Lionel Messi s uncanny ability to create history continued with a record-breaking sixth Ballon d Or on Monday.
The decade-long monopoly on football s most prestigious individual prize held by the Barcelona great and Cristiano Ronaldo was broken a year ago by Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
But once again it was Messi s name on the prize as he added to the Ballons d Or he won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Below, with the help of Opta data, we have scrutinised the numbers behind each of the years Messi has been named the world s best.
2009
Could there really have been any other winner in a year in which Messi swept every major honour? There were six collective titles in total as Pep Guardiola s star-studded class won La Liga, the Copa del…
Earlier this week I previewed and predicted the winners for Saturday s (13 August) fixtures, today I will look into the three games taking place on Sunday (14 August) and Monday (15 August).
Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Britannia Stadium
Chelsea are looking to get their 2011-12 Premier League campaign off to a winning start in this one, but Stoke will surely have something to say about that. The Blues come to the Britannia Stadium having made only two signing in the summer transfer window thus far, Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu. Lukaku joins Chelsea from Belgian club RSC Anderlecht, where he earned the nickname, The Next Didier Drogba , which has since also been given to Tottenham Hotspur starlet Souleymane Coulibaly. Romeu comes to the Premier Leag…
A weird scheduling quirk will see the Cleveland Browns face the Baltimore Ravens in two consecutive games, with a bye week in between to lick their wounds after yet another miserable offensive performance.
The Ravens are also limping into this game — figuratively and literally — coming off a meltdown defeat to the Steelers and suffering even more injuries that further decimate the roster.
NFL betting odds currently have Cleveland as a slight home favorite… but can you seriously back the Brownies? Get our thoughts with our free NFL picks and predictions for Ravens vs. Browns on Sunday, December 12.
…
There are some intriguing totals on the NFL betting board for Week 7, so they’ll be the focus of this week’s parlay plays.
We’ll “follow the money” with one of our parlay wagers, in which both legs are totals. We’ll also mix in a road favorite with another total play.
Below are our parlay picks for Week 7.
…
Week 14 featured a good handful of games with huge weather implications, and although the Week 15 odds may not feature as many games with impactful weather, there are still a few games projected to have some eye-opening and NFL odds-altering weather.
This week features some projected high wind speeds on the East Coast as well as some windy conditions in the cold confines of Lambeau Field.
Continue reading for breakdowns of the forecasts for Week 15’s outdoor matchups before making your NFL picks.
…
Week 2 of the NFL preseason continues Saturday night which means you get my Cardinals vs. Colts predictions.
Neither team is likely to play their starters after two days of joint practices but the edge should go to the Colts in the opening half.
Let’s get into the best NFL picks for this preseason game on August 17.
Cardinals vs Colts prediction
My best betColts first half -0.5 (-108 at DraftKings)
My analysisAfter two days of joint practices, the Indianapolis Colts have already announced that none of the starters will play in this game and will instead play next week in the preseason finale. Joe Flacco will also not be playing on Saturday night. This means that Sam Ehlinger will get the start at quarterba…
England will face Spain in a friendly at Wembley on Tuesday, November 15.
Both nations will begin new eras this season, with Sam Allardyce having replaced Roy Hodgson as England manager following their last-16 exit at Euro 2016, while Julen Lopetegui was installed as Vicente del Bosque s successor after Spain bowed out at the same stage in their bid to win a third consecutive European title.
Spain won the previous meeting between the sides, 2-0 in Alicante last November thanks to goals from Mario Gaspar and Santi Cazorla.
New fixture confirmed:
v
Tuesday 15 November
8pm
On sale 13 September
From £20/£10
— England (@England)
Frank Lampard scored the only goal when England triumphed in the previous Wembley meeting five years…
Best odds: 4/5
Bookmaker:
Braga will host Maccabi Petah Tikva at Estadio Municipal de Braga on Thursday evening for the first leg of their Europa League second round qualifying tie.
The victor of this two-legged encounter will face off against either Molde FK or Silkeborg IF in the third qualifying round.
Braga
Including qualifiers, Braga are gearing up for their eighth consecutive season in the Europa League, aiming to improve upon last year s early exit in the third qualifying round against Qarabaq FK.
Braga s primary goal in recent years has been to break into the top two of the Portuguese top flight, a feat last achieved in the 2009-10 season. However, they ended the 2023-24 campaign in fourth place for the third time in four seasons.
<…
It was another vintage year for Lionel Messi as the Barcelona star won an incredible 10th La Liga title of his career.
The Argentina international now sits second on the list of the most successful players in Spain s top flight, with two winners medals fewer than Real Madrid legend Paco Gento.
He also won a record-equalling sixth Pichichi Trophy for the league s top scorer, drawing him level with Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra, who stood alone at the top since the 1950s.
Take a minute out of your day and watch all 36 of Messi s strikes this term in just 60 seconds.
This will be the best one minute of your day. Stop what you re doing and watch.
L E O M E S S I
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN)
…
Bob Bradley hit out at Jurgen Klinsmann during his Swansea City presentation and accused the German of jockeying for his job as United States head coach in 2010.
Bradley was formally presented as Francesco Guidolin s successor at Swansea in a media conference on Friday and Klinsmann, his replacement for the USA in 2011, came up as the subject of one question.
The former Germany international publicly congratulated Bradley on getting the Swansea job and, while the former Le Havre coach spoke of his gratitude, he clearly still harboured resentment for Klinsmann s seemingly tactless pining for his position in 2010.
From the day I got fired from the US, I ve not said one thing publicly about that team, he told reporters. I don t appreciate the way it was done; I thi…