Sports

It has by no means been a vintage start to the season for Lionel Messi.

The six-time Ballon d Or winner failed to force through an exit from Barcelona at the end of 2019-20 and in his nine appearances in all competitions this term he is yet to register a goal from open play.

His solitary goal in LaLiga came from the penalty spot, as did his three in the Champions League as Ronald Koeman s side navigated meetings with Ferencvaros, Juventus and Dynamo Kiev to reach the midway point of the group stage with a 100 per cent record.

Messi may not be at his prolific best but the 2020-21 Champions League is on course to set a record for the most goals per game in the competition s history.

Still a key creator

All of Messi s three goals may have come from t…

Joan Laporta and Victor Font are among four candidates who look set to do battle for the Barcelona presidency later this month. 

Laporta, Font, Toni Freixa and Emili Rousaud all delivered signatures from enough socios on Monday to advance to the election on January 24. 

Laporta, previously president for a decorated period between 2003 and 2010, presented 10,272 signatures, significantly ahead of Font s 4,713, Frexia s 2,822 and Rousand s 2,510.

Validation of these signatures will begin on Tuesday, with confirmation of the final candidates announced on Thursday. 

Jordi Farre, Xavier Vilajoana, Agusti Benedito, Luis Fernandez Ala and Pere Riera were unable to meet the threshold of 2,257 signatures.

Given the small amount by which he passed th…

Alexis Sanchez scored before being sent off in a dramatic first Inter start as his side battled to a 3-1 away win over Sampdoria.

Inter made it six victories from six in Serie A, ensuring they kept the two-point lead over Juventus at the top of the table that they held at the start of Saturday.

Two goals in the space of 128 first-half seconds from Stefano Sensi and Sanchez had Antonio Conte s men on course for a dominant victory in response to Juve s earlier win over SPAL.

Sanchez received a second yellow for diving early in the second half and there was brief alarm for 10-man Inter when that was followed by a strike from Samp s Jakub Jankto, but Roberto Gagliardini wrapped up the points.

| THAT S IT

out of for the Nerazzurri

An accompli…

Ralf Rangnick believes Manchester United should focus on signing younger players as the interim Red Devils manager outlined his transfer strategy.

Rangnick will take charge of his first match when United welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford in Premier League action on Sunday.

The 63-year-old has been appointed until the end of the season, with former RB Leipzig boss Rangnick set to move into a consultancy role until 204.

Rangnick has earned a reputation for identifying young talent during his work with Red Bull-owned clubs Leipzig and Salzburg and as the January window approaches, he provided an insight into how he operates.

Good afternoon, Ralf.

Let s get down to business. |

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

One does not exclu…

Tottenham s Jose Mourinho gamble has not paid off and once again Spurs find themselves at a crossroads with their next managerial appointment.

Installing Mourinho as boss, even with his astounding list of achievements, appeared a slightly bemusing decision considering the complete contrast between his pragmatic style and the more high-intensity football played by predecessor Mauricio Pochettino.

There were plenty of signs of promise, not least the 6-1 hammering of Mourinho s former employers Manchester United at Old Trafford in the infancy of a Premier League campaign that offered early promise of a title tilt.

But a run to the EFL Cup final has not done enough to assuage Spurs hierarchy, who have decided to pull the trigger after a slump in form has left Totten…

Thomas Tuchel claimed Chelsea were unlucky in their 1-0 FA Cup final defeat to Leicester City at Wembley.

Youri Tielemans stunning 25-yard strike just after the hour proved the difference in a tight contest.

A VAR intervention denied Chelsea a late equaliser, with Ben Chilwell shown to be fractionally offside before his shot ricocheted into the net off Wes Morgan.

Tuchel felt some of Chelsea s play was too hectic during a scrappy first half, but he did not have many words of pointed criticism for a team who will get another shot at silverware in the Champions League final against Manchester City in two weeks time.

Of course we re disappointed, but we re not angry with our performance or our boys, Tuchel said at a post-match news conference.

I th…

European Club Association (ECA) president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says women s football deserves more investment as he predicted amazing growth for the game.

Al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of Paris Saint-Germain, was speaking at the inaugural ECA Women s Football Summit in London.

In under a month, the eyes of the footballing world will be on Australia and New Zealand for the Women s World Cup.

And while women s football is arguably in a stronger position than ever before, Al-Khelaifi wants more to be done to ensure a bright future.

He said: I think women s football deserves more from us, definitely. It deserves more focus and investment financially.

If we re all together we can achieve much better results, we are much stronger.

I pro…

Marcos Senesi appears certain to be involved in June s Finalissima, and Argentina hope he will turn out in the Albiceleste.

The Feyenoord defender was born in Argentina but also holds an Italian passport.

Senesi remains uncapped and is said to be a target for Italy ahead of the June international break, in which they will play Argentina as part of the Finalissima between the European Championship winners and Copa America champions.

Lionel Scaloni has moved first by including Senesi in his preliminary squad, however, named on Friday.

And Senesi could get his opportunity as Cristian Romero, also called up by Scaloni, has been ruled out for the rest of the club season with Tottenham.

We understood in the last few days that Romero had a serious injur…

Zinedine Zidane believes Liverpool are capable of two top performances against Real Madrid, even if the Premier League champions are struggling domestically.

Liverpool have lost eight games in the Premier League since the turn of the year, slipping from the top of the table down to sixth place.

With their title aspirations well and truly over, as well as their campaigns in both domestic cup competitions, the Reds only chance of silverware this season is the Champions League.

Standing in their way of a place in the semi-finals are Zidane s Madrid, who won in the last meeting between the teams in the competition – Gareth Bale inspiring Los Blancos to a 3-1 victory in the 2017-18 final.

Madrid and Liverpool will face each other in a two-legged knockout ti…

There are aspects to the Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez of 2021 that make them wonderfully reflective of the Uruguay national team.

Impassioned? Yes. Belligerent? Certainly. A footballing pedigree to rival the best in the world? Absolutely.

What about quality? After all those years, are they still match-winners, entertainers, undimmed by the passing of time? Of course they are. Just ask Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

Last August, Suarez was informed by new Barca coach Ronald Koeman that he would not be in his plans at Camp Nou. Too old to be relied upon, too expensive to bench seemed to be the feeling. Regardless, the Catalans reportedly had a list of teams to whom they would not sell Suarez for fear of the deal coming back to haunt them, a list that, apparen…