The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lionel Messi

  • Barcelona set to hand Messi fresh £175million deal

     

    Can Barcelona ever dream of allowing Lionel Messi out of the club?  The big answer certainly is No!

    Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed the club has drawn up proposals to hand Messi a fresh long term deal that will see him remain in the club for the remainder of his career.  The new contract extension is worth£175million (about N82billion)

    The 31-year-old, who graduated from Barcelona’s youth system, is already tied down until 2021 but is expected to sign an extension in the near future.

    Messi is already taking home around £500,000-a-week but could earn even more should he agree to the new terms.

    The Argentine star would pocket £130m over a suspected five-year deal and is also likely to earn a further £45m in bonuses the sum he was reportedly awarded from his last extension.

    Bartomeu hopes to come to an agreement with Messi soon and has made it one of his priorities.

    He told ESPN: ‘We want him to have a really long career so we can keep on enjoying him ‘Lionel’s managed to break down borders. Everyone admires him and he’s applauded at other stadiums by rival fans.

    ‘We would like to renew his contract, that’s the idea. He is young – you can see that [in his performances] – and he still has two years on his deal.

    ‘He’s always improving, always innovating. I believe he still has many years in front of him and in the coming months we will sit down with him so that he has many more years at Barcelona.

    ‘Messi is a one-club man. It’s more than what he does on the pitch – his relationship with Barca will last forever. I use the example of Pele, who was always at Santos.

    ‘We want Messi to always be at Barca, whether that’s playing or linked to the club [when he’s retired].’ The implication of this new deal is that the five- time Ballon d’Or winner is not for sale to any club no matter the level of bid placed on the table.

     

     

  • You can admire Messi but never call him ‘God’ Pope Francis cautions

     

    Soccer fans especially those obsessed with magical legs of Argentina international and Barcelona goal machine, Lionel Messi have been told to resist the temptation to either compare him with God or call him ‘God’ as that amounts to sacrilege.

    Head of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City state, Pope Francis, who cautioned over the growing tendency to paint a larger than life image of the Barcelona ace, said while there is nothing wrong in appreciating expertise, adoring should only be for God.

    The pontiff was speaking to host Jordi Evole on the ‘Salvados’ programme broadcast on Spanish TV channel La Sexta when he was asked about people referring to Messi as ‘God’.Evole asked the Pope: ‘Is it sacrilege to say that Messi is God?’

    And Pope Francis replied: ‘In theory it is sacrilege, you cannot say it, I don’t believe. Do you believe you can?

    When Evole replied that he thought it was fine to say that, the pontiff, a native of Argentina like Messi, responded with a laugh and said: ‘I don’t.

    ‘People say ‘God’ like they say ‘I adore you’. Adoring is only for God, they are expressions people use. ‘He is a god with a ball on the pitch’, they are popular ways of expressing oneself.’

    ‘But look how he plays, eh?’ Evole responded.

    The pope replied: ‘Of course, he brings happiness, but he isn’t God.’

    The Pope has previously admitted to being a football fan and follows Argentine top-flight side San Lorenzo de Almagro.

    Messi’s second-half brace gave Barcelona a 2-0 victory over city rivals Espanyol on Saturday.

    Messi is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, with five Balon D’Or and five European Golden Shoe awards to his name.

    He has spent his entire his professional career at Barcelona, where he has won nine Liga and six Copa del Rey titles and four UEFA Champions League cups. However, he is yet to play in a World Cup-winning side for his native Argentina.

    Pope Francis, born, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is an Argentine and first Pope from outside Europe since the Gregory III who reigned in the 8th century.

    Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.

     

     

  • Late Messi brace win Catalan derby

    Lionel Messi scored twice to earn Barcelona a 2-0 derby win over Espanyol and send them 13 points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.

    With second-placed Atletico Madrid travelling to Alaves later in the day, the champions took advantage of the chance to extend their lead.

    A dull match was decided by Barcelona’s No. 10, who lofted home a free kick after 71 minutes and slotted in from substitute Malcom’s cross towards the end.

    Read also: Wasteful Bayern stumble in title race as Dortmund win late

    Messi, who now has 40 goals in all competitions this season, suffered criticism in his native Argentina after withdrawing from a friendly against Morocco because of a groin problem, but was hailed by Barcelona fans after taking them one step closer to retaining the title.

    “The important thing is that [Messi’s] on our side, he scored a great free kick and without doubt having him is always an advantage for us,” said midfielder Sergio Busquets.

    “Espanyol were ultra-defensive and it made it hard to find spaces. We had opportunities but they didn’t go in.

    “We had to work for it but in the end, we took our chances and the result was justice for what happened in the game.”

    Ernesto Valverde started Messi along with Luis Suarez, who had recovered from an ankle sprain.

    But the duo and Philippe Coutinho were kept quiet in a tight first half, with Espanyol’s five-man defence not giving the South American trio any space.

    With Malcom’s introduction in the final half hour, the game began to open up.

    The Brazilian winger had a cross-shot tipped wide by Diego Lopez, with Coutinho firing over the bar as Barcelona pushed for a winner.

    The Catalans were short on inspiration until Messi produced a cheeky dinked free kick, which midfielder Victor Sanchez could not keep out on the goal-line, before tucking home his second on the break.

    Barcelona were far below their fluid best but two moments of skill from talisman Messi secured three points from an otherwise forgettable game.

    “I advise you to enjoy Messi while he’s here, he’s such a unique player,” Espanyol coach Rubi said.

    “When he’s not there, you really notice it. He’s very good and that’s that. I had the luck to see him for a year in training (in 2013 at Barca under Tito Vilanova).”

  • ‘My son asked me why they want to kill me!’ – Messi

     

    Barcelona captain Lionel Messi claims his son Thiago asked him why fans want to “kill” him in Argentina after his latest setback on the international stage.

    The 31-year-old returned to the La Albiceleste squad for last week’s friendly matches against Venezuela and Morroco, but he was forced to return to the Camp Nou early after sustaining an injury.

    Messi played the full 90 minutes of Argentina’s 3-1 defeat at home to Venezuela last Friday, but a groin issue meant he had to sit out Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Morroco

    The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has often been made a scapegoat in his homeland for the national team’s recent failures, which is one of the reasons he took a break after the 2018 World Cup.

    Messi’s relationship with the South American media has always been fractious and he even announced his retirement from international duty in 2015 after missing out on winning the Copa America.

    The Barca talisman later reversed his decision and led his country to the World Cup finals in Russia last year, but a last-16 exit at the hands of France did little to help cease hostilities.

    During an interview with Argentinian radio show Club Octubre 94.7 FM this week, Messi has revealed that he finds the criticism “hard” and that his son has even picked up on the negative comments swirling in the media.

    “It is hard, my son is always looking on YouTube and saw a video,” he began. “He asked me why in Argentina they want to kill me!

    “But I like to keep going. I still want to win something with the national team. I am going to play all the important games. We already reached a World Cup final [in 2014] and this is not that easy”.

     

     

  • Real Betis fans shun defeat to hail rampaging Messi

     

    Real Betis fans chanted Lionel Messi’s name and gave him a standing ovation even as his sublime hat-trick sank their team their team 4-1 on Sunday.

    The chant of ‘Messi, Messi’ echoed around the stadium as it has so many times before but this was not the Camp Nou and it wasn’t only Barcelona’s small contingent of travelling supporters paying homage to the Argentinian.

    Betis supporters in the Benito Villamarin had just watched Messi score a hat-trick to destroy their team and all but wrap up the league for Barcelona, and what else could they do but join in the praise?

    Nostalgic old footballer supporters, of all club colours, will one day tell their grandchildren – once there was a player for whom being awarded a free-kick was just like being given a penalty.

    Messi scored his first goal of the night with his fifth direct free-kick of the season. He then scored his second from Luis Suarez’ pass and chipped in a third in a 4-1 win that leaves Barcelona 10 points clear of the field with 10 games left.

    It was Messi’s 27th, 28th and 29th goals of the season as Barcelona cruised over this potential speed bump on the straight flat road that will surely now lead to the title.

    By the time they play that first leg against Manchester United in the Champions League last eight next month it could be done and dusted domestically.

    Messi’s free-kick goal came on 18 minutes after Arthur Melo was awarded a debatable foul on the edge of the Betis are Betis had four men in the wall plus a fifth player lying down behind the wall in case Messi tried to roll it in.

    Instead he curled it left footed into the top left-hand corner of Pau Lopez’ goal. It was his 25th free-kick goal in La Liga in the last eight seasons.

    Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho all had great set-piece strike rates but he leaves them all a long way behind.

     

  • Messi must be more involved – Valverde

    Barcelona need to ensure Lionel Messi is more involved in Saturday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ at Real Madrid than he was in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final second-leg victory over their arch-rivals, coach Ernesto Valverde said.

    Messi, all-time top scorer in the ‘Clasico’, was unusually quiet in his side’s 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, a game in which Real had many more chances but Barca were more clinical.

    The Argentine has had fitness issues over the last month but bagged a hat-trick and notched an assist in the 4-2 win at Sevilla last weekend.

    “I think he is in good shape, very good shape. You always expect a lot of your players, Messi included,” Valverde told a news conference on Friday.

    “He always performs, even though in some games he performs less than in others. We have to play well in order for him to perform.”

    The coach gave an honest assessment of his side’s overall display in the Cup game, in which Barca had only four shots to Real’s 14.

    “It’s true that the other day there were spells when we did not play well, they kept arriving in our area and looked dangerous and we only created two or three chances.

  • Lionel Messi a special friend, rare breed, says Neymar

     

    Neymar has spoken of his admiration for former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi, who he says gave him support when he needed it most.

    The Brazilian, who has since moved on to Paris Saint-Germain, struggled to hold back the tears as he praised Messi for his help during a tough period in his life.

    ‘It’s a story I tell everyone,’ he said in an interview with Globo Esporte.

    ‘At the time, when I needed the most support, the man on the team, the best in the world, came and gave me love.

    ‘He talked to me and said: “Come here, you must be yourself, you must be happy and the same as in Santos. Do not be shy, do not be afraid of me or anyone in this club. We are here to help you”.’

    Neymar has been consistently linked with a move back to the Nou Camp, given his strong friendship with members of the Barcelona squad.

    When queried once more about the potential of a return, the 27-year-old refused to rule it out and reiterated how much his friendship with Messi means to him.    

    ‘It’s difficult, it’s difficult,’ Neymar said. ‘To be honest, it is very difficult because Leo was a very special guy for me at Barcelona.

    Since leaving for Paris in 2017, Neymar has netted 48 goals in 53 matches, but is currently sidelined with a broken foot.

    PSG are 17 points clear with a game in hand at the top of Ligue 1, while it is much the same for Barcelona in the Spanish top flight.

    The Catalans are seven clear of Atletico Madrid in second, while Real Madrid languishes in third, nine points off top.

     

     

     

  • Messi nicks 50th career hat-trick as Barca down Sevilla

    Lionel Messi scored his 50th career hat-trick to fire FC Barcelona to a 4-2 win at Sevilla on Saturday after the champions had twice fallen behind.

    The victory gave the Catalans a 10-point lead at the top of the Spanish La Liga.

    Sevilla, who have only won once in the league in 2019, took the lead midway through the first half through veteran winger Jesus Navas.

    But they were soon pegged back by an unstoppable volley from Messi.

    The home side capitalised on sleepy defending from Barca to re-take the lead before halftime as Gabriel Mercado pounced in the area.

    Barca coach Ernesto Valverde made two attacking changes at the start of the second period by introducing Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto.

    He got the intended reaction when the France winger laid the ball off to Messi just inside the area and the Argentine lashed it into the top corner.

    Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner.

    After twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.

    Luis Suarez made sure of the points by scoring deep in stoppage time, chipping Vaclik after being played through by a pass from Messi.

    Barca lead the standings on 57 points after 25 games while second-placed Atletico Madrid have 47 points.

    But they can reduce the gap back to seven when they host Villarreal on Sunday.

    Sevilla fell to fifth, slipping out of the UEFA Champions League places behind Getafe.

    “Messi is decisive and superlative. Every team has decisive players, but we have the best in the world,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.

    “It’s not just his goals either but because he always delivers in the right place at the right time.”

    Sevilla had endured a humiliating 3-0 loss at struggling Villarreal last week but before the game Valverde warned of the Andalusians’ outstanding record at their Sanchez Pizjuan.

    There, they had thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 and beaten Barca 2-0 in the Copa del Rey this season.

    They took the lead through a lightning quick counter-attack as Wissam Ben Yedder marauded down the pitch and played in Navas, who took one touch to control.

    He then slid the ball through the legs of the diving Gerard Pique and beyond the outstretched Marc-Andre ter Stegen into the bottom corner.

    Sevilla’s intensity prevented Barca from replicating their usual slick passing game and it took a superb goal from Messi to pull them level.

    The Argentine swiveled to meet a cross from Ivan Rakitic on the volley, leaving Vaclik with no chance.

    Sevilla are Messi’s favourite victims, and last year he came off the bench to score twice in two minutes and rescue a 2-2 draw from 2-0 down.

    He went one better this time and has now scored 36 times in 37 games against the Andalusians.

    “It’s always tough to win here. We know what it is like to come to this stadium and how good Sevilla’s players are.

    “They made things very hard for us by taking the lead but we knew how to overcome all that,” Messi added.

    It was his 44th hat-trick for Barca, with 32 coming in La Liga, eight in the UEFA Champions League, three in the Copa del Rey and one in the Spanish Super Cup.

    He has also struck six trebles for Argentina. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Messi hat-trick saves Barcelona

    Lionel Messi once again haunted Sevilla as his hat-trick secured a 4-2 win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday.

    LaLiga’s leaders twice went behind only for their captain to drag them ahead as he took his personal tally to 36 goals against Sevilla in all competitions, before Luis Suarez netted a late fourth.

    Jesus Navas and Gabriel Mercado had put Pablo Machin’s side in the ascendancy, but a fourth game without a win has dealt serious damage to their Champions League ambitions.

    A bold Barca line-up that included Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Messi in attack proved susceptible to the Sevilla counter-attack, with Navas marking his 300th LaLiga start with a precise finish after Wissam Ben Yedder sent him clear in the box.

    Sevilla’s lead lasted only four minutes, though, with Messi blasting in a fine volley from near the edge of the box after Ivan Rakitic was given time to cross from the left.

    Barca continued to struggle against the Sevilla press and they found themselves behind again before the break. Ter Stegen was forced into a hasty clearance, Pablo Sarabia ran towards the byline and, as the visiting defence seemed to expect the ball to be going behind, Sarabia cut it back for Mercado to sweep home.

    Ernesto Valverde brought on Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembele at the break and the changes should have paid dividends early in the second half, but Dembele failed to make clean contact with the ball after being teed up by Suarez.

    It was an error from goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik that allowed Barca to level once more. Rakitic cut out his clearance and found Dembele, he squared to Messi, and the captain curled a right-foot strike high into the net.

    With only five minutes of normal time left, Messi clipped the ball over Vaclik to put Barca ahead after Carles Alena’s shot deflected into his path, and he sent Suarez through to lob the keeper in style and seal the win in injury time.

  • REVEALED: Messi is highest paid player on the planet!

     

    Lionel Messi is the best-paid player on the planet as he rakes in an astonishing £7.3million a month about N3.2billion before tax nearly twice the amount that arch rival Cristiano Ronaldo gets at Juventus.

    In L’Equipe’s annual salary report, the French news outlet revealed who the 10 best-paid footballers in Europe are going by monthly wage before tax.

    Of these 10, five play in Spain, a pair play in France and England respectively while just the one player features in Italy.

    It’s no secret that modern-day players are paid huge sums of money but the amount Messi receives on a monthly basis is extraordinary – even by footballers’ standards.

    The Barcelona talisman signed a new contract in November 2017 which propelled him to the top of the list, beating long-term rival Ronaldo in second who earns a staggering £4.1m (€4.7m) a month before tax.

    Surprisingly, coming in third is Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid who earns £2.9m (€3.3m) a month following his well-publicised contract renewal before the World Cup this summer.

    Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar follows Griezmann with reported monthly earnings of £2.7m (€3.06m) while Luis Suarez completes the top five with a monthly wage of £2.5m (€2.9m). Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale (£2.2m), Philippe Coutinho (£2m), Alexis Sanchez (£2m), Kylian Mbappe (£1.5m) and Mesut Ozil (£1.4m) complete the list.

    Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski failed to break into the top 10 list with a reported monthly earning of £1.2m (€1.33m) in the Bundesliga.

    L’Equipe also released the top earners in Ligue 1, and unsurprisingly, the top five was dominated by PSG players.

    With Neymar and Mbappe leading the way, Edinson Cavani (£1.3m), Thiago Silva (£1m) and Angel Di Maria (£1m) complete the list.

    The French newspaper also reported that Mbappe’s monthly wage increase by £160,000 (€180,000) between his first and second season at the Parisan club following his big-money switch from Monaco

    TOP 10 BEST-PAID FOOTBALLERS – WHAT THEY GET EVERY MONTH

    1. Lionel Messi – £7.3million
    2. Cristiano Ronaldo – £4.1million
    3. Antoine Griezmann – £2.9million
    4. Neymar – £2.7million
    5. Luis Suarez – £2.5million
    6. Gareth Bale – £2.2million
    7. Philippe Coutinho – £2million
    8. Alexis Sanchez – £2million
    9. Kylian Mbappe – £1.5million
    10. Mesut Ozil – £1.4million