It's no shame to be eliminated from the Champions League by the current best player in the world, who hapens to be one of the greatest of all time. That's what happened to Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez and Bayer Leverkusen Wednesday, when they were eliminated by Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
It's the season of giving, and what better way to highlight the season of giving than to shine a light on a gift given by one of the best to ever do it to another of the best to ever do it. A regular gift from a regular person is nice, but a Messi gift from Lionel Messi is twice as nice.
And when you are Ronaldinho, and Messi is a close personal friend of yours, a Messi gift is thrice as nice.
Here's what happened: Messi gave his buddy Ronaldinho a signed Lionel Messi Barcelona jersey, and Ronaldinho thanked his buddy Messi for the gift on Instagram and Twitter.
Barcelona have perhaps the greatest forward line ever assembled, but for how much longer?
According to The Sun (so take this information with however many grains of salt you feel are appropriate), Barcelona's wage bill is 73 percent of its total revenue.
The Sun also reported that Barca are planning a £423 million renovation of the Camp Nou.
Messi, you can't always get what you want.
What he wasnted was to be on the Ballon d'Or podium with fellow Barcelona forwards Neymar Jr. and Luis Suarez.
What he got was Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I am happy to be once more among the three best, and to go to another gala," Messi said.
The defining characteristic of any tragedy is the inability to make any sense of it. Thus, the term "senseless violence."
We are led to believe that everything happens for a reason, and when a tragedy on the scale of the Paris attacks occurs we must all try and ferret out a reason behind the tragedy, be it spiritual, ideological or otherwise.
Before we can move on with our lives, we must know why they have been affected so.
The finalists for the Puskas Award, the award for the best goal scored in a calendar year, have been whittled by voters from 10 down to just three.
One of those finalists was an incredible dribble goal by one Lionel Messi, who also happens to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or, given to the best player on the planet in a given calendar year.
The 2015 Ballon d'Or finalists have been announced, and the three chosen come as a surprise to approximately nobody.
The nominees, in case you live in a hole, or under a rock, or in a hole located under a rock, are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr.
A much more interesting question than who would get nominated (we guess Luis Suarez had an outside chance at Neymar's third spot, but come on) is who will win. Will Lionel Messi receive his fourth, Ronaldo his third or Neymar his first? We break it down.
In a couple decades, soccer aficionados will debate the illustrious careers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Heck, what are we talking about. Anyone who knows anything about soccer debates Messi vs Ronaldo now. It's practically an industry in and of itself.
In 2012, Lionel Messi was named by Sports Illustrated magazine as the Best Soccer Player of All Time, beating out 160 players from across time and space.
Messi beat out the likes of Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Pele. Cristiano Ronaldo had to settle for a distant 21st place.
As successful as Barcelona have been with the current Messi, there is no doubt that they are constantly on the lookout for the next Messi.
And they just might have found what the're looking for in Carles Aleña, a 17-year-old Spaniard who plays for the Barcelona U-19s and has already trained with the first team because of injuries. There is serious speculation that he could be the next big thing out of the academy that produced Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Thiago Motta, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Sergio Busquets.