Reuters - Friday, December 11
MADRID - Lionel Messi's ankle injury has ruled him out of Barcelona's league derby with Espanyol on Saturday, and makes him doubtful for their opening game of the Club World Cup, the European champions said on Thursday.
The Argentina international twisted his right ankle in Barca's 2-1 Champions League victory away to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday.
After Saturday's visit of Espanyol in La Liga, Barca travel to the United Arab Emirates for the semi-finals of the Club World Cup next Wednesday.
The final, if they reach it, is scheduled for Saturday, December 19 after which the Spanish league goes into its two-week winter break.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Messi upstages drama-prone Madrid
Having won the Ballon d'Or on Tuesday, Lionel Messi struck twice at RC Deportivo La Coruña as FC Barcelona cemented their place at the top of the Liga with a 3-1 win on a night which also brought drama for Real Madrid CF.
Messi double
Messi produced a typically assured finish 27 minutes into the late game in Spain, slipping past Manuel Pablo to fire low into the left of the net, but Barcelona's defending was nothing like as slick as they squandered their lead before the break. A misplaced header from Sergio Busquets gifted Adrián López a sight of goal, with Víctor Valdés taking some of the blame for allowing the striker's header to get past him. Barcelona dominated, but it took until the 79th minute for Messi to make that pressure tell, with a slick move ending with Pedro Rodríguez crossing for the unmarked Argentinian to head the winner. Zlatan Ibrahimović then made it 3-1 with a cool strike two minutes from time.
Ping-pong affair
Madrid had earlier got out of jail with a 4-2 win against UD Almería. Los Merengues looked set for a comfortable night when Sergio Ramos headed them into a 30th-minute lead, but the game was turned on its head after the break, with Fernando Soriano finding the net with the help of a deflection off Raúl Albiol before Kalu Uche made it 2-1 with a powerful shot following a corner. Gonzalo Higuaín equalised after defender Santiago Acasiete failed to clear Marcelo's cross, and the game was wrapped up eight minutes from the end, Karim Benzema finishing after Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty was saved. The Portuguese winger soon atoned, though he would have struggled to miss after Higuaín's ball left him an easy finish to make it 4-2. However, his night ended badly as he was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Sevilla slip
The win was doubly valuable to Madrid with third-placed Sevilla FC having dropped two points at home in one of the day's two early games. Sevilla equalised from the spot through Luis Fabiano after Manucho had given Real Valladolid CF the lead at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium, but there were no further goals after the interval. Elsewhere, Club Atlético de Madrid won 2-0 at Xerez CD, with Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero the scorers.
Messi double
Messi produced a typically assured finish 27 minutes into the late game in Spain, slipping past Manuel Pablo to fire low into the left of the net, but Barcelona's defending was nothing like as slick as they squandered their lead before the break. A misplaced header from Sergio Busquets gifted Adrián López a sight of goal, with Víctor Valdés taking some of the blame for allowing the striker's header to get past him. Barcelona dominated, but it took until the 79th minute for Messi to make that pressure tell, with a slick move ending with Pedro Rodríguez crossing for the unmarked Argentinian to head the winner. Zlatan Ibrahimović then made it 3-1 with a cool strike two minutes from time.
Ping-pong affair
Madrid had earlier got out of jail with a 4-2 win against UD Almería. Los Merengues looked set for a comfortable night when Sergio Ramos headed them into a 30th-minute lead, but the game was turned on its head after the break, with Fernando Soriano finding the net with the help of a deflection off Raúl Albiol before Kalu Uche made it 2-1 with a powerful shot following a corner. Gonzalo Higuaín equalised after defender Santiago Acasiete failed to clear Marcelo's cross, and the game was wrapped up eight minutes from the end, Karim Benzema finishing after Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty was saved. The Portuguese winger soon atoned, though he would have struggled to miss after Higuaín's ball left him an easy finish to make it 4-2. However, his night ended badly as he was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Sevilla slip
The win was doubly valuable to Madrid with third-placed Sevilla FC having dropped two points at home in one of the day's two early games. Sevilla equalised from the spot through Luis Fabiano after Manucho had given Real Valladolid CF the lead at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium, but there were no further goals after the interval. Elsewhere, Club Atlético de Madrid won 2-0 at Xerez CD, with Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero the scorers.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Ballon d'Or: Messi the number one
www.fcbarcelona.cat
The European correspondents of France Football have voted Leo Messi the best player of 2009 with 473 votes. He’s the first Argentinean to receive the award.
Anybody who has seen him in action already knew – but now it’s official. According to the December edition of France Football, Leo Messi is the best player in the world.
473 votes
QM3D7019.jpgMessi came top of the vote by a clear margin. He received 473 votes, well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (233 votes) and Xavi (170 votes). He is the ninth Barça player to take the award and the first since Ronaldinho in 2005.
Since the French magazine opened up the award to cover all domestic leagues three years ago, no player has recieved such an overwhelming majority of the votes as Leo Messi. The Argentine has become the first player from the Barça youth system to win the coverted prize. In 2007 Kaká won with a total of 444 votes and last year Cristiano Ronaldo did so with a total of 446.
Third in 2007, second in 2008
He has made steady progress, finishing third in 2007 behind Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo and then second in 2008 behind Cristiano. And now he has taken that final step to finish first in 2009.
The first Argentinean
2009-12-01_MESSI_PORTADA_FRANCE_FOOTBALL_003.JPGIt’s hard to believe but Leo Messi is the first Argentinean player to lift the Ballon d'Or. However, until 1995 the award was only open to European players, which excluded players of the stature of Diego Maradona.
The European correspondents of France Football have voted Leo Messi the best player of 2009 with 473 votes. He’s the first Argentinean to receive the award.
Anybody who has seen him in action already knew – but now it’s official. According to the December edition of France Football, Leo Messi is the best player in the world.
473 votes
QM3D7019.jpgMessi came top of the vote by a clear margin. He received 473 votes, well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (233 votes) and Xavi (170 votes). He is the ninth Barça player to take the award and the first since Ronaldinho in 2005.
Since the French magazine opened up the award to cover all domestic leagues three years ago, no player has recieved such an overwhelming majority of the votes as Leo Messi. The Argentine has become the first player from the Barça youth system to win the coverted prize. In 2007 Kaká won with a total of 444 votes and last year Cristiano Ronaldo did so with a total of 446.
Third in 2007, second in 2008
He has made steady progress, finishing third in 2007 behind Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo and then second in 2008 behind Cristiano. And now he has taken that final step to finish first in 2009.
The first Argentinean
2009-12-01_MESSI_PORTADA_FRANCE_FOOTBALL_003.JPGIt’s hard to believe but Leo Messi is the first Argentinean player to lift the Ballon d'Or. However, until 1995 the award was only open to European players, which excluded players of the stature of Diego Maradona.
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