Barcelona are not considering an exit for Lionel Messi as a decision on the star s future nears.
Messi, 33, has been linked with a move away from the LaLiga giants after a trophy-less 2019-20 season.
But the star may yet remain at Barcelona.
TOP STORY – BARCELONA NOT CONSIDERING MESSI EXIT
Messi s rumoured departure from Camp Nou is not on the agenda at all for Barca, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The cover of the Spanish daily reads: Untransferable .
Aquí os dejamos la portada de hoy
— Mundo Deportivo (@mundodeportivo)
Messi is contracted at Barcelona until 2021 and Sport reports a decision on his future is expected in the next few days, with the club beginning pre-season training on August 30.
Barcelona will face a very different Real Madrid when the two sides clash next month for the first time since Jose Mourinho took over as coach, Real star Cristiano Ronaldo has warned.
Barca is always a difficult and complicated rival but this year s Madrid is not the same as last year s, it is completely different, the Portuguese international said in an interview published on Friday in sports daily Marca.
We have changed in many ways: in terms of discipline, playing style, aggressiveness, we all play together for the same goal. Mourinho is a great coach with enormous experience, he knows what you have to do to win.
Real Madrid will travel to Barcelona on the weekend of November 27-28 in the most eagerly anticipated match of the season.
Mourinho in Ma…
A brilliant solo goal in injury time by Lionel Messi earned Argentina a 1-0 victory over their arch-rivals Brazil in an international friendly here on Wednesday.
The Barcelona superstar picked up the ball midway inside the Brazil half and weaved past four defenders before firing a low shot into the bottom-right corner with just a minute of added time to play.
It was Messi s first ever goal against Brazil and allowed Argentina to record their first win against their old enemies since June 2005.
His strike also allowed coach Sergio Batista to celebrate victory in his first game in charge since he was confirmed as the long-term successor to Diego Maradona.
For Brazil it was a first defeat in four matches for new coach Mano Menezes, who had led his country t…
Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is determined to end the first half of the season on a high note when they travel to Cologne on Saturday.
Dortmund sit second in the Bundesliga table heading into this weekend s encounter after a number of impressive performances in their first season under Tuchel.
The former Mainz coach saw his team lose to Hamburg and Bayern Munich, but they have won 12 out of 16 matches so far and trail reigning champions Bayern Munich by five points.
There is definitely a good feeling about our season so far. We are putting in good performances on a regular basis. The team has been showing character. We are focused and are on the right track, Tuchel told Ruhr Nachrichten.
But there is still one game to go. I will review the fir…
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku plans to enjoy a short break before taking a decision on whether his future lies with Chelsea.
Lukaku has spent the last two seasons away from Stamford Bridge on loan, initially at West Brom and then with Everton.
The 21-year-old proved an unqualified success at both clubs, scoring 17 Premier League goals in his solitary campaign at The Hawthorns and 15 for Everton last term.
Yet it remains to be seen whether Lukaku has a realistic chance of breaking into Chelsea s first team, with manager Jose Mourinho having recently agreed a deal to sign Spain international Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid.
Lukaku acknowledges he has decisions to make ahead of the new domestic season, but remains relaxed.
I want to go on holiday f…
Saturday lunchtime, and the Gran Via and Plaza Mayor are teeming with Christmas shoppers in Madrid.
Cyclists, too, are out in force, gathering for a peaceful protest ride to make the case for leaving the car at home.
This is day one of a UN climate change convention being hosted by Spain s capital, and it is hard not to be conflicted by the collision of consumerism and conservationism.
We are living through times where we want to give, give, give to afford loved ones brief relief from cataclysmic reality, but at the same time we are warned the shop-around-the-clock culture is killing the planet.
At the nearby Santiago Bernabeu stadium, Real Madrid are wearing their mint-green third kit for a home league fixture against Espanyol.
HALA MA…
Ollie Watkins helped fire Aston Villa to a first European quarter-final since 1998 but gave his side and England an injury scare after limping off.
Watkins, named in Gareth Southgate’s latest squad earlier on Thursday, headed Villa in front in the first half of a 4-0 Europa Conference League second-leg win over 10-man Ajax which sends them through to the last eight.
But the striker limped off eight minutes later with a knee problem and had to watch his team-mates run riot in the second half with Leon Bailey, John Duran and Moussa Diaby goals killing off the tie after last week’s goalless draw in Amsterdam.
Villa and England will now wait anxiously to discover the extent of the problem, with the striker crucial to Villa’s Premier League top-four ambitions, w…
