Football: Tearful Messi confirms Barcelona exit and 'possibility' of joining PSG

BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messi fought back tears during a press conference on Sunday at which he confirmed he is leaving Barcelona, where he has played his entire career.

The 34-year-old Argentinian superstar, six times a Ballon d'Or winner, has been out of contract since the end of June and Barca say they cannot afford to keep him, with Messi admitting that a move to Paris Saint-Germain is a "possibility". 

"This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, at home -- this is what we wanted more than anything," said a suited Messi as he struggled to contain his emotions.

"I have still not come to terms with the reality of leaving this club now, changing my life. I love this club.

Last year he sought to engineer a release from his contract in frustration at some poor showings in Europe by the club where he has won four Champions Leagues but ended up staying.

Last year, he explained, "I was convinced I knew what I wanted say, but this year is not the same", stressing his preference was to prolong his stay rather than contemplate what now seems a likely reunion with former clubmate Neymar at PSG -- ostensibly the only club that can afford him with Manchester City having distanced themselves. 

He hotly denied asking for more money but had, on the contrary, accepted a 50 percent salary cut.

"I would've liked to have won another Champions League," he added while stressing that "I don't regret anything, I tried to give my best and I'm ending my career here with a good number of titles".

- 'Gave everything' -

Last month Barcelona, battling huge debts, had said they were in agreement in principle with the player and his entourage on a new five-year deal on much reduced wages.

"The truth is I don't know what to say," said Messi, who signed for the Catalan giants as a 13-year-old.

"After 21 years I am leaving with my three Catalan Argentine children," said Messi, who won 10 league titles with the club.

"I gave everything for this club from the first day that I arrived right to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye.

"In recent days I have given lots of thought to what I can say and truth to tell I can't think of anything.

"This is really difficult for me after so many years spent here -- my entire life. I'm not ready for this," he said.

"We have had some good times, some bad times too -- but people always showed me the same love," said Messi, who said leaving was "sad and hard."

As thousands of Barca fans milled outside in disbelief at his exit, Messi told reporters one day he hoped to be back in some capacity.

"I hope I can come back and be part of this club at some moment, in any way and bring something to help this club to be the best in the world."

- 'Nothing signed' -

Messi was at pains to say that "nothing has been signed with anyone" and insisted that a picture of him which has made waves on social media in recent days of him on holiday with PSG stars including Neymar and Angel Di Maria was "just a photo".

He said there was no question of his having engineered a path to the Parc des Princes, adding that there had been interest from other clubs.

"When the press release (of his departure) was published, I received a lot of calls from interested clubs," he told reporters who applauded him for several minutes as he took the stage at the start of the press conference and again as he left the stage to embrace staff in the club's trophy room. 

"For the moment nothing is arranged but, yes, we are in discussion," said the Argentinian, who insisted he has always been "totally transparent" on his intentions.

According to Le Parisien, an agreement between PSG and the Argentinian could take place as early as later on Sunday. 

French sports daily L'Equipe forecast a "record contract" of three years, "with an annual net salary of 40 million euros". 

Agence France-Presse

Football: Barcelona confirm Aguero signing from Man City

MADRID - Barcelona confirmed that Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will join the club on 1 July when his contract with the Premier League champions expires.

Argentina international Aguero joined City from Spanish side Atletico Madrid in 2011 and went on to become the club's all-time leading goalscorer, netting 260 times as he helped them to claim five Premier League titles.

"Barcelona are the best team in the world," Aguero, who celebrates his 33rd birthday on Wednesday, told a news conference. "And we all know it.

"It was a good decision to join and help the team achieve things. It's another step and I'm very happy. I hope I can contribute a lot to the club.

"The first thing is to try and play and help the team as 

as I can. We are a team, and I will try my best. Hopefully we can get to the end of the season and be in contention for the important trophies."

Barca said the Argentine will sign a two-year deal, with a 100 million euro ($122.04 million) buy-out clause.

Aguero is expected to be the first of a number of arrivals at Camp Nou this summer as new president Joan Laporta looks to revamp a squad that could only finish third in La Liga.

Aguero's City team mate Eric Garcia has been heavily linked as a transfer target by local media, as have Dutch duo Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum. 

(Reporting by Joseph Walker; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)

-reuters

Barcelona still hoping Messi will stay with the club

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona hasn’t given up on Lionel Messi just yet.

A day after the Argentine great told the club he wants to leave, Barcelona said its restructuring project still revolves around the player.

“We want to rebuild for the future together with the best player in history,” Ramon Planes, the club’s technical director, said Wednesday. “We are not contemplating any departure on a contractual level because we want him to stay. We have to show a huge respect for Messi because he is the best player in the world.”

Planes spoke as Barcelona officially introduced striker Francisco Trincão at an event that had already been scheduled before Messi announced his desire to leave on Tuesday.

“We can’t make this a dispute between Leo Messi and Barcelona because neither deserves it,” Planes said.

Barcelona is trying to avoid an abrupt ending to Messi’s career at the club. His last match with a Barcelona jersey was the embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, one of the worst defeats in the player’s career and in the club’s history.

But Messi apparently has already made up his mind, and it seems only a matter of how ugly the termination will get and if Barcelona will get any money out of it.

Dozens of fans protested in front of the Camp Nou late Tuesday calling for the resignation of team president Josep Bartomeu. More protests by fans were scheduled for Wednesday.

“The situation has been uncomfortable for everybody,” Barcelona fan Oriol Aznar said. “This board of directors should have resigned a long time ago. Bad results, bad management. Nothing positive about them. They are destroying the club. It’s normal that Messi wants to leave. They want to end the year with a decent financial balance if they make money out of Messi leaving. But this isn’t the right way.”

Messi’s first contract with the club was signed on a napkin after a lunch between his representatives and club officials nearly 20 years ago, but it was with a burofax — a certified communication method commonly used in Spain, similar to a telegram — that Messi told the club he wants to leave.

There was no phone call or meeting with club officials. Just the burofax.

In it, Messi invoked a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave for free after the end of the season.

But Barcelona said the clause mentioned by Messi expired on June 10, meaning that the player missed the deadline and would have to pay the clause of 700 million euros ($827 million) if he wants to leave before his contract ends in June 2021.

What Messi may contend is that the clause was to expire at the end of the season, which this year was moved back because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The club said it replied to Messi’s burofax saying it wanted him to stay and finish his career with Barcelona.

“Total war!” said a front-page headline by the Sport newspaper on Wednesday.

“Goodbye by burofax,” said the sports daily AS.

Messi was outspoken against club directors throughout the season but has yet to speak publicly since the loss to Bayern.

Former Barcelona playmaker Rivaldo said he was sad to see Messi leaving like this, and that it would be difficult for the club if it didn’t get compensated financially.

“At a complicated time like this, with the current crisis, it would be a drama for Barcelona to lose its biggest star without getting anything in return,” he said. “This is probably the biggest dispute between the parts right now, so I don’t expect a quick exit, especially after the exchange of burofaxes between them yesterday.”

Associated Press

Barcelona, Madrid win as Liga title race nears climax

 BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona and Real Madrid maintained their neck-and-neck title race in the Spanish league on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), when both teams won to stay level on points at the top.

Luis Suarez scored twice and Lionel Messi set up another goal to give Barcelona a 3-0 victory at crosstown rival Espanyol, while Real Madrid needed a late strike by Marcelo after Cristiano Ronaldo had missed a penalty to secure a 2-1 win over Valencia at home.

"We had to bring out our fighting spirit and show who we are," Marcelo said. "We want to win every match we have left. Our goal is to go game by game."

The victories left Barcelona ahead of Madrid on the head-to-head record thanks to its win in the Spanish capital two rounds ago. Madrid, however, has four matches left compared to Barcelona's three and can ensure it lifts its first Liga title since 2012 if it wins all of them.

 "We will have to win all our games to keep the pressure on," Suarez said.


While Barcelona can rest ahead of the next round, Madrid must now prepare for its Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

Atletico primed its attack for the upcoming European derby by rolling to a 5-0 victory at Las Palmas.

ESPANYOL 0, BARCELONA 3

Espanyol defended well until the 50th minute when Suarez pounced on an ill-advised back pass by Jose Jurado that left him space to size up Diego Lopez before stabbing a shot past the goalkeeper.

Messi, who had scored a brace of goals in the last three league matches, set up Ivan Rakitic in the 76th before Suarez got another gift from Espanyol's Aaron Martin. The defender flubbed a clearance, leaving Suarez to round Lopez and complete his double.

Jurado's night to forget started with him missing an excellent opportunity to give Espanyol the lead just three minutes in when he was alone but sent his shot trickling wide.

"Our intensity, desire and ambition gave us the three points," Suarez said after ending his five-match scoring drought on the way to taking his league tally to 26 goals on the season.

REAL MADRID 2, VALENCIA 1

Ronaldo put Madrid ahead in the 27th when Valencia's markers lost track of the Portugal forward, leaving him alone to nod in Dani Carvajal's cross.

Ronaldo then had an excellent chance to add to his 20 league goals this season in the 57th after a questionable penalty when Luka Modric fell after contact with Dani Parejo.

But Valencia's penalty-stopping expert Diego Alves smothered his strike, taking his tally to six saved spot kicks in the season and 26 saves in 53 penalties since playing in the Spanish league. Three of those saves have come against Ronaldo.

Parejo made Marcelo's late goal necessary for Madrid when the Valencia midfielder leveled in the 82nd by bending a free kick up and over the wall.

Facing a damaging setback to Madrid's title hopes, Marcelo cut back to open a firing angle through a packed area before scoring the dramatic winner with just six minutes remaining.

"I would like to have ensured the win before, but we know that we can score in any moment and through any player," Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. "Today it was one of our defenders."

LAS PALMAS 0, ATLETICO MADRID 5

Kevin Gameiro struck twice and Saul Niguez added another goal for Atletico before 20 minutes were up. Substitutes Thomas Partey and Fernando Torres rounded off the demolition for Diego Simeone's side.

The win left Atletico in third place — three points ahead of Sevilla, which plays at Malaga on Monday.

The only downside was a left-leg injury to defender Jose Gimenez, leaving him in doubt for Tuesday's match when Atletico will try to avenge losses in the Champions League final to Madrid in 2014 and 2016.

REAL SOCIEDAD 2, GRANADA 1

Granada became the second team to be relegated — after last-placed Osasuna — following a fifth straight defeat, including three under new coach Tony Adams.

LEVANTE PROMOTED

Levante earned promotion to the top flight after a 1-0 win over Oviedo.

Levante, which was relegated last season, ensured its return with six rounds left in the second division.

source: philstar.com

Facebook founder Zuckerberg calls for universal access to Internet

BARCELONA -- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday the "whole world deserves to have access to the Internet," to a packed crowd at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

Zuckerberg's appearance was one of the most eagerly expected event of the opening day of the congress, which began Monday and runs until Thursday.

"Everyone deserves access to the Internet and I don't understand how we can still be like this in 2016... if there are more and more people with Internet access, it is a business model which works," said Zuckerberg, who highlighted that more clients for Internet providers would then lead to "investment in infrastructure."

He also spoke about the move towards 5G, questioning why the industry was moving so quickly to this level of connectivity when the important thing is that all the world can afford an Internet connection, "not just those who have money to pay for expensive connections."

source: interaksyon.com

Test your Design IQ

MANILA, Philippines - Who is the 20th century Spanish architect and city planner whose groundbreaking works include the Miro Foundation Building and the Spanish Pavilion in the 1937 Paris International Exhibition?

He was born in Barcelona in 1902. After graduating from the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arqutectura in 1929 he  worked with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in Paris.

Returning to Barcelona in 1930, he continued his practice there until 1937.  There, he created several outstanding pieces of modern architecture like the the weekend house at Garraf Catalonia, the Central Dispensary of Barcelona, and the Master Plan of the City of Barcelona (1933-35).

During that time, he also helped organize the first group of architects affiliated with Congres International d’Architecture Modern or CIAM.

From 1937 through 1939 he lived in Paris where he designed the Spanish Republic’s pavilion at the World’s Fair, the Paris Exposition 1937.  The Spanish Pavilion was built right beside the Nazi Germany Pavilion, while in Spain the Civil War was going on, and the Nazis had just bombed the town of Guernica.

For the artistic content of the building, he called on his Spanish artist friends Picasso, Miro, and Calder. Picasso’s contribution was Guernica, which became the focal point of its design.



After the Civil War, he went into exile in the US, where he worked with the Town Planning Associates, carrying out numerous urban plans for the cities in South America.

After a one year visiting professorship at Yale University in 1952, he became dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1953 to 1969.

There, he initiated the world’s first degree program in urban design, integrated the programs of architecture, planning, landscape, and urban design, and taught many of today’s leading architects.

In 1955, he founded a studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which in 1958 became a partnership with Huson Jackson and Ronald Gourney.  The studio designed many well-known projects including the Maeght Foundation in southern france, the Fundacio Miro in Bacelona, and a few buildings for Harvard University include the Holyoke Center, the Harvard Science Center, Peabody Terrace Apartments.

His other memorable works include the US Embassy in Baghdad, Motor City in Brazil, and his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Through his architecture, he hoped to achieve a balance of contrasting elements.  He worked to effectively and successfully combine people with machines, urban density and support services, and community spaces with private spaces.

In 1981, he was awarded the AIA Gold Medal.  He died in Barcelona in 1983.

source: philstar.com