Lionel Messi made his 500th appearance for FC Barcelona on Wednesday and, naturally, was on the scoresheet. Messi was named in the starting XI, as well as captain for the night, despite having just passed a kidney stone and traveling between Japan, Argentina, Dubai and Barcelona over the past 10 days.
No matter. Messi put in another Man of the Match performance during Barca's 4-0 La Liga victory over Real Betis.
Neymar got a new haircut. This in and of itself is not super noteworthy. Neymar gets new haircuts all the time.
What is noteworthy is how Neymar's partners on the Barcelona forward line, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, reacted to Neymar's new look, which looks kid of like a starter version of an '80s rocker mullet, with the sides shaved and the top and back slightly grown out.
Ronaldinho wore the number 10 shirt at Barcelona. When Ronaldinho Left Barcelona, Messi began wearing the number 10 shirt, a shirt he still wears today.
It may be just a jersey number, but the story behind how Messi ended up with the Barcelona number 10 jersey after Ronaldinho left is actually pretty interesting.
Sergi Guardiola is 24 years old, which is certainly old enough to know that nowadays potential employers always check out your social media accounts for bad stuff.
This is why every college and career counselor ever tells you to make sure your social media accounts are either squeaky clean or uber-private before you apply for jobs, to make sure your reputation isn't damaged in the eyes of potential employers.
Guardiola, it appears, has never talked to a career counselor (we don't even know if European footballers have that sort of thing), because he went from this:
Luis Enrique stands on the touchline and watches FC Barcelona’s tremendous troika of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN) nearly every day in matches and in training.
And yet, the Blaugrana boss remains amazed at what the trio can accomplish when they are at their best.
“They are the best in the world,” Enrique told the press recently. “They have a great understanding and when they don’t all score [in a match] they’re not happy.”
Barcelona star midfielder Ivan Rakitic was a big hit at the Club World Cup in Japan this month, but not for the reason you might think. Sure, he played well and Barcelona tournament, but the reason fans flocked to Rakitic is because he looks like Goku, the protagonist in the popular anime show "Dragon Ball Z."
Goku is beloved in Japan, and, because of that, now Rakitic is beloved in Japan.
Lionel Messi has another trophy, much to the chagrin of some of his countrymen. Barcelona beat Argentinian club River Plate in the Club World Cup final with the help of Lionel Messi's first-half goal (the game ended 3-1).
HT: River Plate 0, Barcelona 1. Messi scores in his third straight Club World Cup Final as Barca lead at the break. https://t.co/iXSxCJPsi0
As the world prepares for The Force Awakens, the football-scheduling gods have set up a great weekend of football across the globe to watch while you wait in line to see Episode VII. Also, check out these fantastic Star Wars football kits designed by Nerea Palacios. Here are the top five can’t miss matches this weekend:
Sunday at 5:30 a.m. EST on Fox Sports 1
We will be honest. Of all the famous former Barcelona players, Samuel Eto'o is not the one we would have expected to make a move into coaching.
Carles Puyol? Definitely. Xavi? Sure. But Eto'o? Since when do poachers go in for coaching?
Samuel Eto'o was, and is, a great goal-scorer. And now his club, Antalyaspor, has sacked former manager Yusuf Simsek and appointed Eto'o as the temporary player-manager until they can find a new coach.
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.