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Rayo Vallecano may be a second division club, but they were a tough opponent for Barcelona at the Copa del Rey last 16 game played on January 27th. Barcelona dominated the game, but Los Franjirrojos opened scoring first, with a goal from Fran Garcia. Barcelona won the Segunda side 2-1 at Vallencas, to progress to the quarter finals, thanks to second half goals from Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong. Messi was back in Barcelona's starting XI after serving a two-match ban for a red card he received in their Spanish Supercoppa loss to Athletic Bilbao on January 17. That was his first red card in his Barcelona career. He has now surpassed Barcelona Legend Josep Samitier as Barcelona player with the most matches played in the history of the Copa del Rey. Messi now has 76 appearances in the competition, one more than Josep Samitier. Sevilla crushed 2019 Copa winners Valencia 3-0 at home, joining Barcelona in Friday's quarterfinal draw.

Sorry Liverpool, no hat-trick of triumphs for you tonight. Lionel Messi and not Virgil van Dijk wins FIFA  Men's Footballer of the Year Award. Messi beat Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award, which happens to be his sixth FIFA Footballer of the Year Award. Virgil Van Dijk came second, and Cristiano Ronaldo, third. Ronaldo was not in attendance this year, same as last year. Messi is now one major step ahead of Ronaldo in terms of  FIFA Footballer of the Year Awards, he has six, while Ronaldo has five. Messi's exploits for the 2018/2019 football season include: His 51 goals for Barcelona in 2018-19 - the highest in the top five European Leagues (England, Spain, Italy, France & Germany) and a country mile ahead of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski who scored 11 goals fewer. Helping Barcelona reach the Champions League semi-final and Copa del Rey final. Claiming the European Golden Shoe as the Europe's top goalscorer  Being La Liga's

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi came up short of the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award but was named UEFA Forward of the Year at the UEFA Champions League draw. Messi finished ahead of rivals Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus and Sadio  Mané  of Liverpool. Messi finished as the Champions League's top scorer with 12 goals, despite Barcelona being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool. Here's the Forward of the Season top ten: 1  Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 285 points 2  Sadio Mané (Liverpool) – 109 points 3  Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) – 91 points 4  Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 83 points 5  Dušan Tadić (Ajax) – 35 points 6  Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) – 15 points 7  Robert Lewandowski (Bayern) – 10 points 8 Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) – 9 points 8  Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 9 points 10  Leroy Sané (Manchester City) – 6 points Barcelona's Dutchman, Frenkie de Jong claimed Midfielder of the Year - ahead of fellow nominees Chris

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been crowned the UEFA Men's Player of the Year for his stellar performances during last season's Champions League.   The Dutchman played a pivotal role Liverpool's success at the 2018/2019 Champions League season and represented the Netherlands at the UEFA Nations League finals, with the Oranje finishing as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The center-back beat superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the award.  He also claimed the Defender of the Year award, while Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was named UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season. In the 36 games Van Dijk played last season, no opposition player managed to complete a single dribble past him. Manchester United legend Eric Cantona was honored with the prestigious UEFA President's Award, personally selected by current UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. Lionel Messi was named Forward of the Year while his Barcelona t

Frenkie de Jong has just fulfilled his childhood dream of playing for Barcelona and playing alongside his idol, Lionel Messi. De Jong agreed to join Barcelona in January, with his former Dutch club Ajax and Barcelona settling on a transfer worth  £65 million. "I am very happy to be here finally," he said at his official unveiling. "As a child it was a dream for me to play at Barca, and now I'm here so it's great." De Jong was particularly happy that the Barcelona legend, Messi, would now be his teammate. "I'm really looking forward to setting foot on the Camp Nou pitch for the first time," he said. "I'm happy to be able to play with Messi, who I have always followed. Now my idol will be my team-mate." De Jong was instrumental in Ajax's 4-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals last season. "Lots of people from Barca congratulated me after we beat Real Madrid in the Champions League,&q