La Liga

Barcelona are allowing Lionel Messi to take an extended holiday break that will see him miss Tuesday's La Liga fixture against Eibar, according to ESPN FC's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens.

Messi will be in the squad when Barca play Huesca on Jan. 3.

Messi's seven goals in La Liga are the most on the club. And Ansu Fati, the second-leading goalscorer, continues to be out while recovering from surgery for a meniscus injury in his left knee.

The Eibar fixture may provide Barcelona with a taste of what's to come.

No story in world football over the summer was bigger than Messi's transfer saga. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner attempted to trigger a termination clause in his contract, only for club officials to say the deadline to do so had expired. As a result, he had little choice but to remain at Camp Nou for 2020-21.

Marsden and Llorens wrote the 33-year-old has "not even opened talks over a renewal" and is eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club starting in January.

Barcelona are in the process of electing a new president, and Messi has naturally been a focus for some of the candidates looking to sway the club's members.

While Messi is a legendary figure in Catalonia, some have argued a clean break may benefit both parties. Barca would get some much-needed financial relief as they stare at a significant deficit and would have an easier time transitioning to the younger players in the first team. Messi, meanwhile, would likely spend the remainder of his career at another European giant that's better poised to compete for domestic and continental honours.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has added yet another record to his legendary career.

Messi scored in the 65th minute as Barca defeated Real Valladolid 3-0 on Tuesday, notching his 644th goal for the club.

ESPN FC's Samuel Marsden noted that moves him ahead of Pele for the most goals scored with one club.

Perhaps somebody will eclipse Messi one day, but this might be one of the unbreakable records in sports. It requires not only a generational talent, but also for that talent to stay in one place for probably a decade or more.

Leaving aside his talent, a player like Messi is increasingly rare. A star who shines at a smaller club eventually moves on to a bigger club, and those who started at a top club seek a fresh challenge sooner or later.

Even Messi appears destined to leave Barcelona before his career concludes.

The 33-year-old wouldn't have been around to break Pele's record if he had gotten his wish this past summer. Growing frustrated by Barca's myriad problems on and off the pitch, he unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a termination clause in his contract.

Now that he can allow the club plenty of advance warning, it's difficult to envision Messi sticking around beyond the 2020-21 season. Barcelona's domestic performances have been erratic, and the club is staring down the barrel of a brutal financial outlook.

Messi is bound to create some space between himself and Pele in the all-time goalscoring chart. This time next season, however, he might be starting all over at a new club.

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly "exploring the possibility" of trying to complete a transfer for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi during next summer's transfer window.

ESPN's Julien Laurens reported Friday that PSG have retained interest in Messi since being one of the clubs to explore a deal in the summer before he ultimately remained at the Camp Nou. 

Manchester City led the pursuit to land Messi following the 2019-20 season, but the Parisians were also involved in discussions, per Laurens. A dispute between the six-time Ballon d'Or winner and Barcelona about a release clause in his contract brought a halt to the negotiations, though.

In September, Messi explained to Goal's Ruben Uria that Barca held firm on their belief he needed to inform them about his intentions to leave before June 10, even though the campaign ended late because of the coronavirus pandemic and led to a later transfer window.

"And this is the reason why I am going to continue in the club," he said. "Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million clause, and that this is impossible."

Paying that release clause along with Messi's wage demands, which Laurens noted checks in at €60 million annually at Barcelona, just wasn't a realistic option, even for Europe's top clubs.

Barca acting president Carles Tusquets said Thursday on Catalan radio station RAC1 (via ESPN's Adriana Garcia) it would have been better for the club's economics to move Messi.

"Speaking from a financial standpoint, yes," he said. "But that is something that would have had to have been absolutely agreed with the coaching staff. From an economic standpoint, it would have been desirable to sell Messi."

Tusquests added the club would "consider" a move for the longtime face of the club in the future because of the pandemic's "worrying" impact on the club's finances.

Meanwhile, PSG star Neymar, who spent four years at the Camp Nou alongside Messi, has spoken openly about a potential reunion at the Parc des Princes.

"What I want most of all is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him once again on the pitch," Neymar told ESPN's Sam Marsden on Wednesday. "He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! But I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season."

Messi's contract expires next summer, which will remove a hurdle should PSG make a serious push to sign him.

They figure to face plenty of competition for Argentine international, who's still one of the world's best players at age 33.

Barcelona acting president Carles Tusquets said Thursday the club could have improved its financial outlook by allowing a Lionel Messi transfer over the summer.

Messi requested the opportunity to seek a free transfer following the 2019-20 season, but a dispute about whether a clause allowing it could be triggered based on the delayed finished to the term because of the coronavirus pandemic led him to remain at Camp Nou.

"And this is the reason why I am going to continue in the club," Messi told Goal's Ruben Uria in September. "Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million clause, and that this is impossible."

Tusquets explained on Catalan radio station RAC1 (h/t ESPN's Adriana Garcia) it wasn't the best financial move by Barca, but he noted there are other factors in play with a superstar player.

"Speaking from a financial standpoint, yes [Messi could have been released in the summer]. But that is something that would have had to have been absolutely agreed with the coaching staff," he said. "From an economic standpoint, it would have been desirable to sell Messi."

Tusquets, who confirmed Barcelona would "consider" a Messi transfer moving forward, said the pandemic has left the club in a "worrying" financial state.

"It's dreadful, but there's hope. Once the stadium reopens, everything will change," he said.

Messi, a six-time Ballon d'Or winner, has continued to play at an elite level for the Blaugrana after the failed transfer effort. He's scored four goals in nine La Liga matches and tallied three goals and two assists in three Champions League appearances so far this season.

Barcelona is back in action Saturday when it visits Estadio Ramon de Carranza to face Cadiz in league play.  

Atletico Madrid star Luis Suarez tested positive for COVID-19 while on duty for the Uruguay national team.

"The Uruguayan football association AUF) reports that swab tests have been performed on all members of the National Team, and the players Luis Suarez and Rodrigo Munoz and team official Matias Faral have tested positive for COVID-19, while the other members of the party have tested negative," the federation said in a statement (via ESPN FC's Alex Kirkland). 

"The three are all in good health and the pertinent measures have been implemented."

Uruguay beat Colombia 3-0 last Friday in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Suarez scored the country's second goal from the penalty spot in the 54th minute. His positive test rules him out for Tuesday's qualifier against Brazil. Uruguay aren't in action again until March.

Suarez will likely also miss a pair of important fixtures for Atletico. Los Colchoneros play Barcelona on Saturday in La Liga and resume Champions League play Nov. 25 against Lokomotiv Moscow. Only two points separate second-place Atletico from third-place Lokomotiv in Group A.

Atletico signed Suarez in September shortly after loaning Alvaro Morata out to Juventus. The 33-year-old is already an integral member of the club's attack. He has scored five times in six La Liga matches.

His absence will put even more pressure on Joao Felix, whose seven goals across all competitions are highest on the team.

Real Madrid announced winger Eden Hazard and midfielder Casemiro tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

"All of the other first-team players and coaching staff, as well as the club employees who work directly with the squad tested negative in yesterday's tests," Saturday's statement read. "Meanwhile, all of them, apart from Casemiro and Hazard, once again tested negative in the antigen tests taken this morning."

Both players practiced with the club Friday before the positive tests were processed, per Goal. They will consequently be unavailable for Sunday's La Liga match against Valencia.

Hazard only recently returned to a squad after missing nearly a month with a leg injury suffered in late September. He scored in a 4-1 victory over Huesca on Oct. 31.

"It was a good goal," Hazard told reporters. "I'm happy for the team and for myself. When you score you get extra confidence. I'm tired, I want to play more games. My peak fitness will come with the matches and we've got another one in a few days. We need to keep training and be ready."

He hadn't scored since October 2019, partly because of a series of injuries.

Meanwhile, Casemiro had appeared in all 10 of the team's La Liga and UEFA Champions League matches during the 2020-21 campaign.

The Brazilian defensive midfielder scored late in stoppage time to secure a UCL draw against German side Borussia Monchengladbach in October. It's his only goal of the term.

The international break arrives after Sunday's match, so it's possible both players will only miss one club fixture. Los Blancos return to action Nov. 21 against Villarreal.

The saga is over. 

Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned Tuesday following a summer showdown that saw superstar Lionel Messi unsuccessfully try to leave the club. 

Per Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens, an election will be scheduled within 90 days to vote on replacement options for the board, with a temporary management group overseeing the day-to-day operations of the club. 

Per that report, 20,000 Barcelona supporters signed a petition earlier in October to remove him from his position, setting into motion a vote on his presidency. Bartomeu said Monday that a vote of no confidence had been scheduled for Nov. 1-2, giving no indication he'd be stepping down, per AS:

"Regarding the vote of no confidence, we are waiting for a response from the Generalitat to know if the health situation is maintained so the vote can be held on November 1 and 2. We have always wanted a decentralised vote, in various venues so that as many members as possible vote, so we asked for 15 more days, but last Thursday we were told that it would be November 1 and 2."

He also told reporters that resigning "has never passed through my mind. It would be irresponsible. With the [coronavirus] pandemic, brave decisions need to be made every day. It would be a bad decision to leave the club in the hands of an administrator."

The situation with Messi over the summer likely sealed Bartomeu's fate at the club. The superstar became disillusioned with the state of the club and tried to cancel the remainder of his contract using a clause that would have allowed him to leave on a free transfer if he triggered it before the end of the season. Barcelona and Messi disagreed on that date, with Barca saying it was written in for early June, while Messi argued the COVID-19 hiatus and resumption over the summer pushed the date back.

Barcelona won the standoff, and Messi remained. But it was clear that Bartomeu's presence with the Catalonia side was one of the reasons the electrifying forward wanted out in the first place. 

"As I said, I always thought I was free to leave. The president always said at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not," he said in an interview with Goal.com. "Now they cling to the fact I did not say before June 10, when it turns out on June 10 we were competing for La Liga."

Bartomeu countered that he couldn't let a player of Messi's stature leave and potentially join a rival. 

"I was accused of wanting to force a transfer for financial reasons to 'balance the books,'" he told reporters. "That's not true. I defended the interests of the club, accepting the consequences that refusing Messi's decision to go to one of our rivals would entail."

It's a moot point now. Bartomeu is out after six seasons as president. Messi, who will be free to leave after the 2020-21 season if he so chooses, remains for now. 

Veteran defender Sergio Ramos scored the go-ahead goal in the 63rd minute Saturday as Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 3-1 in El Clasico at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain.

Ramos was pulled down by Barca defender Clement Lenglet in the box, and after a video review determined that it was indeed a foul, Ramos made no mistake by depositing his penalty kick past Neto:

Luka Modric then put the match away for Real Madrid in the 90th minute with an insurance marker to finalize the 3-1 score:

While Real Madrid's top players made a significant impact on the match, Barca superstar Lionel Messi did not factor into the scoring.

By virtue of the win, Real Madrid improved to 4-1-1 and moved past Real Sociedad and Villareal for first-place in the La Liga table. Meanwhile, Barcelona are now 2-1-2 and remain in 10th.

Per OptaJose, this marks the first time Real Madrid have won the first El Clasico match of the La Liga season since 2014 and only the second time in the past 13 seasons:

It didn't take long for Los Blancos to jump ahead Saturday, as Karim Benzema threaded a perfect pass to Federico Valverde, who scored in the fifth minute to put Real Madrid up 1-0:

While it would have been easy for Barcelona to lose their confidence given their struggles for far this season, that wasn't the case, as the Blaugrana struck right back.

Just three minutes after Valverde gave Real Madrid the lead, 17-year-old phenom Ansu Fati scored for Barca to tie the score at 1-1:

As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, Fati made history with that goal by becoming the youngest player ever to score in El Clasico:

Fox Soccer summed up all Fati has already accomplished in his young career despite still being a few days shy of his 18th birthday:

Another significant, history-making moment occurred in Saturday's El Clasico as well, with Sergino Dest getting a start for Barca.

According to Fox Soccer, Dest became the first American in the 118-year history of El Clasico to play in the match:

With the 19-year-old Dest acquitting himself well and the 17-year-old Fati scoring, it is clear that Barcelona have a bright future even though it has been a disappointing start to the 2020-21 season for Ronald Koeman's side.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid appear back on track after a La Liga loss to Cadiz last week and a surprising Champions League defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.

Real Madrid will attempt to carry their momentum into their next match when they face Borussia Monchengladbach in a Champions League clash Tuesday followed by a La Liga tilt with Huesca next Saturday.

Barcelona will look to bounce back Wednesday against Juventus in a Champions League match and then next Saturday against La Liga side Alaves.  

Barcelona winger Ansu Fati received an apology from Spanish newspaper journalist Salvador Sostres for a racist comment in a match report about Barca's 5-1 Champions League win over Ferencvaros on Tuesday.

Sky Sports reported Sostres, who wrote "Ansu when running has something of a gazelle, or a very young, black street seller running away from police," published an apology through ABC, his employer, on Thursday:

"My intention was to praise the beauty of Ansu's movement and his talent as a very young player.

"Some expressions were understood as racist insults. Nothing was further from my intention, nor the very favourable opinion of the player that I have expressed in all the match reports I have written since his debut.

"I deeply lament the misunderstanding and I ask forgiveness if anyone has felt offended."

Seventeen-year-old Fati is off to a terrific start to the 2020-21 campaign after making his Blaugrana debut in August 2019. He's scored four goals in five appearances to open the term, including a tally in Barcelona's rout of Ferencvaros.

"Ansu is an exceptional guy who deserves respect like all human beings," teammate Antoine Griezmann wrote on Twitter, per Sky Sports. "No to racism and no to ignorance."

In April 2019, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin told reporters he was "ashamed" by the amount of racism within all levels of European football:

"Today I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed to be here with you. I'm simply ashamed that today in 2019 we have to organize a conference that promotes diversity.

"It's 2019. How can that happen? I'm ashamed that here in Europe not a weekend goes by without a discriminatory act taking place in a football stadium, amateur level or professional level.

"I'm ashamed to see extremist movements use our sport as a vehicle for their messages of hate and intolerance. A stadium must not and must never be a forum in which people are allowed to express their sickening fascist nostalgia. I'm ashamed to see lone individuals utter racist, sexist and homophobic insults without realizing the devastating effect and symbolic significance of their words."

Fati and Barcelona are back in action Saturday for a La Liga rivalry clash with Real Madrid. Their next Champions League fixture is Oct. 28 against Juventus.

Barcelona announced the signing of American right-back Sergino Dest on Wednesday from Eredivisie club Ajax.

ESPN's Tom Hamilton reported the transfer fee was €21 million with a potential €5m in add-ons, and his new five-year contract with Barca includes a €400 million buyout clause.

Dest also received interest from reigning Bundesliga and Champions League winners Bayern Munich before being convinced to join Barcelona by Ronald Koeman, the club's new manager, per Hamilton.

The 19-year-old defender enjoyed a breakout 2019-20 season with Ajax, which earned him a pivotal role with 25 appearances between the Eredivisie and the Champions League.

Last October, he announced his intention to represent the United States rather than his native Netherlands, a decision he explained to Hamilton in January.

"A lot of people only want you when it's going well," Dest said. "The USMNT helped me when it didn't go well, and I'm thankful for that. They helped me through hard times, and if they hadn't given me a chance, maybe I wouldn't be here now with Ajax. Maybe I'd never have reached this level."

The rising star arrives at Camp Nou with the opportunity to compete with Sergi Roberto for a starting spot at right-back.

He joins a growing list of young USMNT players who are earning extensive roles with European clubs:

It lends hope the USMNT will be able to move past the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup by ushering in a new core over the next two years.

Meanwhile, Dest is the latest move in a busy transfer window for Barca, who are coming off a rare trophyless campaign that sparked the exit of several high-profile players, including Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, Arthur and Nelson Semedo.

The roster turnover gives him a chance to quickly establish himself as a key fixture in the starting XI for the foreseeable future.