Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann get on very well despite claims to the contrary, according to former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic. 

Griezmann has struggled for consistent form since his €120million move from Atletico Madrid last year and some have suggested his incompatibility with Messi is part of the problem.

Messi came off the bench to score twice and set up another, as well as play a key part in a goal for Griezmann, as Barca beat Real Betis 5-2 in LaLiga last week.

Griezmann, who earlier missed a penalty, scored only his second goal in seven league matches after Messi dummied Jordi Alba s cross into his path.

The pair only exchanged four passes throughout, however, as Messi mostly combined with Sergi Roberto (15 passes) and Sergio Busque…

Lionel Messi is confident that Inter Miami can clinch the title, with a trip to Atlanta United next up for the Eastern Conference leaders.

The Argentine made his long-awaited return from injury in their 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union, having a hand in all three goals as they opened up a 10-point lead over FC Cincinnati in the table.

It was their fifth consecutive win following their heavy 6-1 loss to Cincinnati, and Messi acknowledged how well the team had performed amid some injury troubles this season.

As we said at the beginning, we know the squad we have, and the title is our goal, he told Apple TV. We re realistic and take responsibility for it.

Unfortunately, we ve had a lot of bad luck with injuries this year and were never at full strength for …

Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that Manuel Neuer returned to full training on Friday, but a home clash with Bayer Leverkusen will come too soon for Bayern Munich s goalkeeper.

Neuer required knee surgery in February and has not featured since a 3-2 win over RB Leipzig, in which he matched Oliver Kahn s all-time record of 310 Bundesliga victories by a player. He achieved the first 77 triumphs with former club Schalke.

The Germany international – who holds the record for the most clean sheets in the Bundesliga (209), having surpassed Kahn (196) in 2021 – returned to light training late last month, but Nagelsmann confirmed the 35-year-old is now back into full team sessions.

While Neuer will be unavailable for the meeting with Leverkusen at Allianz Arena, the Ba…

Everton are interested in signing Isco from Real Madrid in the January transfer window, according to , Sevilla and Juventus are also reported to be interested in securing the services of the Spain international. However, according to the report, the 28-year-old has turned down both the Spanish club and Italian giants.

Isco is struggling for playing time at Madrid at the moment and is reportedly looking for a new club to move to in the January transfer window so that he can be part of the Spain squad for the European Championship in the summer of 2021. According to , the Spaniard has made three starts and five substitute appearances in La Liga for Los Blancos so far this season.

Everton are aiming to finish in the top four of the Premier League table this season. The Tof…

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and Moise Kean was also on target as Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways in Ligue 1 with a 4-0 victory at bottom side Dijon.

PSG suffered their sixth league loss of the campaign at home to Monaco last weekend but were good value for their win in Saturday s clash at Stade Gaston-Gerard.

Mbappe tucked away a penalty awarded for handball against Bersant Celina after Kean had opened the scoring for the reigning champions with his 15th goal of the campaign.

Prolific forward Mbappe doubled his tally in the second half and Danilo Pereira headed in a late fourth to help PSG move to within a point of leaders Lille, who play their game in hand at home to Strasbourg on Sunday.

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)

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Barcelona have confirmed that Ousmane Dembele has agreed a new two-year contract to stay at Camp Nou.

The five-year contract that Dembele signed when he joined Barca from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 expired at the end of June.

Talks have continued over a new deal and the France international has now agreed terms on a fresh contract, keeping him at Barca until the end of the 2023-24 season.

That Dembele remains a Barca player at all is a complete turnaround from the situation in January, when the club insisted the winger would be sold or leave on a free transfer at the end of the campaign after the 25-year-old turned down a contract offer.

Yet Barca on Thursday confirmed Dembele will remain with the Catalan giants.

The LaLiga club revealed he wil…

Carlo Ancelotti has been pleased with LaLiga leaders Real Madrid s performances up to the halfway point of the campaign but warned there is a long way to go in the title race.

Karim Benzema s first-half double was enough to see Madrid past Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on Wednesday, the striker becoming just the fourth player – excluding Lionel Messi (nine times) and Cristiano Ronaldo (seven) – to hit 30-plus LaLiga goals in a calendar year.

Toni Kroos assisted the first of Benzema s seven-minute brace, the Germany international s 77th assist in all competitions for Los Blancos since signing in the 2014-15 campaign – no Madrid player has managed more in that period.

Ancelotti s side, who were without the likes of David Alaba and Isco due to COVID-19, managed to han…

Sure, relying on Mohamed Salah every week is a decent fantasy football strategy, it s certainly good enough for most, but what happens when the Egyptian magician isn t in Premier League action?

With Liverpool in EFL Cup final duty against Chelsea, the Reds fearsome front-line and creative full-backs are suddenly off limits to fantasy football managers across the land, while Arsenal and Chelsea are also out of league action.

However, courtesy of Opta-powered data, Stats Perform has managed to pick out some of gameweek 27 s potential stars, featuring the England captain, an in-form Burnley new boy, and one of the Premier League s most lethal defenders.

HARRY KANE (Leeds United v Tottenham Hotspur)

Despite Antonio Conte s team lurching to a fourth loss in fi…

Sean Longstaff admits he can scarcely believe how far he and Newcastle have come in the last two years.

The 25-year-old midfielder’s future looked to lie away from St James’ Park during the latter stage of the Mike Ashley era, but he has revived his career spectacularly since Amanda Staveley’s consortium completed its takeover in October 2021.

Longstaff will head into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund having established himself in Eddie Howe’s team at the club he supported as a boy and being touted as a future England international.

Asked if he has to pinch himself when he reflects upon how his fortunes have changed, the North Shields-born player, who scored in the 4-1 demolition of Paris St Germain on Tyneside earlier this…

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City could slip up before the season ends and still claim the Premier League title.

With Liverpool chasing hard, there appears to be little wriggle room for leaders City, who have nine games remaining in their trophy defence.

Liverpool visit City on April 10 in a fixture that could go a long way to determining the destiny of the title, given its proximity to the end of the campaign.

Former Barcelona boss Guardiola can see a scenario, though, where City do not have everything go their own way between now and the final-day clash with Aston Villa on May 22, yet still end up as champions.

We can do mistakes and win the title, so nobody knows, manager Guardiola told a news conference ahead of City s game at Burnley.

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