Precisely 20 years ago, the player many consider to be the greatest of all time made his senior debut.
At the age of 17, Lionel Messi made his first appearance in LaLiga on October 16, 2004, replacing goalscorer Deco from the bench in Barcelona s 1-0 win at Espanyol. He was, at the time, the club s youngest player to feature in an official game.
The rest, as they say, is history – 846 goals, eight Ballons d Or and 43 senior team honours later, Messi has certainly cemented his place among the all-time greats.
On the 20th anniversary of his first professional outing, we celebrate the Argentine maestro by delving into the best facts and figures of his glittering career.
20 years ago today, Messi made his official debut for Barça.
Join us as we t…
Borussia Dortmund expect to be without Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the rest of 2014 due to a hamstring injury.
The Armenia international limped out of Saturday s 1-0 defeat to Hertha Berlin with the scores goalless, having initially impressed in midfield.
Mkhitaryan s replacement, Jakub Blaszczykowski, coughed up possession for Julian Schieber s winner as the former Dortmund striker came back to haunt the club he left for the capital in July.
And Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp will be without Mkhitaryan for their final two games before the mid-season break against Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen as the Ruhr club look to arrest a dismal season which sees them currently sat in the Bundesliga s relegation play-off place.
A club statement revealed Mkhitaryan suffered a …
Russia beat Sweden 2-0 in their Euro 2008 Group D match here on Wednesday and reach the quarter-finals at the expense of their opponents.
Roman Pavlyuchenko scored in the 24th minute, for his second of the tournament, and Russian player of the year Andrei Arshavin added a second in the 50th minute to seal victory.
Russia progress to their first ever knockout stages of a major tournament since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and will play Holland in the quarter-final in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday a repeat to a certain extent of the 1988 final when present Dutch coach Marco van Basten scored in the 2-0 victory over the Soviets.
Russia are also coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who took the Dutch to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals.
…
Mikel Oyarzabal proved the late hero as his winner saw Spain down England 2-1 on Sunday.
Spain became the first team in history to win the European Championship on four separate occasions as Oyarzabal s smart finish four minutes from time sealed a historic victory in Berlin.
Substitute Cole Palmer had earlier cancelled out Nico Williams second-half opener, only for Real Sociedad s Oyarzabal to break English hearts in the Three Lions second consecutive Euros final.
Gareth Southgate s side almost levelled in the final minute, but Unai Simon and Dani Olmo were the defensive heroes for Spain as England became the first team to lose back-to-back Euros finals.
2 England have become the first nation in UEFA European Championship history to lose consecutive final…
Suwon Bluewings made a strong start to their AFC Champions League campaign by inflicting a first home defeat in almost two years on Sydney FC, while Chinese Super League sides Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua were both held to 1-1 draws.
Two-time Champions League winners Suwon will have been expecting a challenge given Sydney s incredible record at the Allianz Stadium and their status as runaway leaders in their domestic A-League campaign, but ultimately it proved comfortable as they won 2-0 win on the road.
New signing Dejan Damjanovic broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute, finding the net in style from 25 yards and the Montenegrin doubled his tally soon after, converting a penalty after Brandon O Neill was guilty of handling in the area.
Sydney could …
Frank de Boer believes he has inherited a Netherlands squad that is even better than the one that reached the World Cup final a decade ago.
The new Oranje coach, confirmed as Ronald Koeman s successor, was on Bert van Marwijk s coaching staff at the 2010 World Cup when Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder et al made the final, only to be beaten by Spain after extra time.
The Netherlands missed out on qualification for the previous World Cup in 2018 having also been absent from Euro 2016 but De Boer is bullish about the future having signed a two-year contract that will take in next year s delayed European Championship and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This selection is perhaps even more talented than that of 2010, De Boer told reporters.
I do s…
Week 11 gets underway Thursday as the Atlanta Falcons host the New England Patriots as 7-point home dogs after getting their doors blown off last week by the Cowboys.
Can Atlanta get the offense going without Calvin Ridley, possibly no Cordarrelle Patterson, and a non-existent running game? Can Mac Jones and the Patriots’ offense continue to stack points on the road? Find out in our free prop picks and predictions for TNF between the Patriots and the Falcons.
…
With extra rest and a total that is falling due to weather concerns, Monday night’s matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills might not be the high-scoring affair the previous meetings have been.
The Bills’ offense has a lot of mouths to feed, and Tennesse was led by two rookie receivers and a running back in the passing game last week, making this a tough matchup to find some prop value.
Add in some potentially poor playing conditions, and bettors should be cautious before getting down on many of the markets when making Titans vs. Bills picks.
That said, here are my best free NFL player prop bets for the first half of tonight’s Monday Night Football doubleheader.
…
The Detroit Lions host the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of NFL action on Sunday.
The Lions entered this season with their highest expectations in years and lived up to that billing in their season opener when they knocked off the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks opened their season with an ugly 30-13 loss to the Rams despite entering that contest as 4-point home favorites.
NFL odds have the Lions installed as 5.5-point home favorites for Sunday with the Over/Under at 47.5. Here are my best Seahawks vs. Lions NFL picks for September 17.
Seahawks vs Lions odds
Seahawks vs Lions predictions
This line looks like an overreaction to Week 1 when the Detroit Lions edged the defend…
The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions kick off the Thanksgiving Day festivities and Thursday Night Football odds today at 12:30 pm ET and with the way early bettors have invested into this game, points are to be expected.
Nothing says the holidays like some afternoon prop cashing and I’m high on one of Detroit’s running backs and think a Green Bay receiver’s total is off by roughly 40%.
Here are my three best NFL picks for the Week 12 odds for Packers vs. Lions for Thursday, November 23. Be sure to check out our full Packers vs. Lions predictions and our Jared Goff props spotlight as well.
…