Barcelona are now at 49 points after 21 games, 5 points ahead of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid. Lion

New Barcelona signing Kevin-Prince Boateng turns back on Ronaldo allegiances. The 31-year old notoriously pro-Ronaldo Boateng lauded Lionel Messi as being the best player "in this world and every world" during his official unveiling at Barcelona. He recently completed a shock move from Sassuolo (on loan) to Barcelona, which will see him stay at Camp Nou until the end of the season. His loan deal includes an option to buy him for £7 million. Quotes about Boateng being a fervent Real Madrid fan and considering Ronaldo the world's best player resurfaced with Boateng's Barcelona signing, and he addressed his stance on Tuesday. The former Ghana international told reporters, "I am a Barcelona player and Lionel Messi is the best player in this world and every world." Why are you laughing? That's the truth, he has shown that with all that he has won in the last 10 years. "It's a great honor [to be at Barcelona] because Messi is the best p

Barcelona started the match against Leganes with Messi and other key players like Rakitic and Vidal on the bench. Ousmane Dembele was instrumental for Barcelona in the first half, brilliantly filling Lionel Messi's void. He diligently tormented the Leganes defense before netting Barcelona's first goal at the 32nd minute. His brilliant evening was brought to a premature end with an ankle injury after an awkward fall early in the second half. Ernesto Valverde's decision to rest Messi almost backfired in the second half with Leganes' revival. Barely 30 minutes after his entry in the second half, a magical Lionel Messi changed Barcelona's fate from an eminent defeat to Leganes to victory. Barcelona's 1-0 lead was overturned in the early minutes of the second half with a goal from Leganes' Martin Braithwaite. Messi's impact was felt barely seven minutes after his entry.  At the 71st minute, the Barcelona talisman created a fine assist for Luis

Lionel Messi's strike in Barcelona's most recent La Liga outing vs Eibar saw him reach yet another huge milestone in his praiseworthy career - the 400 goal mark in La Liga. Talking to  Mundo Deportivo , the 31-year-old Barcelona captain singled out his best goal, which happens to be his first goal, against Albacete, back in May 2005.  "The first against Albacete from the pass of Ronnie [Ronaldinho], I will never forget," he said.  "The goals of the Clasicos are always special and against hard opponents that are usually  Atletico Madrid ,  Valencia  and  Sevilla ...  "Those that I have had the luck to score against our fans here in the Camp Nou they are always nice, and they are also special that I scored as a visitor because of the difficulty of playing away. "In the end, the most important goals are not the most spectacular, but those that serve us as a team to win." Talking about the 400 goal mark in La Liga, Messi said, "I

Barcelona captain/ Argentine maestro Lionel Messi is the first player to score 400 goals in La Liga, with his goal in Barcelona's 3-0 victory over Eibar at Camp Nou on Sunday. This is a boost to his amazing La Liga record as he has been the Spanish League's all-time top-scorer since November 2014. Messi has an average of 0.92 goals per game in La Liga. The mercurial magician is the second player to have scored 400 goals in any of Europe's top five leagues, Cristiano Ronaldo is the first. Messi has however reached this milestone in 63 games less than Ronaldo did. View this post on Instagram 4⃣0⃣0⃣ goals in @LaLiga! ⚽ The. Best. Ever. 🐐 4⃣0⃣0⃣ goles en La Liga 👏 Leo #Messi, único e irrepetible. 4⃣0⃣0⃣ gols a La Liga 👏 Leo #Messi, únic i irrepetible. 🔵🔴 A post shared by FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona) on Jan 13, 2019 at 10:49am PST Of Messi's 400 La Liga strikes, 83 have been braces, and 31, braces. La Liga

FC Barcelona kicked off the new year without the holiday hangover as they secured and extended their lead in La Liga, following a 15-day La Liga winter break. Barcelona defeated hosts Getafe 2-1 yesterday as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez marked their names on the scoresheet. Watch Messi closely in this video. He squeezes past three players, takes hits from two of them, stumbles, regains balance - but he never, not for one instant, takes his eye off the ball. No question of going down for the penalty. Just him, and the ball. pic.twitter.com/bVADL1ljb3 — Daniel Edwards 💚 (@DanEdwardsGoal) January 6, 2019 Messi opened scoring 20 minutes into the first half, charging through the penalty box to score Barcelona's first goal at close range. He ran onto a deflected ball, collected his rebound and netted the ball from an acute angle. 👏 For the fourth year in a row Messi scores the first goal of the year in @LaLiga . 🐐 ⚽ 2016: Messi ⚽ 2017: Messi ⚽ 2018: Messi ⚽ 2019: M

Barcelona midfielder Arthur Melo is optimistic about a possible return of his countryman Neymar to Camp Nou. Arthur switched from Gremio to Barcelona ahead of this season at a €40 million transfer fee. After a €222 million transfer from Barcelona to PSG in the summer of 2017, Neymar helped PSG to a domestic treble. Neymar has been in great form with PSG this season as well, scoring 16 goals in 18 appearances, all competitions included. 11 of the goals scored by Neymar were recorded in 12 Ligue 1 games. The Brazilian playmaker is rumored to be unhappy in France, and could be leaving PSG sooner than expected.  Arthur told Mundo Deportivo , "I personally am praying for him to come because he is a star, it is indisputable, and I think that the better players the team have, the better."  "Personally, I am doing a lot of work to get him back, but he has his life, he knows what he's doing and I don't know how deep those negotiations are, if there are options

Barcelona return to first place in the La Liga table with their 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo today. That's a guaranteed merry Christmas for the Catalans. Barcelona now have 37 points, while Atletico Madrid follows closely with 34. Sevilla may join the Rojiblancos in second place after their game tomorrow. Former Borussia Dortmund man, Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi scored Barcelona's two goals. When you score you're 1⃣0⃣th goal in minute 1⃣0⃣ . . . You pop that cork, @Dembouz ! 🎉🎉🎉 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/GSgFBTPzLd — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 22, 2018 Celta were close to scoring in the third minute when Nestor Araujo headed the ball over the crossbar, following a corner. But seven minutes later, the Catalan side took the lead with a goal from Dembele. Good link up play between Jordi Alba and Messi created an opportunity for Messi which resulted in a shot saved by Ruben. Dembele was in close range, and turned the ball in. B

On Tuesday December 11, Tottenham Hotspur not only achieved their qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but also broke a Barcelona record. Ousmane Dembele gave Barcelona an early lead but the Spurs fought for and achieved an equalizer five minutes to stoppage. Thanks to Inter Milan's defeat to PSV who had nothing but pride to play for, Tottenham qualified for the last 16. Barcelona, for the first time since 2006, lost out in the ball possession battle during a Champions League group game. Spurs recorded 52% while the significantly rotated Barcelona team had 48%. An unusual midfield trio of Ivan Rakitic, Carles Alena and Arthur Lenglet lacked cohesion as expected. Barcelona had already qualified and thus named a younger, less experienced starting XI, with Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba starting from the bench. Jasper Cillessen replaced Ter Stergen at the goal post and was exceptional, with a perfect performance. There was nothing he could d

FC Barcelona legend and former captain Andres Iniesta payed his former Catalan team, Barcelona, a visit on Monday, December 11. His visit followed the close of the J1 League - his current league - on November 30. He visited his former teammates at Barcelona's Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training ground, as they prepared for their Champions League clash with Tottenham on Tuesday. He greeted the likes of Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Rakitic, Pique, Coutinho, and Ter Stergen. All the players were delighted with Iniesta's presence. Volver a casa siempre es especial ❤️🔵🔴 @FCBarcelona Coming back home is always special ❤️🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/BuxYk7tkRW — Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) December 10, 2018 The legendary midfield tactician won nine La Liga titles and four Champions League titles while at Barcelona. FC Barcelona also documented Iniesta's visit on their social media accounts. "Nice to see you again @andresiniesra8! Barcelona will always be your ho

FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi, picked up the Man of the Match award in the Barcelona - PSV Eindhoven match yesterday night, and broke Cristiano Ronaldo's UEFA Champions League record. His fine goal at the 61st minute made him the most prolific goalscorer for a single club in Champions League history, a record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo's Champions League tally for Real Madrid stands at 105 goals. Messi was happy with the record as he said,  "I am delighted, I have just found out now. I am happy for this new stat." View this post on Instagram Lionel Messi 🆚 PSV 😍🐐 📲| Follow @Messifanpx 🎥| @messicomps . . . . 🚫 Ignore Hashtags #leo #leomessi #lm10 #messi #messi10 #messika #leomessi10 #messigoal #vamosmessi #leonelmessi #messiah #kingmessi #leomessi10 #barcelona #messifanpx #fcbarcelona #barcelonafc #barcelonafans #fcbarcelonafans #barcelona🇪🇸 #argentina #argentina🇦🇷 #argentinas #c

The latest Global Sports Salaries Survey reveal that La Liga champions, FC Barcelona, are the first sports team to pay its first-team players an average salary of more than £10 ($13,755,714) million per year. The Catalonia giants lastly topped the survey in 2012, when their average wage was half of the current sum. This season, Barcelona will pay its 23-man squad an average of £10.45, before bonuses. The additions of Philippe Coutinho, Arthur, Malcom and Arturo Vidal have greatly contributed to these exorbitant figures, alongside Messi's bumper new contract. His new contract, signed in November 2017, pays him a basic £50 million ($64.2 million) per year before tax. His contract makes him the best paid player in the club's history. Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets and Samuel Umtiti also signed new contracts with the club.   European champions Real Madrid are second on the list, with an increase in the average salaries of their first-team stars to £8.1 m