Marc Bartra has called on Barcelona to prove their strength when they take on Bayer Leverkusen without the injured Lionel Messi.

Messi was withdrawn early in the first half of Saturday s 2-1 La Liga win over Las Palmas with what was later confirmed as a knee ligament tear which will sideline him for up to two months.

Despite the blow of losing their talisman, Bartra is determined that the European champions will prove their mettle when Leverkusen visit Camp Nou on Tuesday for the second game of the Champions League group stage after they drew their opener 1-1 at Roma.

It s bad news for us. Like it or not, Messi is our best player, the one who causes the most problems. I m very sad for him, he told Barca TV.

It s a major loss but now we have to become e…

Kylian Mbappe could become the first player to secure the Golden Boy award twice after he was included on a 40-man shortlist for this year s prize.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward was crowned in 2017 and has since played a starring role for France at the World Cup, scoring in the final against Croatia to help Les Bleus lift the trophy in Russia.

Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who helped his club reach the Champions League final, is one of four from the Premier League in the running to be crowned the best young player under the age of 21

Manchester City s Phil Foden and Everton s Tom Davies have been selected too, along with Diogo Dalot, the Portuguese full-back who signed for Manchester United from Porto in June.

Real Madrid new boy Vi…

Wayne Rooney has earned the right to enjoy a special England farewell, according to Michail Antonio.

Rooney will make his 120th and final international appearance in a friendly against United States at Wembley on Thursday.

England s all-time leading goalscorer will wear the number 10 shirt and replace Fabian Delph as captain when he is introduced from the bench.

Reaction to Rooney s return to international action after a two-year absence has been mixed, with Peter Shilton the only player with more England caps among those to criticise the move.

Players including Wesley Sneijder and Lukas Podolski have been similarly honoured by Netherlands and Germany respectively at the end of their international careers.

And Antonio, part of the England squad …

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli refused to discuss Fikayo Tomori s controversial red card after the Champions League defeat to Chelsea, stating it seems too obvious to me .

The Rossoneri suffered their fifth successive home loss against English opposition in the competition as first-half goals from Jorginho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang settled the Group E clash at San Siro.

However, the pendulum swung firmly in Chelsea s favour in the 18th minute when former Blues defender Tomori was shown a straight red card by referee Daniel Siebert following a tangle with Mason Mount in the box with the England international through on goal.

Tomori had fallen on to the wrong side of Mount, though may feel hard done by after the Chelsea forward managed to stay on his feet and f…

AC Milan s sluggish start to the new Serie A season sparked a wave of speculation over the future of favourite son and head coach Gennaro Gattuso.

Three straight competitive victories have since provided a measure of calm, but an unwanted result in Sunday s derby with Inter could give rise to more discussion regarding the club s current direction.

Defeat would leave the Rossoneri seven points adrift of their city rivals and pile the pressure back on Gattuso, whose managerial experience is dwarfed by cross-city rival Luciano Spalletti, as well as Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri and Carlo Ancelotti at Napoli.

Milan, now guided by former players Leonardo and Paolo Maldini, are not short on options should they seek a change, with the five men below all boasting…

Liverpool incurred a loss of £49.8million in the financial year ending May 31, 2013, new accounts have shown.

Although the Premier League club s turnover rose by nine per cent to £206.1million in the 12-month period, with debt falling by 29 per cent to just over £45m, their latest figures show they still suffered a significant after-tax loss.

A statement on Liverpool s official website read: Since Fenway Sports Group (FSG) completed its takeover of Liverpool FC in October 2010, revenue has steadily increased year on year and external debt has decreased overall by nearly £200m.

Despite the club dropping three places to 12th in Deloitte s Football Money League, Liverpool remains the highest ranked club that is not in the UEFA Champions League.

Its commercial re…

Fulham are set to take their legal action against Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards to the Court of Appeal.

The Cottagers have alleged Richards scuppered their bid to sign England striker Peter Crouch back in July 2009.

Wednesday saw the High Court issue a ruling stopping Fulham s legal action against Richards and the Premier League, urging them to pursue private arbitration in a bid to resolve the matter.

But Fulham were also given leave to appeal against the verdict and a statement issued by the London club later Wednesday made it clear they would contest the ruling.

Although it ruled that Fulham must pursue its complaints by way of private arbitration under the Premier League and Football Association rules, the High Court also gave Fulham per…

Eduardo Vargas remains very much in the plans of Napoli and will stay at the club, claims the player s representative Cristian Ogalde.

Since arriving in Naples midway through the 2011-12 campaign, Vargas has made just 19 Serie A appearances, all as a substitute, without scoring.

The Chile international spent the second half of last season on loan at Valencia, where he was particularly impressive in their run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.

After holding talks with the club, Ogalde says Vargas strong showing for Chile in their FIFA World Cup campaign has reinforced Napoli s belief that they want to keep the player.

I spoke with Napoli on Tuesday, he told emol.com. And the contract with them is still in force.

They consider him an important…

Lazio have completed the signing of Serbian defender Milan Bisevac from Lyon.

The terms of the club s deal for the 32-year-old were not disclosed.

A brief statement on Lazio s official website read: SS Lazio announces that Milan Bisevac is a new player [for the] Biancocelesti.

Bisevac, capped 19 times by his country, joined Lyon from Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 having also represented Lens and Valenciennes since moving to French football from Red Star Belgrade in 2006.

He struggled for regular first-team action with Lyon this season, making the last of five Ligue 1 starts in a 4-2 home loss to Montpellier at the end of November, while hamstring and knee ligament injuries severely curtailed his 2014-15 campaign.

Bisevac joins a Lazio side 10th i…