Spain

Barcelona maintained its five-point lead at the top of LaLiga with a 2-0 victory over Girona on Sunday. Nelson Semedo opened the scoring in the ninth minute with his first-ever goal for the club, and Messi completed the scoring in the 68th with a delicate finish. The goal was, of course, assisted by Jordi Alba. 

Messi now has 14 goals and nine assists in his last 13 games. He’s also scored in seven straight games in all competitions. 

During Sunday’s Segunda División B match between the Barcelona B squad and SD Ejea, 20-year-old Barca right back Moussa Wagué was sent off for clashing with an Ejea supporter while attempting to take a throw-in. 

The match was played at the tight confines of Ejea’s 2,900-capacity Nuevo Estadio Municipal, and after Wagué went to collect the ball for a throw, a supporter tossed it away from him, resulting in the physical altercation.

With the latest reports saying there’s no hope that Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson will be found alive after their Piper Malibu light aircraft went missing Monday night over the Channel Islands, the footballing world is beginning to pay its respects to the 28-year-old Argentine. 

Every child dreams of becoming the next Lionel Messi, and I don’t think that should be discouraged. However, it might not be a bad bit of parenting to tell your children that it’s OK to aim for the next Maxwell, Alexander Hleb, Aleix Vidal, Thomas Vermaelen, Paulinho or Kevin-Prince Boateng as well — that’s probably the surest way of representing the Blaugrana as a professional.

These are the somewhat old, somewhat weird transfer dealings of the five-time European champions, and in a strange way, they make perfect sense.

With Lionel Messi given a rest and role as a substitute for Barcelona’s match against Leganes on Sunday, Ousmane Dembélé moved into the Argentine’s customary position on the right-hand side of Barca’s front three and spent the opening 45 minutes making the Camp Nou forget all about the man they were missing.

Dembélé opening run of the match led Leganes on a merry dance. He nutmegged one defender and then was millimeters away from dicing another. 

18-year-old Mexican phenom Diego Lainez made his debut with Real Betis on Sunday following his transfer from Club América. Lainez entered the fray in the 81st minute with Betis and Girona knotted at 2-2 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in LaLiga play.

Lainez’s introduction made him the third-youngest Mexican debutant in Europe, and his positive play on both wings during the brief cameo certainly isn’t going to slow the hype surrounding him.  

After flirting with relegation last season before ultimately finishing 16th, Athletic Bilbao again finds itself near the bottom of the LaLiga table and struggling to avoid a fate that’s never befallen the Basque club (a distinction it shares with only Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish football). 

Luka Modric isn’t known for his goalscoring prowess. The most he’s ever registered in a LaLiga season for Real Madrid was three, back during the 2012-13 campaign. However, after scoring the opening goal in the FIFA Club World Cup final back on Dec. 22 — his first competitive goal since the banger he scored against Argentina back in June — Modric admitted that he should probably opt to go for goal more often.

“Everyone tells me I have to shoot more, although I usually prefer to pass. I should shoot more, it’s true,” he said following the 4-1 victory over Al-Ain.