Messi News

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick shuts down Lionel Messi question

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick faced the media for the final time ahead of Super Bowl LII and, unlikely as it may sound, faced a question about Lionel Messi.

Hoping for a quote that would play well in his home country, an Argentinian journalist politely asked Belichick to compare Messi, the best footballer in the world, with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the best quarterback in the world.

However, it quickly became apparent that the reporter had asked the wrong question to the wrong man when Belichick responded with one of his customarily blunt non-answers.

"There's no quarterback I'd rather have playing for my team than Tom Brady," came the monosyllabic reply from the podium.

Best-case scenario is that Belichick has no idea who Messi is and simply side-stepped the question.

Either that, or he now thinks Leo is a budding rival QB playing out of Barcelona.

David Beckham's Miami team could attract Messi, Ronaldo - Adrian Heath

Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath believes Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo could join David Beckham's new MLS club in Miami.

Earlier this week, a group headed by Beckham finally received the green light for an MLS team in Miami to begin playing in 2020.

Beckham's team will likely be helped by having a far bigger budget than the one Heath has to currently work with in Minnesota, and the former Everton player believes the backing of Beckham's ownership group, which includes his manager Simon Fuller, along with businessmen Marcelo Claure, Masayoshi Sun and Jorge and Jose Mas, will ensure the world's leading stars like Ronaldo or Messi can be lured to Miami.

"If you look at David's ownership group, they are very wealthy guys -- four billionaires," Heath told Press Association Sport. "They aren't going to come in and sit idly by while Atlanta and Toronto pay and play powerhouses.

"I don't think they're coming here to make up the numbers, I know for a fact they're not going to be.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the two in Spain -- Messi and Ronaldo -- if one of them didn't end up with David in a couple of years.

"It's also a very attractive place for South Americans and they will be playing in a brand new stadium downtown. I certainly don't think he'll have a problem with his name.''

Lionel Messi-Gerard Pique connection salvages draw for Barcelona

Gerard Pique headed home Lionel Messi's free kick to earn Barcelona a point.

Barcelona came from behind with Gerard Pique's late goal salvaging a 1-1 draw against Espanyol on Sunday, in a spiky Catalan derby on a waterlogged pitch in Cornella.

The Catalans maintained their unbeaten run in La Liga, stretching it to a club-record 22 games, thanks to Pique's 82nd minute intervention, heading home substitute Lionel Messi's free kick.

Positives

Stopping Espanyol from recording their second victory in a month over Barcelona, who had gone nearly a decade without suffering defeat against their local rivals. Messi had to play only a half hour in terrible conditions too, with Ernesto Valverde bringing him on from the bench.

Negatives

Samuel Umtiti, again one of Barcelona's most impressive performers, was booked and will miss the league match against Getafe. The team's inability to create clear openings when trailing was worrying.

Manager rating (out of 10)

7 -- Valverde was able to bench Messi, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto and still walk away from Cornella with a point. The coach will consider that a decent result because their cushion over their league rivals is such that it makes sense to rest players for the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg on Thursday at Valencia.

Neymar beating Messi and Ronaldo stats at 26 but needs silverware

PARIS -- Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil superstar Neymar is 26 on Monday and the next 12 months look set to be possibly the most exciting of his career.

As fate would have it, one of the other two players comprising the three best in the world -- Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo -- is also celebrating his birthday on the same day, as he turns 33.

Seven years apart, the Portuguese is well ahead of Neymar in terms of collective and individual career achievements for now, but 2018 could be the year that finally starts to change.

After scoring in PSG's 3-0 Ligue 1 win away at Lille last Saturday from a free kick, Neymar has notched up 520 career matches already -- 437 at club level and 83 internationally, while Ronaldo was one month shy of his 27th birthday by the time he hit the same tally.

Neymar has already played more times for club (437) and country (83) than Lionel Messi (380/82) and Ronaldo (393/79) had at the time of their 26th birthdays and he has also scored more international goals (53) than his two rivals (35/25). In fact, he's only lagging behind Messi's total of club goals, having scored 268 to Messi's 313.

Statistically speaking, Les Parisiens' No. 10 is shaping up nicely. Although Messi is showing no signs of being on the wane, these next 12 months represent a perfect opportunity for Neymar to usurp Ronaldo.

By the end of this year, the Brazilian could have celebrated three major successes in his career with further Champions League glory, a World Cup triumph and the individual recognition that he craves with the Ballon d'Or -- just one year on from his world record €222 million move from Camp Nou.

Neymar and Ronaldo will go head-to-head next week when Real host PSG at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash, with the Ligue 1 leaders currently looking in better shape than the two-time European champions.

The Brazilian has been in outstanding form so far this season and is the only player across the continent's top five leagues with more than 10 goals and assists. Neymar has scored 27 goals and assisted 14 more from his first 26 matches with PSG, which is more impressive than his Santos (six), Brazil (16) and Barcelona (11) tallies at the same stage.

Lionel Messi linked with China move; Liverpool back in for Thomas Lemar

Messi wanted in China

Lionel Messi is a target for big-spending Hebei China Fortune in what would be a landmark transfer for the Chinese Super League, reports Mundo Deportivo.

Despite Messi's initial refusal to entertain a move to the Far East last summer, Hebei Fortune apparently remain undeterred in their quest to sign the Barcelona superstar.

Managed by former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, the Super League side recently added Javier Mascherano to their ranks, which also includes Ezequiel Lavezzi. The hope is that the Argentine's compatriots will help convince him to seek a new challenge at the end of the season.

The only issue, of course, is that Messi's new contract -- which runs until 2021 -- contains a €700 million release clause. We're about to find out how big Hebei's fortune really is.

Liverpool back in for Lemar

Liverpool will return for Thomas Lemar in the summer despite failing with a £78m bid for the midfielder last year, claims the Independent.

The 22-year-old France international recently rejected a new contract at Monaco, and seems destined to move on after coming close to joining Arsenal in August 2017.

Despite Arsenal maintaining their interest, it's thought Liverpool are Lemar's preferred choice, with Jurgen Klopp raising the idea of a transfer in January.

Monaco were unwilling to do business halfway through the campaign, however, and the Reds will have to wait until the summer to land Philippe Coutinho's replacement.