It’s been about three years since Pep Guardiola stepped down as Barcelona manager, but on Wednesday he returned to the Camp Nou as a spectator. Ostensibly, he was there to scout a team that might face his Bayern Munich in the next round of the Champions League, but his reactions to the game made it clear that he was also very much a fan. Even though he tried to hide it.
Both Nike and Adidas have released new footwear made to represent, be promoted by, and cover the toes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively. This is an event that seems to happen every other week, but this time, both releases appear to be efforts to reinforce the most simplistic and problematic perceptions of the two biggest names in football.
Records are an important part of sports. They provide a context that links the past and present, giving younger generations a means to appreciate what came before their time. They allow the names of legends to live on beyond the confines of their brief careers. And by monopolizing football’s records, Lionel Messi is destroying everything.
The night before Barcelona traveled to Manchester for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Man City, Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique made a “late-night” trip to a casino with former teammate Cesc Fabregas. This prompted the same reaction it always does when footballers do something that normal humans do: MEDIA OUTRAGE!!!
Have you ever dreamed of hanging a portrait of a crying Gerard Pique in your home? Of course you have. And now’s your chance to make that strange dream a reality. On February 12, Sotheby’s in London will auction off 18 works — some related to Barcelona and others not — to support the FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF. One of those works is the portrait of Pique as Apollo Belvedere by Francesco Vezzoli pictured above.
Lionel Messi recently expressed his willingness to play in the same team as Cristiano Ronaldo in a supremely hypothetical world where that might be possible somehow. Now Ronaldo has followed that up by saying that competing against Messi motivates him. So what would happen if they actually did play in the same team? Exactly this.
Cristiano Ronaldo once again brought his dapperly dressed son to the Ballon d’Or gala, giving the younger Cristiano a chance to meet his dad’s trophy rival, whom he apparently won’t stop talking about at home.
First, Barcelona had to go and disrupt the storyline of “Barca are over (for real this time!)” by beating Atletico 3-1 with goals from Neymar, Lionel Messi AND Luis Suarez. Then, after the match, Messi ruined the most pervasive story of the January transfer window by going on Barca TV and stating unequivocally that everything printed about him simultaneously trying to leave the club and run it as an iron-fisted dictator is total bullshit.
Lionel Messi’s official Instagram account is now following Chelsea FC’s official Instagram account. This is somehow both important news and evidence of something. Since everyone remembers when Messi followed Manchester City on Instagram in March of last year and then immediately joined the club and won 17 trophies with them, including the World Series of Rugby, before returning to Barcelona and pretending it never happened.
Obviously, there are a number of perfectly reasonable explanations for Messi’s sudden interest in Chelsea’s official social media presence. These are a few.
Leo Messi’s body is worth billions. Between its footballing talent and ability to sell a variety of products, it’s something that Barcelona, FIFA, dozens of corporations and millions of fans hold in the highest regard. But to his two-year-old son Thiago, Leo’s body is just a giant coloring book begging for purple scribbles.
