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Barcelona captured their eighth LaLiga title in the last 11 years after their 1-0 win against Levante. The Catalan giants are well on course for another historic treble and there is no shortage of news as we approach the business end of the season. Here are the top stories of the day surrounding the Catalan giants: Lionel Messi to receive another coveted award Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will receive the La Creu de Sant Jordi award in May....

The LaLiga leaders have announced the move to mark Chinese New Year, with this the first time Barcelona’s shirts have featured new characters on the back. A Barcelona statement confirmed the move is part of the club’s attempts to establish a growing presence in the Asian market. “This action is added to the video of congratulation for the Chinese New Year that was made by the club and released this Monday, with the participation of first team players Leo Messi, Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Samuel Umtiti,” said the statement....

The Chinese Super League club released a statement on Thursday revealing the Spanish club had made a formal approach for the Brazilian but that they had no intention of selling. “Paulinho, having already renewed his contract in January 2017, is an important player for our club’s the long-term project,” Guangzhou Evergrande said. Barca interest in Paulinho embarrassing “Therefore, our club have given a formal response to the Barcelona football club that we reject their bid for Paulinho, who is not in our transfer plan whatsoever....

Players like Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pepe Reina, Mark van Bommel, Gary Lineker, Romario, Ronaldinho, and Deco have left the club too early in their career but went on to achieve greatness elsewhere. On that note, let’s take a look at the starting XI that Barcelona should not have sold. Formation: 3-4-3 Goal Keeper - Andoni Zubizarreta 17 full seasons in La Liga, 833 competitive games, and 6 times La Liga winner, Andoni Zubizarreta was one of the best goalkeepers in the world during the 80’s and 90’s....

There was enthusiasm, there was spirit, but ultimately there was Kylian Mbappe and a brutal reality check for Barcelona. Ronald Koeman’s side suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night in the Champions League last 16, and they will need another ‘remontada’ to get out of this one. It doesn’t look likely. Their whole season is almost over, in terms of potential trophies, but this campaign never seemed promising on that front after last summer’s 8-2 annihilation by Bayern Munich and Lionel Messi’s foiled attempt to flee....

The traditional blue and red vertical stripes have been altered to change size across the kit whilst maintaining a symmetrical pattern. With fans so used to seeing the iconic design, it may take time to become accustomed to the change of ways. Kaka: Why Neymar’s my favourite player A change in sponsorship also comes in the form of Rakuten, a Japanese electronic commerce company that’s currently valued at USD $17 billion, replacing Barca’s previous deal with Qatar Airways....

The Barcelona doctor Mr.Ricard Pruna, has recommended that Neymar be put on a weight gaining regimen so that he could add on a few pounds. Neymar had been diagnosed with anaemia in the recent past, and it has been felt at Camp Nou that he would need to put on a some weight, to get to his best physical condition. Ramalho who was Neymar’s coach at his former Club Santos, has a completely different point of view on the weight issue....

The Brazil international, 26, could head back to Camp Nou from Paris Saint-Germain, who have reportedly agreed to let Neymar return to Spain for €200million. Neymar scored 105 goals in 186 games for Barca before leaving for PSG, where he is in his second season. But Van Gaal, the former Barcelona coach, feels re-signing Neymar would be a bad move for the LaLiga club. “I think it’s not good for Barcelona, but that’s my opinion,” the Dutchman told La Porteria de Beteve....

Given the fragility of their defence in recent weeks and the nine points dropped from the last 12 available, Lionel Messi’s first-half injury was the last thing the team needed. Especially at the start of a run of three matches which could define their season. But instead of letting their heads drop, Ernesto Valverde’s men arrested a run of four league games without a win to romp to a 4-2 triumph against Sevilla on Saturday night at Camp Nou....

The 24-year-old was one of three players signed for the Barca B alongside midfielder Josep Miquel Fernandez from UE Cornella and left-back Moises Delgado from Sevilla Atletico, but his dreams of playing for the Catalans were shattered because of Guardiola’s alleged actions over two years ago. The official club statement read, “FC Barcelona have decided to rescind the contract signed by the player Sergi Guardiola this afternoon, who was due to join Barça B....

Messi was hurt in the second half of Barca’s 2-2 draw against Valencia at the weekend, after he had scored twice to draw the LaLiga leaders level from two goals down. Valverde described the injury, which appeared to concern Messi’s thigh, as a “small problem” when he spoke to the media after the game, and the forward reportedly missed training on Monday. Messi was absent when Barca demolished Madrid 5-1 at Camp Nou in LaLiga at the end of October, but Valverde will give his captain every chance to be available for Wednesday’s game....

Barca were the defending champions and resounding favourites at the Allianz Stadium after a perfect La Liga season of 30 wins from 30 matches, but Lyon took them apart with a frenetic first-half performance. Amandine Henry curled home a brilliant 25-yard finish in the sixth minute before Ada Hegerberg took centre-stage to torment Barca once more. In the 2019 final, the Norwegian superstar fired a first-half hat-trick to down the Catalans and, on the other side of a two-year injury nightmare, she was back to her vintage best....

STICKY ISSUE OF THE WEEK Anti-semitism. We know the polls claim that Joe Lieberman’s Jewish faith is irrelevant to the vast majority of voters, but that isn’t how it played out in chat rooms and talk radio this week. As if the lewd and crude bigotry weren’t bad enough, the spelling was atrocious too. And we always thought you needed to be literate to go online. GAFFE OF THE WEEK It’s not just who you invite to your parties, but where you have them that matters as well....

Taylor Russey was bought the ticket by a regular customer at Bleacher’s Bar in O’Fallon, Missouri, on October 19, according to a news release. When Russey came into work the next day, she found out the bar had sold a winning ticket after the bar’s lottery terminal issued an alert. Russey said she hadn’t realized that she was in possession of the winning ticket at the time. “I was like, ‘Guys, who won all this money and didn’t tell anybody?...

The greatest sports moment of 2016 — no, the greatest moment period — happened Saturday night, when Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon hit his first career home run at Petco Park off Padres starter James Shields. The 42-year-old Colon, all 285 pounds of him, rounded the bases with an enormous grin as the Mets bench went absolutely bonkers. MORE: Bartolo Colon’s perfect swing, as examined by hitting experts SNY play-by-play man Gary Cohen summarized the moment perfectly, exclaiming, “The impossible has happened!...

Griffey, Rivera, Jeter — they’re the boxes you know you’ll check long before that envelope with the old-school paper ballot arrives in the mail sometime around Thanksgiving. Most voters don’t spend much time pondering whether no-doubt candidates like that are worthy of enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame, though there is some satisfaction in being part of the process that officially lands them in Cooperstown. Move beyond legends, though, and things can get murky in a hurry....

Which of those storylines are the most interesting? Let’s take a different approach and dive into five of them — by the numbers: 62 Rightly or wrongly, there are plenty of fans who consider Roger Maris’ 61 the magic number for home runs in a season. And for the first time in a long time, there’s a player with a chance to pass that number — and he just happens to be wearing pinstripes, too....

The Blues dominated proceedings for the entirety of the contest but found it hard work breaking a rather resolute BATE defence. The hosts too, had rare but clear-cut opportunities, but failed to test Chelsea often. With 12 points, three clean sheets and four wins in a row in the European tournament, Chelsea have qualified to the round-of-64 and extended their unbeaten start to the season to 17 matches. Here are 5 major talking points from Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over BATE Borisov....

Bates Motel ran for five seasons, and it never stopped delivering Psycho levels of horrifying suspense and gore. The series was meant to serve as a prequel to Hitchcock’s Psycho, and for the most part, Bates Motel could lead into Psycho beautifully. Bates Motel stars The Conjuring’s Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore as the notorious members of the Bates family. Other cast members include Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, Nestor Carbonell, and Kenny Johnson....