Lionel Messi s reluctant decision to remain at Barcelona does not sit easily with his former coach Luis Enrique.

Messi announced on Friday that he would stay at Camp Nou because the financial demands made by the Barca board for a transfer to happen rendered such a prospect impossible .

The six-time Ballon d Or winner accused president Josep Maria Bartomeu of going back on his word that Messi would be free to leave if he desired at the end of the 2019-20 season – although a clause in his contract underpinning this sentiment expired while a campaign extended by the coronavirus hiatus was still in progress.

Luis Enrique coached Messi for three seasons between 2014 and 2017, a period that took in Barca s treble-winning 2014-15 efforts.

The 33-year-old made…

AC Milan moved to within a point of Serie A s top four with a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi on Saturday.

A first-half header from Hakan Calhanoglu was enough to give Gennaro Gattuso s side maximum points against the struggling Viola.

The result puts pressure back on Atalanta in third and Inter in fourth in the race for a place in next season s Champions League.

Alban Lafont made two smart saves in the space of three minutes to deny Suso and Calhanoglu, as Milan made all the early running in Florence against a team with only one win in all competitions since the start of February.

They got the breakthrough 10 minutes before the interval, with Calhanoglu glancing Suso s curling cross from the right into the bottom-left corner.

6…

Former Juventus coach Fabio Capello thinks the Bianconeri enjoyed the best transfer window of any Serie A club, but still believes they are not favourites to lift the Scudetto.

Juventus have claimed two wins and three draws during a solid if unspectacular start to the new season, and have faced criticism for their ponderous style of play under Massimiliano Allegri.

Their underwhelming performances have come in the aftermath of a window in which the Turin giants acquired Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Gleison Bremer, Filip Kostic and Leandro Paredes.

Capello was impressed by their recruitment, particularly with the decision to replace Matthijs de Ligt with Bremer, but does not believe they will win their first title since 2019-20 this season.

Speaking to Sp…

Dani Alves will become Brazil s oldest World Cup star after earning a recall for Qatar 2022, while Roberto Firmino has missed out on Tite s final squad, with Gabriel Martinelli preferred.

Alves is now 39 and made his international debut in 2006, but he is heading to his third World Cup this year.

The former Barcelona right-back will make Selecao history, with Djalma Santos – 37 at the 1966 World Cup – previously their oldest player at a finals.

Alves is not necessarily a hugely popular choice, but Tite responded to the veteran s critics.

I didn t come here to please people on Twitter, which I don t even know what percentage of the Brazilian people represents, the coach said.

I respect differing opinions and I m not here to convince everyone.…

Marcus Rashford maintained his record of scoring in every game since the World Cup with a late double as Manchester United beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 to reach the EFL Cup semi-finals.

Substitute Rashford produced two fine finishes to round off United s victory, after Antony s stunning strike broke League One side Charlton s resistance in the first half at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Charlton – the only non-Premier League team in the last eight – produced a stubborn performance to stay in the contest until the closing stages, but lacked the quality to trouble their illustrious opponents.

Erik ten Hag s men are now potentially three games from ending a six-year trophy drought after reaching their third EFL Cup semi-final in four seasons.

Marcus is magic. <…

Manchester United are set to add a new defender to their ranks, though a transfer on that front, according to Fabrizio Romano, is more likely to happen next summer than in the upcoming January window. And apparently, the 20-time English champions have added Benfica s Antonio Silva to the list, which already contains the names of Bayer Leverkusen s Edmond Tapsoba and OGC Nice s Jean-Clair Todibo.

Other outlets spoke of Silva being of interest to United a month ago, with Liverpool and Real Madrid named as their rivals for his signature. There were also claims that the 20-year-old had no intention of leaving Benfica at this point in his career, hoping to captain the Portuguese club in the future.

Silva is a product of the academy at Benfica. He was promoted to their senior…

Julian Nagelsmann feels Bayern Munich s 100 per cent record in the Champions League group stage was not rewarded after being drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.

Nagelsmann s men won all six group games to finish top of Group C, including home and away victories over Inter and Barcelona, becoming the first side in competition history to be victorious in all of their group matches in back-to-back seasons.

Despite this, Monday s draw pitted Bayern against French champions PSG, who boast the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in their squad.

Nagelsmann believes his team have not received the full benefit for their group-stage heroics, telling reporters: PSG are a difficult opponent.

The perfect group phase is not rewarded with …

With the eyes of the footballing world firmly fixed on Argentina this weekend, La Albiceleste claimed what was a crucial 2-0 victory against Mexico on Saturday night.

Opening their World Cup adventure with an infamous 2-1 loss at the hands of Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, Lionel Scaloni s men knew that another defeat here would see their Middle Eastern campaign come to a stunning end at the group stages.

However, although Argentina might have largely struggled to find top gear, it was their attacking icon who dragged the South American giants over the finish line in Qatar.

Producing a sublime driven strike just after the hour mark and now bagging back-to-back World Cup strikes, Lionel Messi will undoubtedly steal all of the headlines after a famous second-ha…

The contract keeping Dani Alves at Paris Saint-Germain is coming to an end this summer, and at 35 years of age, he doesn t have much time left as a professional football player. There are, however, negotiations over an extension with the Ligue 1 champions, but according to , the experienced Brazilian has several options to choose from, and one if them is Sevilla.

The fullback spent five and a half seasons with Sevilla, making a total of 250 appearances and scoring 16 goals in all competitions for the club before joining Barcelona in 2008. He left the Catalans in 2016 having won everything there is to win in club football and then some, and spent a year with Juventus before heading to Paris. He has also played a total of 107 games as a Brazil international.

Sevilla are v…

Liverpool s Fabio Carvalho joined RB Leipzig on a season-long loan in the summer, but the deal has been cut short and he is now back at his parent club, the Premier League leaders have .

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder hasn t been able to impose himself at Leipzig, and he only made one Bundesliga start before setting out to return to Merseyside, with a total of 360 minutes on the pitch across 15 appearances in all competitions. The situation is obviously unsatisfactory from the point of view of Liverpool, who are keen for their youngster to play regularly in order to develop properly.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Carvalho will not stay at Anfield for the second half of the season. Several clubs, including Southampton, have expressed an interest in his services bet…