Lionel Messi celebrated yet another milestone on Sunday with his 600th career goal as Barcelona met Atletico Madrid in a crucial top-of-the-table LaLiga clash.
The 30-year-old came into the game at Camp Nou on 599 for club and country and reached the latest landmark of a phenomenal career in the 26th minute.
After being brought down by Thomas Partey 25 yards out, Messi curled a sumptuous trademark free-kick over the wall and into the top-right corner, Jan Oblak unable to keep it out despite getting a hand to the effort.
Messi s 600 was brought up a day after great rival Cristiano Ronaldo reached 300 LaLiga goals, the Real Madrid superstar netting a brace in Saturday s 3-1 home win over Getafe.
Below, we crunch the Opta numbers behind Messi s latest milest…
Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion are interested in signing Joshua King from Bournemouth in the January transfer window, according to . King is out of contract at Bournemouth at the end of the season, and the Championship club could sell the 28-year-old forward.
King has been on the books of Bournemouth since 2015 and has already played in the Premier League with the Cherries. However, the former Manchester United prospect has struggled to hold his place in the starting lineup so far this season. According to , the 28-year-old Norway international has made three starts and five substitute appearances in the Championship for the Cherries so far this season.
Wolves, West Ham and West Brom all could do with a new striker in the January trans…
Sometimes you want to try something new – Eriksen explains Spurs exit in farewell letter after joini
Christian Eriksen put his decision to leave Tottenham for Inter down to a desire to try something new after six and a half years in London.
Eriksen joined Spurs in 2013 from Ajax and enjoyed a productive spell with the club, swiftly establishing himself in the starting XI and becoming a key player.
During his time in the Premier League, Eriksen developed into one of English football s most acclaimed playmakers, with Manchester United and Real Madrid said to have been long-term admirers.
It became apparent Eriksen was not going to sign a new contract with Spurs during pre-season and, with speculation around his future, the Denmark international subsequently struggled for form.
He eventually sealed a move to Inter on Tuesday, with Spurs reportedly receivin…
According to a report from Calciomercato, Inter Milan tried to make a late move for Odion Ighalo before Manchester United were able to get their hands on him.
The former Watford forward quite clearly wanted something fresh away from Shanghai Shenhua, but at the time, Inter were put off by his wage demands. Whether or not Inter went after this potential move purely as a way to try and frustrate United is a source of speculation and nothing more, but it certainly seems to be a little bit convenient.
Inter clearly have bigger fish to fry as we look ahead to the summer transfer window, and they clearly have a plan in place for what they want to achieve in the next few years under Antonio Conte.
While they may have missed out on Ighalo, the signing of Ch…
Aston Villa are interested in signing Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window, according to . The report in the Spanish news outlet has claimed that the Premier League club are well positioned to secure the services of the Portugal international playmaker and are leading the race.
Felix has been on the books of Atletico since 2019 when he joined from Benfica. Much was expected of the 23-year-old, who can play as a forward, winger or attacking midfielder, but the way Atletico head coach Diego Simeone plays his football simply does not suit the youngster, who is playin well for Portugal at the 2022 Qatar World Cup at the moment.
The Atletico no. 7 has made five starts and seven substitute appearances in La Liga so far this season, scoring three goal…
Chris Cadden admits Hibernian must be “up for the challenge” of a formidable three-game run to finish the season if they are to qualify for Europe.
The fifth-placed Hibees conclude their cinch Premiership campaign with home games against the top two of Rangers and Celtic followed by an Edinburgh derby away to fourth-placed Hearts.
“It’s going to be tough but that’s what you’re in the top six for,” said 26-year-old Cadden. “These sort of games are what you want. We’ve got to be up for the challenge.
“If you want to do anything, you’ve got to play big games and have big performances and big moments. If you want to finish the season well, that’s what you’ve got to do.
“That’s Scottish football, that’s how the split works, we�…
Alvaro Romero scored one of the solo goals of the season against Real Madrid, and little Unionistas de Salamanca were in dreamland on the hour mark of this Copa del Rey culture clash.
Madrid, thanks to Gareth Bale, a Juan Gongora own goal and Brahim Diaz s late individual effort, eventually won 3-1 at the tiny Las Pistas stadium, where 4,000 supporters of a club that has only existed since 2013 saw their side go head to head with the 13-time European champions.
Yet Romero s stunning effort after 57 minutes will live far longer in the memory than the goals that won the day for Madrid.
The substitute had been on the field barely a minute when he ran from just inside Madrid s half to the edge of the penalty area before curling a fine left-footed finish out of the …
Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag described his side s defeat as a bitter blow after they fell to Benfica in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The reigning Eredivisie champions controlled most of the exchanges, boasting over 70 per cent of possession as it seemed Ajax would find the decisive goal following a 2-2 draw in the first meeting late in February.
But a late Darwin Nunez header secured a 3-2 aggregate victory in the last-16 clash as the striker powered in his fourth Champions League goal this season. Only Nuno Gomes has ever scored more in a single season for the club in the Champions League era (five in 1998-99).
That meant Ajax became just the second side to have scored as many as 22 goals without reaching the quarter-finals of the competition, after…
Arsenal are leading the race for Manchester City attacking midfielder Raheem Sterling, according to . It has been reported by the British tabloid that the Gunners are interested in securing the services of the former Liverpool star in the summer transfer window.
City themselves are willing to part company with the England international and are ready to include him in a deal to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur. The Citizens paid £44 million for Sterling to sign him from Liverpool in the summer of 2015, and the 26-year-old, who can also operate as a winger, earns £300,000 per week as salary.
The problem that Arsenal could face in signing Sterling is convincing him to move to the North London club. The England international is used to winning the Premier League tit…
With the Champions League making its long-awaited return to action on Friday night, Europe s premier tournament is really starting to take shape as the quarter-finals get underway in midweek.
Watching both Manchester City and Bayern Munich make their own statements over the weekend, the final eight includes a string of European heavyweights all looking to write their own piece of history.
Now featuring a new format that will see all remaining fixtures contested in a one-off game, the action will get underway on Wednesday night when Atalanta take on Paris St-Germain out in Lisbon.
Ahead of this summer s final out in Portugal on August 23rd, who are the bookmakers favourites to lift Europe s most lucrative prize later this month?
Manchester City 11/5 with
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