Europe

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.

MANCHESTER, England - It has certainly been a year of sporting contrasts for American businessman Joel Glazer.

In February, he was in celebratory mood, raising the Vince Lombardi trophy as his NFL team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, led by veteran quarterback Tom Brady.

Three months later, Glazer's Premier League soccer team, Manchester United, had to call off their match against rivals Liverpool following violent protests against the American's ownership of the club.

One way or another, an American will win the DFB Pokal this season. Gio Reyna made sure of that in emphatic fashion, scoring the first two goals as Borussia Dortmund spanked Holstein Kiel 5-0 in the semifinals on Saturday. Reyna, 18, became the second U.S. international to score in a DFB Pokal semifinal after Thomas Dooley did it in 1990 with Kaiserslautern. 

If Mason Mount were American, we’d have elected him emperor of soccerdom already. Instead, he’s a British lad with a boring face who keeps doing astonishing things on the pitch that really deserve more credit. Mount’s brilliant assist sent Chelsea on its way to a 2-0 victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

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.

LONDON — Sergio Agüero's glittering Manchester City career is in its final weeks but the 32-year-old Argentine provided evidence of just how much he will be missed on Saturday.

Injury, illness and manager Pep Guardiola's preference for a line-up featuring no orthodox striker have limited Agüero's appearances in his final season, a decade after joining.

But given a rare start at Crystal Palace he produced a stunning strike to send City on their way to a 2-0 win and to the brink of a fifth Premier League title in 10 seasons.

Josh Sargent played his heart out for more than 120 minutes, and when it was over his compatriot Tyler Adams was there to console him. Adams was an unused substitute, but his RB Leipzig side beat Sargent’s Werder Bremen 2-1 in the DFB Pokal semifinals, with Emil Forsberg scoring the winner in the 121st minute.

LONDON — A British soccer-instigated boycott of the world's biggest social media platforms by professional athletes, sports teams, governing bodies and broadcasters got underway on Friday in response to continued online racist abuse against a number of Black athletes.

One of England's biggest rivalries is set to reignite when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool travels to Old Trafford to face Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Manchester United on Sunday.

"Throughout the season you have games you look forward to and Liverpool is one of the biggest — this is a massive game."