That the FC Barcelona defense has gained in tranquility with the signing of Joan Garcia (24) as goalkeeper is a reality. That this summer the club will have to decide who takes over as second goalkeeper, too. The Polish Wojciech Szczesny (36), who signed a renewal for one year plus another optional, has pretty much accepted that he will not continue next season. Who will take the role of second goalkeeper? That is one of the questions being asked at the training ground.

Leo Messi has a World Cup, four Champions Leagues, and eight Ballon d’Or awards. But all those titles are football achievements, earned on the pitch. The 38-year-old Argentine footballer now receives the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, one of the major sports awards, one that transcends what merely happens in stadiums. The award ceremony will be held on October 24 at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo.

With 54,224 spectators in the stands of the Spotify Camp Nou, Rodri and Lamine Yamal jerseys, and applause for Hansi Flick, Barcelona presented the squad that, pending the closing of the market, will face the 2026-27 season with the goal of defending the League title and fighting for the coveted Champions League.

Natural, spontaneous, friendly, uninhibited and also, as he is, a bit playful. For the first time since he got injured against Celta on April 22, Lamine Yamal explained how he experienced the moment he got injured at the Spotify Camp Nou and what he felt in the hours afterward. He does not hide the panic that overwhelmed him at that moment at the possibility of missing the World Cup. After taking and scoring the penalty in which he suffered the injury, Lamine experienced fear. “I remember the sequence in which I got injured. I was praying inside that it was nothing, that it was a cramp or something, because I saw myself very close to the World Cup moment. I was afraid it was very serious or that I could relapse and miss the World Cup,” said the Barcelona forward in statements to the Spanish Federation media.