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In a recent interview with France Football, who just named Mbappe French footballer of the year, Mappe discussed his pride at being noticed by Messi, his relationship with PSG mate Neymar and his transformation at PSG. The young star admitted he desired to win the Ballon d'Or this year but Leo Messi stood in between himself and his dream. "Last season, I realized I could challenge for it. But in front of it stood Messi. I would score two goals, he would three; I scored three and he scored four. It's crazy. "I talked to Ousmane Dembele about how that was possible, and if he saw the goals I scored. And he told me that Messi was watching me. "It's flattering that someone like Leo takes you into consideration." Mbappe went on to dismiss all speculations about an alleged rivalry between Neymar and himself. "When I arrived in Paris, Neymar was a superstar. He was injured, missed the World Cup and I won it. "News began about an ...

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 ...

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...

Lionel Messi led the Blaugrana to an amazing 4-0 Derby victory at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday. Messi's opener - an amazing free-kick - against Catalan rivals Espanyol at the 17th minute into the game made him the first player to score 10 goals in 13 consecutive La Liga seasons. At the 26th minute, Messi provided Ousmane Dembele an assist for his goal. Dembele later set Luis Suarez for Barcelona's third goal in the first half of the game. The Barcelona captain scored his second goal through another brilliant free-kick in the 65th minute - his 11th La Liga strike of the season. ESPN gave the Barcelona playmaker a 10/10 rating for his breath-taking performance.  View this post on Instagram GOLAZOOOOOO FROM MESSI 😍😍😍🔥😍🔥😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🔥🔥🔥 #FCBarcelona #Barca #ViscaBarca #Barcelona #Messi #FCB #LM10 #LaLiga #Griezmann #Futbol #Skills #Tekkers #Nutmeg #Golazo #Goal #Dembele #Coutinho #Espanyol #Spain #Derby A post...

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...