Lionel Messi

Barcelona threw away a 2-0 lead, a 3-2 lead and the chance to go momentarily top of LaLiga with a ridiculous 3-3 draw against Levante at the Ciutat de València on Tuesday night.

The match kicked off at 10:00 p.m. local time and quickly entered the magical realm that all “after dark” sporting events inhabit. After Pedri wasted a couple good opportunities with poor shooting, Lionel Messi showed the 18-year-old how it’s done in the 26th minute with a world-class side volley.

Barcelona and Atlético handed LaLiga control to Real Madrid after an entertaining scoreless draw at the Camp Nou on Saturday afternoon. Spain’s two highest scoring teams had their chances, but Jan Oblak produced seven saves — including a miracle on Lionel Messi — and Marc-André ter Stegen had six of his own, including three on Luis Suárez.

VALENCIA, Spain - Lionel Messi scored a 50th free kick goal for Barcelona as he led his side to a quick-fire comeback to win 3-2 at Valencia on Sunday and keep the pressure on LaLiga title rivals Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid.

With coach Ronald Koeman serving a touchline ban, Barça fell behind in the 50th minute when Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista headed home from a corner after keeper Marc-André ter Stegen had stumbled in his attempt to come for the ball.

Lionel Messi’s Instagram account recently reached 200 million followers. The account mostly just tweets out ads for the biggest brands in the world, such as adidas, Pepsi, Gatorade and SpaceScooter.

Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann combined for a super sexy give-and-go goal that deserved its own writeup on Thursday. But like a phone call from your mother as you’re trying to be romantic with your partner, Granada poured cold water on Barcelona with an impressive 2-1 win at an empty Camp Nou on Thursday. 

MELBOURNE - Upbeat Australia coach Graham Arnold has urged Argentina to bring Lionel Messi to the Olympics and described their tough pool as Tokyo's "group of dreams.”

Drawn with twice champions Argentina, 1992 winners Spain and Egypt, the “Olyroos” face an uphill battle to reach the knockout rounds of the 16-team tournament, their first Games since Beijing in 2008.

SEVILLE - Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he was very confident Lionel Messi would choose to stay at the club after the Argentine delivered a vintage performance in Saturday's 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final.

Messi scored a sensational individual goal midway through the second half after strikes from Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong had put the Catalans in charge.

This angle of Lionel Messi's goal pic.twitter.com/SFVfTAMKk3