Barcelona left sweating on Leo Messi's fitness again

Barcelona are again sweating on the fitness of Lionel Messi after their superstar forward ended Wednesday's draw against Bayer Leverkusen with a pain in his left hamstring. 

However, Luis Enrique, despite having one substitute left to use, did not deem it necessary to withdraw the 28-year-old from the action. 

Messi, who played for 90 minutes against Valencia at the weekend, has now played back-to-back games, while many of his Barca team-mates were rested in Germany. 

Luis Enrique’s decision to play Messi against Leverkusen - while Neymar was out injured and Luis Suarez took a break - was perhaps influenced by the upcoming Club World Cup. 

The Catalan club head off to Japan next week and Messi is in need of game time, given he has just returned from a two month injury layoff.

Barca return to training on Thursday to begin preparations for Saturday’s La Liga game against Deportivo La Coruna.

Breaking News: Real Madrid expelled from Copa del Rey

Real Madrid have been expelled from the Copa del Rey after they fielded the ineligible Denis Cheryshev in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Cadiz.

The Russian winger picked up three yellow cards in the competition last season while on loan at Villarreal - the third in the semi-final defeat to Barcelona - and was supposed to be suspended for the first game of this season’s Copa.

However, Madrid did not realise and Rafael Benitez, taking advantage of his squad, played him from the start against the third division side.

Cheryshev opened the scoring, but was taken off 45 second into the second half as word spread that he was not eligible to play.

Cadiz confirmed on Wednesday they had made a complaint to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) regarding Cheryshev’s involvement.

Leo Messi delighted with Stephen Curry's Warriors jersey

Barcelona star Lionel Messi revealed he received a very special gift on Friday - a signed jersey from none other than basketball great Stephen Curry.

The Golden State Warriors star sent Messi the jersey with the number 30 on the back, to celebrating reaching the milestone of 30 million Instagram followers.

And in a thank you note left on Facebook, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner promised he would return the favour in a cheeky message to Curry.

Pep Guardiola laughs off Real Madrid link

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has laughed off suggestions he could replace Rafael Benitez at Real Madrid.

Benitez is under pressure at the Santiago Bernabeu following their 4-0 Clasico humbling by Barcelona last month while speculation persists about a difficult working relationship with a number of the club's senior players, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

Madrid president Florentino Perez has publicly backed the former Liverpool and Inter boss but rumours persist that his days in the Spanish capital could be numbered.

Facebook's CEO Is Donating 99 Percent of Shares To Honor His Daughter’s Birth - Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced the birth of his first child with his wife Priscilla Chan, along with the huge news that he will be donating a large portion of his wealth to "advancing human potential and promoting equality." Zuckerberg and Chan made the announcement in a lengthy Facebook post addressed to his daughter, Max.

"We will give 99% of our Facebook shares -- currently about $45 billion -- during our lives to advance this mission," he said. "We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others."

Zico: Messi deserves to win The Goal 50 ahead of Ronaldo

Brazil legend Zico believes that Lionel Messi deserves to win this year's Goal 50, arguing that the Barcelona ace has usurped Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.

Ronaldo scored a personal-best 61 goals in just 54 games in all competitions last season, while he became Real Madrid's all-time record scorer last month.

However, Zico feels that Messi should be recognised for inspiring Barcelona's treble triumph in 2014-15, as well as leading Argentina to the final of this year's Copa America.

"I could have chosen Cristiano as well as Neymar," the Selecao icon told Goal. "For me, the three of them are in the top bracket and they can change a match individually.

Ozil: The best playmaker in the world?

“If you love to watch football, you love to watch Mesut Ozil.”

That is Arsene Wenger’s mantra when asked about Arsenal’s most expensive ever signing, and with every passing week Ozil puts forward the case that he is the best playmaker in the world.

The German produced another masterclass in the 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night that keeps alive Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League for a 16th season in a row.

Much of the talk this season has centred around the importance of Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal’s hopes in the Premier League and Champions League, but it is Ozil who has been their main man.

He scored the opener here with a flying header and, even though Alexis added the Gunners’ second and third with close-range finishes, it is Ozil who represents Arsenal’s best chance of escaping from their Champions League group when they travel to Olympiacos on December 9.