Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi just added two more pieces of silverware to his already overwhelming collection of awards. Messi was named La Liga's best player and top goalscorer for the 2017/2018 campaign at the MARCA Awards. He was awarded the Alfredo di Stefano Award for most valuable player and the Pichichi Trophy for highest goalscorer. The Blaugrana No. 10 has now been named La Liga's best player seven times, and the league's highest goalscorer 5 times. This year's MARCA Awards ceremony held in the Convent dels Àngels in Barcelona.  Messi spoke to MARCA after the ceremony. He talked about watching football with his eldest son, Thiago, his return from injury, and the competitiveness of La Liga.  "I love watching games with him. I was surprised because he understands so many facets of the game and it's the first time I've been able to share something like that with him [Thiago] ," he said. Talking about his return from injury, he further

The Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, had a rather marred return to action as his brace against Real Betis counts for nothing. For the first time in Messi's stunning Barcelona career, he has scored a brace but ended up on the losing side. Messi was excellent but was let down by his supporting cast time and again. Barcelona had a quite vulnerable defense, which was easily penetrated by Tello and Junior. Rakitic, Busquets and Arthur were below par performance in the midfield. Arturo Vidal was in top form as he creating a scoring opportunity in which Messi hit the woodwork 15 seconds after coming in for Arthur (in the second half). Rakitic was sent off in the 81st minute after receiving a second yellow card booking. Messi had a key role to play in all three goals scored by Barcelona; he scored two goals and made an assist for Vidal's goal. Nonetheless, Messi's double against Real Betis puts him atop La Liga scoring charts, with Luis Suarez who has also found the net

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been absent for three weeks following a broken arm but he is healed and will play with the rest of the Barcelona squad in Sunday's (November 11, 2018) La Liga encounter. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde was however hesitant in declaring Messi fit enough or no to play for 90 minutes against Real Betis but said he was no longer worried about sustaining a similar injury. Messi broke his arm 23 days ago while in a La Liga game against Sevilla. "We'll see tomorrow but he has lost the fear of falling over, of supporting himself, of clashing with opponents," Valverde said at a news conference. "That's the main thing, because these types of injuries limit you in those aspects. He is in good shape, certainly." Despite Barcelona's record scorer's absence, the Blaugrana have fared well, beating Inter 2-1 at home, thrashing Real Madrid 5-1, defeating Rayo Vallecano in La Liga and securing a 1-0 win over Cultural

Lopetegui has just paid the price for his ambition and hubris - fired after a 139-day spell of humiliation at Real Madrid, right after being fired from the Spain national team. He cost Spain a World Cup as he risked everything in a bid to fulfill his 15-year old dream of coaching Real Madrid. Lopetegui was controversially hired by Real Madrid just before the start of the World Cup, without Lopetegui conferring with his then employer - the Spanish Football Federation. He was fired as Spain's national team manager at the eve of the World Cup in Russia. Alas, Julen Lopetegui was sacked on Monday as Real Madrid issued an abrupt statement confirming Lopetegui's long-anticipated dismissal following Los Blancos' 5-1 humiliation by Barcelona on Sunday - during the first Clasico of the season.  The statement released by Real Madrid on Monday night read:  “The Board of Directors of Real Madrid CF, meeting today October 29, 2018, has agreed to terminate the contract that

Messi broke his arm earlier in the month during the Barcelona - Sevilla La Liga clash but he is back in training and will soon be able to resume games with his Catalan club. The Argentina international's injury ruled him out of El Clasico but the Blaugrana triumphed in a 5-1 victory at Camp Nou. Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde however insisted Messi's presence was still missed. In a news conference, Valverde said, "For us, since last week when he got injured, we were probably thinking how we would respond on the pitch." "There's only one answer, you have to respond as a team and that's what we've done. The result could've been different but that's the only answer we can give you. "We're delighted for the team but obviously the sooner he's back the better for us because we miss him. We want him back tomorrow." Despite Messi's return to training, he still has some mobility issues and is thus unlikely to fe

FC Barcelona's captain Lionel Messi is arguably the most dominant player in La Liga history. With that acknowledgement, the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas - a renowned Real Madrid fan - recently admitted that the league (La Liga) has been giving some thought to naming the MVP award after the Argentinian No. 10 when he retires. The Blaugrana No. 10 is La Liga's leading goalscorer of all time, and is largely considered to be the best player to have played in the top Spanish league. With Spain's history of naming, footballing awards after some of its greatest-ever players, naming an award after Messi can't possibly be a far-fetched idea. The most popular Spanish awards named after players are the Pichichi for top goal scorer of the season and the Zamora for the best goalkeeper. La Liga president Javier Tebas, believes Messi deserves to have an award named after him for having dominated football in Spain for so many years. Messi has won five Pichichi awa

Barcelona ace Lionel Messi will be out for three weeks following his injury he sustained last Saturday in the La Liga game against Sevilla. A statement from Barcelona read: "Tests carried out on the first team player Leo Messi have confirmed that he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm." "He will be out for approximately three weeks." The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has been seen for the first time after sustaining a fracture in his right arm and he seems to be in good spirits. Barcelona will be back in action tomorrow (Wednesday), when they face Inter Milan in the Champions League. Both teams have six points from two games played so far. Messi will miss that and also El Clasico with Real Madrid due at Camp Nou on Sunday. Messi will likely be replaced by French winger Ousmane Dembele in the starting XI. Sunday's El Clasico will be the first game played between the two Spanish giants (Barcelona and Real Madrid) with neither Cristiano R

26 minutes into Barcelona's La Liga match against Sevilla (Saturday, October 20) , Barcelona captain Lionel Messi went down with an arm injury. The Blaugrana No. 10 clutched his right elbow as he exited the game. He was examined on the sidelines before being replaced by Ousmane Dembele.   The Barcelona talisman had assisted Philippe Coutinho in the 2nd minute of play to give Barcelona an early advantage at the Camp Nou. He further consolidated Barcelona's lead with a goal before the quarter of the hour mark. Disaster struck when Messi fell awkwardly, a few minutes after scoring, seemingly landing on his outstretched arm as he made an attempt to cushion his fall.   Messi's injury comes at a really bad time as Barcelona have a particularly tough stretch of games ahead of them. The Spanish giants are set to take on Inter in a Champions League group stage match on Wednesday, and El  Clásico  the following Sunday.  ❗ [INJURY NEWS] Tests carried out on the fi

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde was heavily criticized following the release of Barcelona's line-up against Atletico Bilbao with Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets being surprise absentees. Valverde has explained why he benched Messi and Busquets. Valverde's response as quoted by Football Espana is: " When I make the decision, I think about what's best for my team and for my club."  "I always do that before playing games, I can't do it afterwards or rewind. "Fans can decide what they think is convenient, but I need to think about the best for my team. "It's my absolute responsibility, we have four games in 10 days [actually 11] and I thought that Leo and Busquets had to rest knowing that we have a very difficult match on Wednesday. "I knew it was a risky decision, but if it had gone well, you wouldn't be asking me about it." Both Messi and Busquets were however called up in the second half as Valverde went all in