Messi on fire as Barcelona win at Sevilla

Lionel Messi

There was no looking past the world’s best player on Saturday afternoon as Lionel Messi put on another masterclass to help Barcelona win 4-2 at Sevilla.

The home side actually went ahead through a well-taken finish from Jesus Navas but Messi equalised with a sublime left-footed volley just minutes later.

Sevilla were in the lead again at half-time, however, after Gabriel Mercado scored three minutes before the break. Pablo Machin’s side were good value for their 2-1 lead at that stage.

Machin’s half-time team-talk probably consisted of something like “keep Messi quiet and we can win this”.

Sevilla considering Eric Bailly move to bolster their defence

Bailly

La Liga side Sevilla are considering a shock bid for Manchester United defender Eric Bailly, as Pablo Machin looks to strengthen his back line during the January transfer window.

Ivory Coast international Bailly is reported to be unhappy at the recent departure of Jose Mourinho from the club, and is considering his future in England, after starting just one game under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Bailly is open to a return to Spain – where he enjoyed spells at Espanyol between 2014-15 and Villarreal between 2015-16 – before making the move to Old Trafford.

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New signings set for Sevilla debut in the Europa League

Sevilla

Sevilla continue their preparations for the 2018-19 La Liga season with a Europa League second round qualifying clash against Hungarian side FC Ujpest tonight.

Their visitors, who qualified by virtue of finishing third in their domestic league, head to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as clear underdogs.

Sevilla on the other hand, who have won the competition more times than any other side in Europe, are likely to use it as part of their pre season fine tuning.

They have had a mixed bag of results in friendlies so far, beating Segunda B side Real Murcia, losing to Benfica and drawing with Premier League team Bournemouth.

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Great move for Lille to sign Jose Fonte

fonteRumours have been swirling over the past few days that French Ligue 1 side Lille OSC could be about to complete the transfer of former Southampton and West Ham defender Jose Fonte to bolster their defence. Les Dogues had a tough time of things last season, narrowly avoiding relegation to Ligue 2, winning out in a race which went right to the wire. They survived at the expense of Toulouse, who went down just a single point behind and with a superior goal difference tally. With that in mind, manager Christophe Galtier looks set to complete one of his primary ambitions this summer in getting in some new faces to shore things up, and in Fonte they are getting a player with a wealth of experience and footballing knowledge.

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