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Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has challenged Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona and sign for a club in Italy.

Portugal international Ronaldo joined Serie A champions Juventus from Real Madrid in a £99.2m deal in the summer.

Ronaldo and Argentina forward Messi, 31, have long been regarded as the world’s best players, each winning five Ballon d’Or awards before Real Madrid’s Luka Modric claimed this year’s prize.
“I’d like him to come to Italy one day,” said Ronaldo, 33.
“I hope he accepts the challenge like me, but if he’s happy there then I respect that.”
Ronaldo spent nine seasons at Real Madrid after arriving from Manchester United in 2009, with Messi having spent his whole career at La Liga rivals Barcelona.

Asked if he missed Messi during an interview with Italian press, Ronaldo added: “No, maybe it’s him who misses me.
“I’ve played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal and for my national team, while he’s still in Spain.
“Maybe he needs me more. For me, life is a challenge, I like it and I like to make people happy.
“He’s a fantastic player and a good guy, but I don’t miss anything here. This is my new life and I’m happy.
“I left my comfort zone and took on this challenge here in Turin. Everything has gone well, I’ve proven I’m still an incredible player.”
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A Russian man has filed for divorce after a fight with his wife over whether Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo. Reports have it that the couple identified as Arsen and Lyudmila, fell out when Arsen celebrated Argentina’s victory over Nigeria.

Arsen decided to pack up his things and leave when his wife, Lyudmila, continued to insist that Portuguese star, Ronaldo, was a superior talent to Messi.

It was the latest in a series of arguments about football and the relative merits of the world’s two best players.

But this time, Arsen decided that the marriage was over and the next morning, he filed for divorce at the courts of the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals in Russia.

After telling the newspaper that the couple had fallen in love when they met in a bar whilst watching the 2002 World Cup, he said: “Since the beginning of the World Cup, she mocked Messi and said he couldn’t even score a penalty against Iceland.
“I could not contain myself and I told her what I thought about the vain Ronaldo, the Portuguese national team and all the clubs she likes.
“Then I took my belongings and left her forever.”



Source
Daily Mail UK
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Real Madrid star player, Cristiano Ronaldo has blamed Barcelona's Lionel Messi for Barcelona’s Champions League quarter final exit to AS Roma on Tuesday.

Barcelona gave away 4-1 lead in the reversed fixture in Camp Nou and were thrashed 3-0 in Rome on Tuesday. Messi was not enabled to lift his side from slumping as they crashed out on away goal rule.

Spanish outlet Don Balon reports that Real Madrid’s Ronaldo blamed the defeat on Messi.

Messi started the season in fine form and still has 39 goals to his name so far.

Ronaldo, however, was dreadful at the beginning of the campaign but has since managed to overtake Messi on 40 strikes for the season.

Reports reaching us said that the Real Madrid star thinks Messi is saving himself for the World Cup in June.
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Argentina FA president Claudio Tapia has said that Lionel Messi cannot win the World Cup on his own and needs his Argentina team-mates to raise their game to help him.

Messi cut a folorn figure as Argentina were beaten 1-0 by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, leaving him without the winners' medal that would help to cement his place in history alongside Pele and Diego Maradona as one of the game's greatest players.

Tapia – the president of the Argentina Football Association - acknowledged that this might be the 30-year-old's last opportunity to win the tournament, but said even the five-time Ballon d'Or winner wouldn't be able to guide Argentina to glory if his team-mates didn't perform at their best.
"Football has evened itself out," Tapia told La Nacion. "We have the best player in the world but we have to help him, he cannot to do it alone.
"He's very mature and to have him is a privilege. He's number one, he has the ambition and the need to win this World Cup."
The two-time tournament winners will face Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria in a group they will be clear favourites to win, but Tapia said that falling short of the semi-finals would not constitute a failure for Argentina.

Since Alejandro Sabella's departure in the aftermath of the 2014 World Cup, Argentina have been coached by Gerardo Martino, Edgardo Bauza and Jorge Sampaoli, and Tapia is not expecting miracles from the latter.
"We're the only team that has had three coaches and reached the World Cup," said Tapia. "The other teams have had work that has been going on over four years."
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Spanish giants, FC Bacelona lost its superstar player, Neymar in the off-season after French giants, Paris Saint-Germain sensationally activated his €222million release clause in August.
Neymar was a key member of Barca's famed 'MSN' forward trio, alongside Messi and Luis Suarez, helping the club to two La Liga titles and the Champions League among others.
But five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi, said Barca who are unbeaten and 11 points clear atop the table, are better without the Brazil star.



While speaking with World Soccer, Messi said: 
"Without Neymar we are more balanced. His departure meant a change in our way of playing, we lost a lot of attacking potential, but it helped in the defensive sense. We are currently very well armed in the midfield; this makes us stronger in defence."
Barca are also preparing for the last 16 of the Champions League, where they will meet Chelsea for a spot in the quarter-finals.
However, Messi believes another English side, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, are the team to watch, along with PSG.
"Manchester City are one of the strongest teams in the world at the moment. The same goes for PSG," the Argentina attacker said.
"However, there's a lot of football still to play and I don't rule out Real Madrid yet as they have a lot of quality and experience. Then there's Bayern Munich, another great team who will fight till the end. But right now, City and PSG are the best."
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One of the world's most successful footballers of all time, Lionel Messi, has received his new Adidas custom boots as it gets delivered in a spectacular fashion. 

Lionel Messi received his new Nemeziz Cold Blooded Adidas boots at an event on Friday

These are the photos showing the moment Lionel Messi received his new Adidas boots in spectacular fashion on Friday as the stunning custom footwear was delivered by drone.




According to Daily Mail UK, Messi was presented the Nemeziz Cold Blooded boots at the Club Montjuic of the Palau Sant Jordi of Barcelona.


The boots were delivered to the Barcelona star via a drone as Adidas wowed in the unveiling

The 30-year-old Barcelona ace was guest of honour at the sponsors event and they took the boot unveiling to the next level.

And while Messi was more than happy to pose with his new boots, the attacker also provided a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the young men who joined him on stage - smiles all round.


Messi was guest of honour at the Club Montjuic of the Palau Sant Jordi of Barcelona

Messi has showed no signs his career is ready to slow down and he played a central role for Barcelona as they progressed to the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday with a 2-0 home win over Espanyol.

He added the crucial second goal on the night after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring for the Catalans.


The Barcelona forward was all smiles as he took centre stage at Friday's showcase event

And his part in the Espanyol win brought with it further history for the star as his goal was Barcelona's 4,000th at the Camp Nou in official competition. 

With Cristiano Ronaldo enduring a frustrating season with rivals Real Madrid, Messi has flourished and this term has already seen the Argentine surpass Gerd Muller as Europe's top scorer with a single club.

The new boots feature the Argentine's name on each foot with a sleek black and blue design





Barcelona discovered that they will face Valencia in the semi-finals of the cup competition as Ernesto Valverde's side plot a treble-trophy haul before the end of the season.

With Philippe Coutinho brought in for a club record £145m from Liverpool this month, Messi has more creativity looking to put him through on goal and he may go on to break further records - perhaps in his new boots - before the campaign concludes.
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Barcelona inflicted an embarrassing 3-0 El Clasico defeat on 10-man Real Madrid at the Bernabeu to leave the Champions League holders 14 points behind in the Spanish Liga title race. 

Barcelona produced a superb away performance to secure a victory over Real Madrid that all but eliminates their arch rivals from the Spanish title race.



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⏰ Final whistle in the Bernabéu! Real Madrid 0-3 FC Barcelona ⚽️ Suárez, Messi and Aleix Vidal 🔴🔵 

A second-half Luis Suarez strike and Lionel Messi's penalty, after Dani Carvajal was sent off for handball, helped move Barca nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, and increased their advantage over defending champions Real to 14 points.





Karim Benzema hit the post and Cristiano Ronaldo missed two good chances in the first half, but the home side were blown away after the restart in the first El Clasico meeting of the Spanish league season.



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Barcelona get a huge win over Real Madrid in  to go 14 points clear of their rivals in the league. Via @FOXSoccer

Los Blancos started with Gareth Bale on the bench, and although he forced a save form Marc-Andre ter Stegen having been brought on following Carvajal's dismissal, the Wales forward was unable to spark a comeback.

Instead, late substitute Aleix Vidal added further insult in injury time with a third for Barca, as his shot from inside the box squeezed over the line after Messi's cut-back, despite the Argentine losing his boot in the build-up to his 200th assist for the club.

It is the first time Barca have won three consecutive away league matches at the Bernabeu, and the result leaves Zinedine Zidane's side fourth in the table.
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter




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 - RESULT

Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal scored for Barcelona as the Catalan giants defeated 10-men Real Madrid 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

One week after Madrid added a second successive Club World Cup title to the two Champions League titles won in a row under Frenchman Zidane, any hopes of clawing their way back towards a defence of last year's league title must now be extinguished.

Saturday's match, arranged for a 12:00 GMT kick-off to attract as wide a global TV audience as possible - Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo estimated there would be 650 million viewers - was a chance to narrow the gap on Barca to eight points with victory.

Those watching around the world and the 80,264 fans inside the ground saw the home side start the better, but fail to make their superiority count.



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All-time TOP scorer in  history (25) ✅
All-time TOP scorer in  history at the Bernabeu (15) ✅
All-time TOP scorer against Real Madrid in  (17) ✅

LIONEL MESSI.

Inside two minutes Ronaldo nodded in off the crossbar but saw his effort correctly ruled out for offside, before the 2017 Ballon d'Or winner swiped at thin air in the box with his left foot when set up by Toni Kroos.

With Messi tightly marked, it was Paulinho who threatened for Barca, twice drawing good saves from Keylor Navas before Benzema outmuscled Thomas Vermaelen to stoop and head against the base of the post.





After the restart, however, the game followed a markedly different pattern.






With the half just nine minutes old, Madrid were left horribly exposed after Ivan Rakitic was allowed to run through the heart of a midfield that had been set up with the idea of containing Messi paramount - with roles for Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic, Kroos and Luka Modric.

Rakitic found wing-back Roberto, and Suarez finished the move off crisply for his 10th of the season - before the game's key moment arrived nine minutes later.

After Messi found Suarez with a through pass, the Uruguayan twice had the chance to beat Navas in a one-on-one. He was first denied by the keeper, then saw his shot strike the post.


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As the rebound came back, Paulinho lunged to head on goal and Carvajal instinctively trusted his hand to block - Navas would have considered it a fine save.

The Spain defender was shown a straight red card, leaving his side hamstrung in their search for a way back in.

Bale, yet to force his way back in to a regular starting slot following his latest spell out injured, was one of three changes made by Zidane after his side went down to 10.

He perhaps should have been more composed when found free in the box late on, but this victory was a deserved one for Barca.

Ernesto Valverde's side remain unbeaten in the league this season - they have won 14 and drawn three since their 5-1 aggregate defeat by Madrid in the two-legged season-opening Spanish Super Cup in August.
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