Barcelona

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

Sergiño Dest became the first U.S. international to start a Copa del Rey final and 90 minutes later became the first to lift the trophy as he helped Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0 on Saturday at Estadio Olímpico de la Cartuja in Seville. 

Barcelona have leapfrogged Spanish rivals Real Madrid to become the world's most valuable soccer club with a valuation of $4.76 billion, according to a list published by business magazine Forbes on Monday.

Real Madrid, who have topped the list five times in the past, edged Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico on Saturday but find themselves second best off the pitch with a valuation of $4.75 billion.

Sergiño Dest became the first American to appear in El Clásico in October. On Saturday he became the first American to score with his butt in El Clásico.

Dest’s rear end accidentally sent a Toni Kroos free kick into the back of the net for what proved to be the winner as Real Madrid edged Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday at a cold, wet and rainy Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium. 

El Clasico is the biggest rivalry in sports, featuring the biggest stars in the biggest venues with some of the biggest prizes in soccer generally on the line. So who are the El Clasico top scorers, the players who shine when the lights are brightest and the pressure is on? We made a list, and it has some pretty impressive names on it.

MADRID - Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann has been spared having to remember three different dates to mark the birthdays of each of his three children — as they were all born on April 8.

When the French World Cup winner confirmed on social media that his wife Erika Choperena had given birth to a baby daughter on Thursday, remarkably it was on the same date as their elder children, Mia (born in 2016) and Amaro (born in 2019).