Messi tips Lautaro for Ballon d´Or after ´spectacular year´

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The clash between Serbia and Hungary in Group G of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign promises to be a closely contested battle. Both teams have performed well in their opening three fixtures, remaining unbeaten and collecting the same number of points.

The match in Belgrade will be a crucial one as both teams look to continue their strong start to the qualifying campaign and gain an advantage in the group standings.

Serbia

Serbia are looking to make amends for their disappointing performance at the 2022 World Cup and qualify for another major tournament. While they drew 1-1 against Bulgaria in their last match, they had previously won their opening two qualifying games against Lithuania and Montenegro.

The upcoming mat…

Kylian Mbappe returned to Paris Saint-Germain training on Wednesday, three days on from France s World Cup final defeat.

Mbappe scored a hat-trick in Sunday s showpiece match against Argentina, becoming only the second man to net a World Cup final treble.

But it was only enough to earn a 3-3 draw and take an out-of-sorts France team to a penalty shoot-out, where they lost 4-2 despite Mbappe again converting his spot-kick.

Mbappe now owns the record for the most World Cup final goals, having also netted once in France s 2018 success, and took home the Golden Boot ahead of PSG team-mate Lionel Messi.

Messi and Argentina were still celebrating their Qatar 2022 triumph back at home this week as Mbappe made a swift return to club duty, having celebrated his 24…

Manchester City continued their stuttering start to the Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at West Ham. 

The Hammers last beat City in September 2015 but Michail Antonio s magnificent overhead kick gave them an 18th-minute lead. 

City produced more of the ponderous play that saw them drop points against Leicester City and Leeds United until Phil Foden came off the bench to inspire their most convincing passage of the match. 

Foden struck a 51st-minute equaliser but, as they did in the first period, Pep Guardiola s side tailed off and even the appearance of a fit-again Kevin De Bruyne from the bench could not inspire a victory. 

City have eight points from five games and are 11th, below West Ham on goal difference.

Raheem Sterling drove at…

Dylan Levitt has joined Hibernian from Dundee United on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The 22-year-old Wales midfielder moved to Tannadice from Manchester United on loan in August 2021, before signing a two-year deal the following summer.

Hibs manager Lee Johnson said: “Dylan adds real quality to our midfield. We have strong competition for places in there now and have a lovely blend of qualities.

“He joins us with good pedigree, has a great passing range, and will fit seamlessly into our evolving squad.

“We are delighted to have secured his services and look forward to working with him.”

Levitt came through the youth ranks at Manchester United and made his debut in the Europa League, before gaining further senior experience on …

Raphael Varane says the suffocating schedule of top-level football was behind his decision to retire from France duty.

The Manchester United defender announced on Thursday he has called time on his career in international football, after winning 93 caps in a 10-year stint, landing World Cup glory in 2018 along the way.

The former Real Madrid centre-back, who joined United 18 months ago, featured in six of France s games at the recent World Cup in Qatar, where they were beaten on penalties by Argentina in the final.

At the age of 29, he could realistically have targeted another World Cup campaign, but Varane decided the punishing schedule of modern football was too much for him.

I gave everything, physically and mentally, Varane told Canal Plus. But the v…

Kingsley Coman has undergone a minor heart operation, Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann announced.

The France winger had the procedure on Thursday to correct the rhythm of his heart but is expected to make a swift return to training.

Nagelsmann said there was a manageable risk involved in the procedure and explained it was not an uncommon condition.

His heartbeat rhythm had a slight disturbance with a minor added beat. At times he had a slight shortage of breath, Nagelsmann said in a pre-match news conference ahead of his team s clash with Bochum.

That s why we opted for long-term ECG monitoring and went ahead with this procedure.

He is doing very well, he has minimal wound pain. When the wound has healed, he will start training agai…

Chelsea have agreed to activate a £35million release clause in Michael Olise’s contract leaving them free to negotiate personal terms with the Crystal Palace winger, the PA news agency understands.

A deal is yet to be struck with the player but it is understood he has made it clear to Palace that he wishes to leave in order to become the latest recruit in Mauricio Pochettino’s Stamford Bridge rebuild.

The 21-year-old, who can play either as an attacking midfielder or out wide, is currently out with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to be fit before September.

Should he agree terms as expected, he will join seven other first-team recruits brought in during the transfer window so far, taking the club’s total summer spend to over £320m once performance-rela…

Mallorca and Real Sociedad’s Copa del Rey semi-final remains finely poised after a goalless first leg.

LaLiga strugglers Mallorca will be the happier of the two despite being the home side as they failed to register a shot on target against their Champions League opposition.

Imanol Alguacil will be hoping the visitors do not live to regret their stalemate at the Estadi Son Moix when they host the second leg on February 27.

Full-time. All will be decided at the Reale Arena.

— Real Sociedad (@RealSociedadEN)

The first half was a forgettable affair as neither side really created an opening that was deserving of breaking the deadlock.

Sociedad should have bagged an away goal but Umar Sadiq missed a golden opportunity to finish from clos…

Lionel Messi picked his header against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final as the standout goal among more than 600 he has scored in his Barcelona career.

The five-time Ballon d Or winner described how the looping effort over Edwin van der Saar at Rome s Stadio Olimpico helped the Blaugrana close the circle as they clinched a LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble for the first time.

Samuel Eto o s opener put Pep Guardiola s all-conquering side on their way that night, in a match Messi described as spectacular in a conversation with TyC Sports.

My favourite goals are more than just attractive; they are important, said the talismanic 32-year-old.

It was in the Champions League final and helped us to close the circle with Guard…

The international break is upon us once again and so is the UEFA Nations League. Last night, we saw two of the juggernauts of European football go head to head in the competition as Germany let a one-goal lead slip to draw 1-1 with Spain.

After a goalless first half it was Timo Werner who managed to break the deadlock just after the interval, but in the dying seconds of the game, Jose Gaya scored a dramatic equaliser to salvage a point for the visitors. Today, we re going to take a look at a few of the things we learned from last night s encounter.

Werner looks good

Chelsea paid a lot of money to lure Timo Werner over to Stamford Bridge, and the big worry from some fans is that he isn t going to live up to the hype as many forwards before him have failed to do. Alas, i…