Gerard Pique said he has not seen superstar team-mate Lionel Messi train as Barcelona step up their LaLiga preparations with individual sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi and Barca returned to training on Friday, albeit via individual sessions due to the COVID-19 crisis, with the squad divided over three pitches to ensure social-distancing requirements are upheld.
Barca followed a similar routine on Saturday as LaLiga hopes to resume in mid-June, having suspended the 2019-20 campaign in March.
I didn t have any contact with Messi on the pitch, I only spoke to him on my mobile phone, Barca defender Pique told Movistar s El Partidazo.
I didn t see him train either, I just crossed him in the parking lot. All the footballers we train in differe…
Germany head coach Joachim Low was left bitter after the country s shock loss at home to North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying.
Low s Germany were sensationally humbled in Duisburg, where the four-time world champions suffered a 2-1 defeat on Wednesday.
Ilkay Gundogan had cancelled out Goran Pandev s opener before Eljif Elmas restored North Macedonia s lead with five minutes remaining as Germany lost a World Cup qualifier for the first time since September 2001 – a run of 35 matches.
The defeat left Germany third in Group J, level on points with North Macedonia and three points adrift of pacesetters Armenia, who have won all three matches so far.
A disappointing result to say the least. 1-2
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN)
We are hugely…
Pablo Aguilar has been ruled out of Paraguay s FIFA World Cup Qualifier with Bolivia after it emerged the defender has a blood condition.
Paraguay s team doctor Miguel Romero found that Aguilar s blood had shown a decrease in its ability to clot properly, and has advised that the defender return to Mexico where he currently plays for Tijuana.
Manager Victor Genes has called up Matias Perez as a replacement for Friday s match in Asuncion, which will see the bottom two sides of the South American qualification section go head-to-head.
Malaga striker Roque Santa Cruz flew in to join his team-mates late on Tuesday and was due to take part in full training with the rest of the squad on Wednesday.
Paraguay who reached the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup, where the…
Football has a pedigree dating back to mediaeval England, when villagers hoofed an inflated pig s bladder around a muddy paddock.
Today, though, the 22 players on the pitch are supported by a ghost squad of scientists drawing on biomechanics, physics, nutrition, psychology and other performance-enhancing disciplines.
Here are some examples of how science has helped to change football, answer riddles and end hearsay.
FAKING A FALL: How can you tell when a player is diving? One telltale is the archer s bow, says British psychologist Paul Morris. This is when a player falls with both arms in the air, with open palms, chest thrust out and legs bent at the knee, like a sprung archery bow. This occurs in many dives but biomechanically it does not occur in a natural fa…
Adam Lallana has excelled under Jurgen Klopp this season and his rich vein of form at Liverpool has not gone unnoticed.
understand that the 28-year-old has attracted plenty of interest from world’s biggest sides such as Juventus and Barcelona, who are vying for his signature.
Serie A champions Juventus consider Lallana to be a viable alternative for Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, whereas Barcelona are believed to be monitoring Lallana in case they fail in their bid to land his Liverpool teammate Philippe Coutinho.
Adam Lallana still has two years remaining in his Liverpool deal and is engaged in talks over a contract extension with the Reds.
England international midfielder arrived in Liverpool back in 2014 in a deal reportedly worth £25 million.
Neymar is ready to assume the mantle of being the best player in the world, according to former Barcelona full-back Juliano Belletti.
Brazil captain Neymar is one shy of bringing up his 100th Barca goal and continues to be viewed as a supreme part of a forward collective alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
Messi and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo have engaged in a two-way fight for the Ballon d Or for most of the past decade but Belletti, who scored the winning goal in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal, believes his countryman is improving all the time.
Neymar can be the best player in the world soon, he said, speaking at the launch of the 2017 International Champions Cup in New York.
He knows about the pressure, he has more exper…
Market: Cheltenham win
Odds: 1/1 @
Within touching distance of securing a League One spot for next season, Cheltenham will welcome Carlisle to The Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, managing to pick up a 1-0 win against Colchester over the weekend, the mood in Cheltenham s camp will be at a real high. Able to build off of Cambridge s slip up on Saturday afternoon, The Robins have found a route back to the top of the League Two table and are within striking distance of securing their promotion. With it appearing that their 1-0 loss against Crawley earlier in the month was just a minor blip, The Reds have since secured back-to-back wins and should be smelling a golden chance on home soil this week. With just a pair of defeats to their n…
Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta once again poured cold water over the possibility of signing Barcelona captain Lionel Messi, labelling the speculation as a pure dream .
Messi continues to be linked to Inter, with the Barca superstar reportedly unhappy at Camp Nou and prepared to leave the LaLiga giants once his contract expires in 2021.
There has been renewed talk that Inter could attempt to prise Messi to San Siro after a picture of the six-time Ballon d Or winner was projected onto the Duomo di Milano prior to Tuesday s 2-0 Serie A victory over Napoli.
However, Inter CEO Marotta dismissed the chance of Messi swapping Barca for the Italian club following Saturday s season-ending 2-0 triumph at Atalanta.
We have to be realistic, it s a dream. Thes…
Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said Friday he was returning to the national team after a short hiatus from his international career set doubts on his future playing for Sweden.
What I have always said, is that I am proud to play for the national team You can count on me to be there at the national team s next game, the Barcelona player told a webcast press conference.
Ibrahimovic explained his break was a result of Sweden failing to qualify for the World Cup by loosing to Denmark in an October 2009 game.
After the last game, when we didn t get into the World Cup, I felt my motivation disappear, he said.
So I decided to give up. I had no desire to play. I m a competitor, I play to win. After your career, you want to be remembered as someone who won, he sai…
Real Madrid s iconic former striker Alfredo di Stefano has been hospitalized again because of a heart problem, the Spanish club said Saturday.
The 84-year-old was taken to Madrid s Sanitas-La Moraleja Hospital on Friday after suffering a low to moderate cardiorespiratory descompensation, it said in a statement posted on its website.
The medical staff decided to keep him at the hospital for optimum monitoring, given his history, the club added.
Di Stefano, who is Real s honorary president, spent nine days in the hospital this month after doctors discovered a respiratory infection during a checkup.
He was allowed to leave the hospital but received out-patient treatment.
A two-time European Player of the Year, the Argentine-born Di Stefano played f…