Lionel Messi netted a hat-trick including his 200th goal for Barcelona in a resounding 4-0 victory at 10-man Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday that put the rampant Champions League holders and their Group H rivals AC Milan through to the last 16. The World Player of the Year converted a penalty in the 24th minute to [...]

Barcelona and Real Madrid have roared back to form ahead of next week’s Champions League challenges, with the Spanish giants recording comfortable victories in La Liga on Saturday. Barca’s title defense has been uncharactistically unconvincing so far, with last Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Valencia their second dropped points in four outings. But Pep Guardiola’s team [...]

  Real Madrid hit four goals against Getafe to go top of the Spanish league. The victory, following Real’s 6-0 hammering of Real Zaragoza last weekend, means that they have scored ten goals in their first two games, but this was a much tighter affair. Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Real at the Bernabeu [...]

  To aspire to play like Barcelona, or not that, in a Lionel Messi-sized nutshell, is the question facing Argentina as they plot Colombia’s downfall at the Copa America on Wednesday. Messi is the great conundrum for a host nation chasing a first major honour since the 1993 Copa, won in Ecuador. The Albiceleste, stung [...]