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Ex-Barcelona star Yaya Toure doesn’t believe Lionel Messi is the best player he ever played with

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Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure did not name Lionel Messi as the best player he played with during his career. Photos: Playmaker/Manuel Queimadelos Alonso. Source: UGC
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  • Yaya Toure raised eyebrows by stating that Lionel Mess was not his pick for the best player he had played alongside during his career
  • Given Toure’s time at Barcelona, where he shared the pitch with Messi, fans naturally assumed that the Argentine would top Toure’s list
  • However, despite Messi’s prolific goal-scoring and game-changing performances, Toure’s choice for his greatest teammate came as an unexpected twist

Former Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure surprised fans by not naming Lionel Messi as the best player he played alongside in his career.

Toure’s big break came at Barcelona in 2007, and he truly hit his stride in 2008 under then-manager Pep Guardiola.

In his three years with Barcelona, Toure was part of the iconic 2009 team that achieved a historic ‘sextuple,’ claiming La Liga, the Champions League, Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup, and the Club World Cup.

This unprecedented success solidified the squad’s place in football history.

The trophy-laden campaign saw many world-class players, yet most fans attributed the historic achievement largely to Messi, who scored 47 goals that calendar year.

However, even Messi’s contributions weren’t enough for Toure to name him as the best player he played alongside.

Despite also sharing the pitch with stars like David Silva and Sergio Aguero at Manchester City, neither of them made Toure’s list when he revealed his ‘greatest’ teammate.

“[Lionel] Messi was top, [Andres] Iniesta was top, Xavi was great, but I will say Iniesta,” he told Arsenal Declan Rice when speaking to GOAL in 2023 via Sportbible.

“He had something different. Playing with him, wow! It was something else.”

“I learned more about technical skills and seeing things,” Toure added.

Messi scores hat trick for Inter Miami

Earlier, Ekwutosblog reported that Inter Miami made Major League Soccer history with a 6–2 victory over New England Revolution on the final day of the regular season, highlighted by a hat trick from Lionel Messi.

Under the guidance of Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, Miami set a new record for the most points in a single MLS season, finishing with 74 points.

They surpassed the previous record of 73 points held by New England from the 2021 season.

Messi ‘jabs’ Ronaldo

In an earlier report by Ekwutosblog , Messi appeared to make a subtle remark about his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.

After netting a hat-trick and providing two assists in Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers, Messi’s international goal tally rose to 112, placing him second to Ronaldo.

However, during a post-match interview, Messi downplayed the importance of the numbers, stating that he wasn’t focused on the statistics.

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Chelsea ‘breach UEFA limits on financial losses’, could be banned from Europe

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Chelsea have breached UEFA limits on financial losses, according to the UK Times.

On Monday, the Blues posted a net profit of almost £130 million in their latest accounts published.

This profit was arrived at after they sold their women’s team to their sister company.

A statement on Chelsea’s website however didn’t specify how much the women’s team was sold to BlueCo, the holding company used in Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s takeover three years ago.

It only noted that “profit on disposal of subsidiaries” was £198.7 million .

The move helped Chelsea avoid breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules last season.

But the loophole has been rejected by UEFA and means the Blues have overspent and are now set to be punished.

It is reported that the Blues are now in talks with UEFA over a financial penalty and having to follow a spending plan for the next three seasons.

 

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Digvesh Rathi credits Sunil Narine as inspiration after match-winning spell

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Digvesh Singh Rathi (Photo: IPL) © Provided by Asian News International (ANI)
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Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 5 (ANI): Young spinner Digvesh Singh Rathicontinued his impressive rise in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), delivering a composed and effective spell in Lucknow Super Giants‘ (LSG) 12-run victory over Mumbai Indians(MI). His figures of 1/21 in this high-scoring encounter earned him the Player of the Match award.

 

After the match, Rathi expressed his joy and revealed the inspiration behind his bowling mindset.

“I’m really enjoying it. I like to get batters out. I watched Sunil Narine bowl and from that time I took to bowling,” said Rathi.

“I want to make my mindset more attacking, want to be like Narine, on how he stays calm even during pressure situations,” he added.

Rathi’s only wicket came at a crucial time — the dismissal of the dangerous Naman Dhir, who had looked threatening with a quickfire 46 off 24 balls, including four boundaries and three sixes.

“Before that over, I spoke to you (Pant), we wanted a mid-wicket but we did not have one, he looked to play through there and that move really worked for us,” Rathi revealed.

The win was LSG’s second in the tournament, while MI slumped to their third defeat in four matches. With youngsters like Rathi stepping up and showing maturity, Lucknow will be optimistic about building momentum as the season progresses.

Coming to the match, the Lucknow Super Giantsbowlers’ exceptional performance restricted the five-time champions Mumbai Indians to 191 as the hosts registered a 12-run win at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a mammoth total of 203 runs, the Mumbai side didn’t have a good start as they lost the first two wickets in the first 10 balls of the second innings. First, Will Jacks (5 runs off 7 balls) was sent back to the pavilion when the team score was 11 and then Ryan Rickleton (10 runs from 5 balls) was sent back when the team score was 17.

Suryakumar Yadav (67 runs in 43 balls) and Naman Dhir (46 runs off 24 balls) were the highest scorers for the Mumbai-based franchise during the chase.

Team skipper Hardik Pandya (28 runs from 16 balls) and left-hand batter Tilak Varma (25 runs in 23 balls) scored some crucial runs for their side, but it was not enough as the side lost the game by 12 runs.In the 19th over, Tilak was retired out after playing the innings of 25 runs which came with the help of two fours when the team needed 24 runs off seven balls.

The last over was bowled by right-arm seamer Avesh Khan where the Hardik Pandya-led side needed 22 runs. Avesh conceded only nine runs off his 6 balls, despite conceding a maximum on the first ball of the 20th over.

For the Rishabh Pant-led side, one wicket each was grabbed by Shardul Thakur (1/40), Akash Deep (1/46), Avesh Khan (1/40), and Digvesh Rathi (1/21) in their respective spell of four overs.

Earlier, Pandya won the toss and elected to field, but MI’s bowlers were put under pressure early on as Marsh and Markram gave LSG an explosive start. The opening pair reached the 50-run mark in 5.1 overs and raced to 69 by the end of the powerplay.

(more…)

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Transfer: I’m yet to decide my future – Osimhen

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Victor Osimhen has declared that he is yet to make a decision on his future, Ekwutosblog reports.

 

Osimhen joined Turkish Super Lig champions Galatasaray on loan from Napoli last September.

The Yellow and Reds are desperate to sign the Nigeria international on a permanent transfer.

The 26-year-old has also been linked with a move to Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Osimhen stated that he is yet to make a decision on where he will play his football next season.

“I haven’t decided about my future yet. Right now, my only focus is Galatasaray’s championship. I will make this team a champion,” the forward was quoted by Web Aslan.

Osimhen racked 27 goals and seven assists in 32 league appearances for Galatasaray this season.

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