The Ball Man

Though I was king of weekend until I saw Messi : Watford Winger Gerard Watford winger Gerard Deulofeu produced a stunning performance over the weekend in the English Premier League as he scored a hat-trick while also recording an assist in the team's 5-1 win over Cardiff City. The same weekend also saw Lionel Messi inspire Barcelona to a 4-2 comeback victory over Sevilla with a sensational 50th career hat-trick.  “I thought I was the king of the weekend until I saw Messi in the Sánchez Pizjuán…” he told said to El Transistor on Onda Cero. "He's an incredible player. I enjoy watching him a lot. I have an anecdote about him... I remember passing him a ball that was like a stone and I was going to apologise immediately, but he took it so incredibly." Speaking about his time at Barcelona, the 24-year-old added: "I enjoyed my time at Barcelona even if it was short. I played alongside the best but I also had to find my own career. At Barcelona

SERGIO RAMOS CHARGED WITH GETTING BOOK WITH AJAX.                               Image : BBC Sergio Ramos has been charged by UEFA for "receiving a yellow card on purpose.” Ramos is accused of picking up a deliberate yellow card in the 89th-minute for Real Madrid in their Champions League last-16 first-leg against Ajax. Real won the match 2-1 but, afterward, Ramos told reporters: "Looking at the result I would be lying if I said it wasn't intentional. "It's something I was thinking about, it's not to underestimate the opponent nor say the tie is over but in football you have to take difficult decisions so I decided to do it." Ramos will be banned for the second-leg against Ajax. However, he could now miss a further two games for his actions

Vinícius has taken to Twitter to clarify a quote about Lionel Messi that has sparked controversy. The Brazilian winger was quoted by  Esporte Interativo  as saying: “Messi is always like that. He has an incredible level, but he doesn’t scare anyone. We are ready and we have the best players in the world.” This led to headlines saying that Vinícius stated that “Messi doesn’t scare anyone,” a controversial and provocative headline to be sure. The player himself took to Twitter to offer his version of what he said, which is: “Messi is amazing, he does things that few players are able to do, but he doesn’t scare us. We’re ready for anything that comes. We have the best players in the world as well.” This version softens the phrase from “he doesn’t scare anyone” to “he doesn’t scare us.” The winger is set to play his second clásico after debuting in the first leg of this Copa del Rey tie, which ended in a 1-1 draw. For more updates subscribe #Theballman and ge

Best dribblers in Europe revealed: Lionel Messi leads, Cristiano Ronaldo not in top 30 Yes you heard correctly this season lionel messi leads the table. Dribbling has become an important aspect of the game, as it is one of the best ways players create chances for their teams. Many rate Ronaldinho as the greatest dribbler the game has ever seen, but fans of Ronaldo and Messi have also often been involved in this debate. The players considered are those who have played at least 1,800 minutes for their clubs in the last 365 days. In the past one year, the CIES Football Observatory has been compiling data provided by Opta to rank the best dribblers in Europe’s top five leagues. The criterion is according to the number of domestic league minutes played per successful dribble. The ranking, according to the BBC, sees Lionel Messi top with a successful dribble every 19.2 minutes. The Argentine is closely followed by Nice's Allan Saint-Maximin with a dribble every 19.8

Lionel Messi has ‘no equal’ after his performance v Sevilla, claim the Madrid press As scary as it may sound, Lionel Messi seems to be getting better with age. The Barcelona icon continues to produce magnificent match-winning performances most weeks and, following his masterclass against Sevilla on Saturday, now has 33 goals in 32 games this season. Ahead of the Clasico, Madrid-based newspaper  Marca  have published an article with the headline: ‘Messi’s performance will have scared Real Madrid’. And in the article they claim ‘nobody comes close’ to the five-time Ballon d’or winner - ‘either in Spain or elsewhere in Europe’. Let’s get one thing straight: they never would have published these words if Cristiano Ronaldo was still a Real Madrid player. Now the Portuguese superstar is at Juventus it seems even the Madrid media have turned Team Messi. Blimey. “His goalscoring success causes him to break records and make history week after week,” Marca add

Wissam Ben Yedder pays great tribute to Messi after Sevilla hat-trick The Barcelona captain produced a brilliant hat-trick to win the match for the visitors, and Ben Yedder explained how they would probably have won otherwise. He wrote: “In this world, perhaps we would have won the game. But there was a player from another planet who wanted it another way...” It’s a nice touch from Ben Yedder on what must have been a really tough defeat for Sevilla. They twice took the lead against Barcelona but ended up slipping to yet another defeat. Barca next fixture is with Real Madrid. Comment the scoreline and get exciting gift from #Theballman #Theballman

Valverde dismisses Solari complaints over fixture scheduling                                                        Image : Marca Ernesto Valverde told Santiago Solari to stop complaining about the fixture schedule after the Real Madrid coach questioned why Barcelona will have an extra day to prepare for Wednesday's Clasico. Solari called the decision to give one club more rest than the other "curious" at his pre-match media conference, but Valverde says it is something every team has to deal with. "Look, anyone can complain about the calendar," he said after Barca's win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. "Sevilla played on Wednesday and Saturday. "It depends on the club that's talking about it [the schedule], it can become more of an issue, but this happens to us all. "If it happens, it happens." Central defender Gerard Pique also had little sympathy for Madrid, suggesting the shorter gap may actually benefit Los Bla

Mbappe is more difficult to play against than Lionel Messi, says Lyon's Marcelo                                                                      Image : Goal Lyon and Barcelona locked horns in Tuesday's Champions League Round of 16 clash, in a game that ended in a 0-0 draw. Ahead of the game, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas taunted Messi by claiming that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has never been inspired when playing against the French side. Aulas also claimed that Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is the toughest opponent his side has ever faced. Speaking to newspaper Le Figaro (via The Express UK), he said, "Cristiano Ronaldo with Manchester United in 2004." We led 2-0 at half-time and after he goes back to him alone, delay, it was a rocket." "We faced boys like [David] Beckham, Messi, even though the Argentinian was never very inspired against us." "We hope that it will last. He may have a flu, that

                                                           Image : Daily Sports Cristiano Ronaldo's brag that he has won five Champions League titles compared to Atletico Madrid's zero has received a frosty response from the club's president Enrique Cerezo. Walking through the mixed zone after goals from Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez earned Atletico a 2-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday, Ronaldo held up his hand. "I won five Champions Leagues and these guys zero," he told reporters.  After few hours Cerezo, though, does not think Madrid's victories over Atletico in those two Champions League finals should count towards Ronaldo's personal tally. "For me, Cristiano doesn't have five Champions Leagues," the Atletico president told Italian radio station. "He has three and for one very simple reason: Both against Atletico Madrid he didn't win." #Theballman

Anderson has its say on Replacing Messi or Replacing Ronaldo Former Barcelona striker Sonny Anderson says Lionel Messi will be phenomenally difficult to replace - harder than it was for him to fill the boots of Ronaldo. The former Brazil international arrived at Barca in 1997 as a replacement for his countryman Ronaldo, who left the club that summer to join Inter, but struggled to escape from the shadow of the future Real Madrid star. "It's complicated,” said Anderson told Goal of his time at Camp Nou. “For me, it was a very difficult time because when I arrived, I cost more money than Ronaldo and the fans expected from me a similar performance. "Ronaldo was a unique player and the fans didn't know much about me because I played in France. After Messi leaves, the player who replaces the No.10 shirt at Barcelona will have an even more difficult time of it than I did "I already said at the time, I did not come to replace Ronaldo because it was a

Messi has explained the reason behind the penalty gift to Coutinho, who has been out of form recently, stating that he was happy to let the Brazilian take the spot-kick. According to Sport English, the Argentine ace said, "Coutinho had scored a penalty against Levante and he wanted to take it." "We talked about it. So he took it and I am happy because the comeback started there." Meanwhile, Coutinho was quick to thank his captain for the gesture, saying (via Goal), "The penalty has come naturally. Leo’s gesture shows how great it is." "Thanks to Leo, for letting me kick the penalty, that’s good for the confidence of the group. We knew that to overcome, we had to be involved from the beginning." #Theballman