While the Premier League generally kicks off with four or five teams believing they can challenge for top spot, some feel that in the top flights in Germany, France and Italy, the champions can be easily predicted.
Achraf Hakimi's overlapping run distracted Joao Cancelo and Messi charged inside, ghosting past Aymeric Laporte as though he was not there, bouncing a one-two off the heel of Kylian Mbappe's right boot, then firing a brilliant first-time shot into the top corner.
I've lost count of the number of people who have asked 'have you got any West Ham spares?'. I've even had people I haven't heard from for years text me wanting tickets.
Aston Villa creator Emi Buendia has hit form in recent weeks but now faces direct competition from loan signing Philippe Coutinho...
I can't remember the last time they all played together. They were a good four, and let's be honest the back-up isn't good enough.
Liverpool's second league defeat of the campaign at Leicester on Tuesday, coupled with City's 1-0 win at Brentford in midweek means Klopp's side trail the champions by nine points going into the New Year's fixtures.
I like Lacazette, he is a good footballer, he holds the ball up and brings players into the game, he is decent.
Spain did cause problems - Athenea del Castillo forced saves from England debutant Hannah Hampton in goal, while Jennifer Hermoso and Garcia wasted opportunities.
Everton fans ultimately never warmed to Benitez, and he leaves with a record of seven wins, 11 draws and four losses in the Premier League, while also having overseen their surprise Carabao Cup third-round loss to QPR.
Chelsea pair N'Golo Kante and Jorginho are joined on the men's shortlist by Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne.
Everyone in that stadium will know me well enough to know what I'm about and what I'm going to Anfield for.
I know that my one per cent alone isn't going to fix this problem, and my voice alone won't solve systemic racism.
We're a [promotion] contender, they're a contender, but it won't be the first time that we'll have played against a contender this season, the former Everton boss told BBC Radio London.
United were not even in the same postcode as Liverpool on that Old Trafford pitch to have any chance of a famous comeback, and Atalanta is so far from memory it may as well have happened in another lifetime.
A similar defeat to West Brom almost a year ago to the day proved to be just a blip. They were 14 points behind Manchester City on January 15.
I still have objectives that I can achieve and I want to win another Scudetto. I don't know what will happen after football, so I am a little scared to stop.
This was not his evening but it was an important step. Assimilated back in the squad after the furore, he and Chelsea can now move on.
He always seems to think he is back and you think he is doing well. He started the season well and then he has fallen away.
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Tuchel: We're a bit exhausted Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel: We look a bit drained, a bit exhausted, and you can see everybody tries hard.
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The FA is launching an independent probe via a law firm into the allegations, which have been made by former FA staff members.
Now is the right time to talk about it and tell people what really happened, without saying anything bad about anyone, because I'm not like that.
Asked if the tie was still alive Tuchel replied no but Chelsea will still travel to Madrid with some hope. However, they are up against canny operators in Real and their coach Carlo Ancelotti, a three-time winner of this tournament.
Canada for their part have scored in each of their last nine home qualifiers during which time they have kept just four clean sheets, and backing these two in-form sides to both score should be an attractive option.
Visiting coach Hernan Gomez made three half-time changes, two of which were said to be because of the freezing conditions.
Contract or not, we always have very open communication with [Hans-Joachim] Watzke, [Michael] Zorc and now [Sebastian] Kehl. We deal with each other honestly. That is much more important than anything written on paper.
I want to make sure that I am making the right decisions for the right reasons. We have happily parked that for the time being.
Winning the rematch against the Foxes maybe didn't prove those early thoughts were correct - 35% possession, fewer shots, shots on target and corners than their opponents was more reminiscent of Nuno's counter-attacking preference - but the results are the evidence.
We didn't start that well and sometimes in the second half we had some hard times and times when we made some mistakes that they almost benefited from, but overall we dominated the game. Austria head coach Irene Fuhrmann was pleased with her side's performance against illustrious opponents.
Conte, whose contract runs only until the end of next season, said he is enjoying his time at the club, but the playing squad was notable by its absence from a list of positives he highlighted.
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Tavares agrees and is keen to repay the supporters' faith, starting at Anfield on Saturday. We want to be number one, obviously, he said.
The Serbian delivered once again tonight for his club, and proved a nightmare for the young Oscar Mingueza to deal with at right-back for Barcelona.
That was certainly the thinking for Hasenhuttl after Friday night. You can't speak about having a big squad and trusting everyone and not show the right signals.
Kent twice went close to a third; a driven shot deflected over by Josh Doig, before curling an effort wide of the far post.
It was a fairly remarkable day all round as what can often be quite a laborious qualifying process suddenly transformed into a glitzy high-stakes gameshow with a winner-takes-all round right at the end.
Andriy Yarmolenko has scored 13 UEFA Europa League goals, the second-most of any Ukrainian player, behind only Júnior Moraes (14).
