As the injured Argentine watched from the stands with his fractured right arm in a sling, Rafinha and Jordi Alba struck either side of half-time as the hosts ran out 2-0 winners over Inter at Camp Nou.
Though the Blaugrana were not at their scintillating best without their talisman, they still produced enough to move to within two points of sealing their spot in the Champions League round of 16 with three group games still to play.
LLUIS GENE / AFP / Getty
Barcelona, perhaps surprisingly, boast a higher Champions League win percentage without Messi than they do with him in the XI, and they looked unflustered in the absence of their biggest star.
Luis Suarez, as he did after Messi’s withdrawal against Sevilla, stepped up to shoulder the burden of leading La Blaugrana from the front.
The Uruguayan created the opening goal, showing tremendous vision to float a delightful ball into the box from deep for Rafinha, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Inter, to volley home a composed finish.
Rafinha has scored his first goal for Barcelona in any competition since February 2017 against Atlético Madrid in LaLiga.
Against the side he spent the second half of last season on loan with. ? pic.twitter.com/MLpHolUhUq
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 24, 2018
Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic kept his side within one goal and in with a fighting chance as time wore on, but after Philippe Coutinho had hit the bar, Ernesto Valverde’s side made sure to continue their 100 percent record in Europe this season with seven minutes remaining.
Tremendous interplay between Ivan Rakitic – who was excellent in partnership with Arthur in central midfield – Arturo Vidal, and Alba saw the latter surge up the flank from left-back and finish neatly to double the advantage and leave Barca eight points ahead of third place with three matches to play in Group B.
It was an accomplished way to lay down the final preparations for Sunday’s El Clasico bout with Real Madrid, and proved there is joy to be had even in Messi’s absence.
RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright and tight end Ed Dickson are expected to make their season debuts Sunday against the Lions in Detroit.
Coach Pete Carroll was noncommittal on Wright’s availability earlier in the week, but on Wednesday he said he’s anticipating that both Wright and Dickson will play Sunday as long as they don’t suffer any setbacks in the meantime.
K.J. Wright has been out since late August after a setback following arthroscopic knee surgery. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
That’s why Carroll answered in the affirmative when asked if the Seahawks, who are coming off their bye, are as healthy as they’ve been all season.
“We’re in pretty good shape,” Carroll said.
Wright has been sidelined because of what Carroll called a setback in his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery in late August, which was initially expected to keep him out only a few weeks.
The Seahawks have cycled through replacements at Wright’s weakside spot, first starting rookie Shaquem Griffin in the opener. They then signed Mychal Kendricks, who played there for the next three games until he was suspended indefinitely in connection with his pleading guilty to insider trading charges. Austin Calitro has also seen time there, and more recently, Seattle has moved Barkevious Mingo over from the strong side.
Wright is now back in the spot he manned for most of his first seven seasons in Seattle.
“He brings a lot to the team,” middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “Another guy who’s kind of been through so much, been through the ups and downs of this team, this organization, has so much experience, extremely, extremely smart football player, very instinctive. We’ve been playing together for seven years, so we have communication that can’t be replicated, and he makes plays. He’s going to make adjustments and things of that nature, so I’m extremely excited to have him back. I think the last time we saw him he was making big hits and all that stuff, so that’s what I’m expecting from him.”
Carroll said that while he hasn’t seen much of Dickson in practice because he’s been out for so long, the four seasons the tight end spent with the Carolina Panthers gives the Seahawks an idea of how he can help them.
“He was involved with all kinds of stuff, and he’s been placed all over the field, he’s been in the backfield, he’s been out of the backfield,” Carroll said. “All of that really gives us confidence that there’s stuff that we can do with him that we’re looking forward to. But really he has not practiced with us very much, so we’re kind of opening up the Christmas present here. It’s kind of fun to get him going.”
It wasn’t so long ago that, in a time of need, Mauricio Pochettino would turn to Vincent Janssen.
In the pair of meetings with AS Monaco in the 2016-17 Champions League group stage, Janssen was introduced from the bench to try and overturn a 2-1 deficit. Both times, Tottenham Hotspur bumped at the principality club’s defense like a frustrated housefly trying to breach a closed bathroom window. Both times, the scoreline stayed the same.
Janssen scored just two goals from open play that season, but, through a lack of alternatives, Pochettino was forced to persevere with the diffident Dutchman.
In spite of spiraling construction costs for replacing White Hart Lane, Pochettino has since somehow managed to assemble a bulkier and more varied roster. Wednesday’s damaging 2-2 Champions League draw at PSV Eindhoven, however, suggests the tweaking is not over for the Argentinian. There are clear improvements in his squad, but there appears to be an inescapable state of transition in north London.
Rather than Janssen being afraid of playing anything other than the safe option, Tottenham now possess Lucas Moura, who in the ninth minute produced a sublime pirouette on the white paint of the left flank before scoring Spurs’ first goal a half an hour later. He was an under-the-radar buy in January – only Toni Kroos and Dani Alves created more chances in the 2016-17 Champions League season – and he began this term with three goals in his opening three Premier League games.
JOHN THYS / AFP / Getty
Kieran Trippier, whose gradual inheritance of a regular starting berth ensured Kyle Walker’s £50-million sale wasn’t particularly missed, eclipsed everyone else on the park with eight key passes, one of which set up Lucas’ goal. Erik Lamela, arguably the first player to properly comprehend Pochettino’s philosophy when he was appointed, showed he is fit and on form in a cameo off the bench after elongated spells in the treatment room.
The way Pochettino has been able to accommodate the sales prescribed by chairman Daniel Levy and injuries to a previously thin squad add further bullet points to the talented boss’ lengthy curriculum vitae, but the increasing want for something tangible in north London – namely silverware – means errors like the ones committed by Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld in Eindhoven merit greater scrutiny.
Lloris mindlessly upended Hirving Lozano for a deserved red card and, eight minutes later, watched PSV’s late leveler from the dressing room. This isn’t a one-off. He rushed out of his goal at Wembley earlier this month, giving Philippe Coutinho an easy opportunity to put Barcelona ahead. Lloris was also culpable for a blunder at Chelsea at the start of April, and had an awful error in the World Cup final against Croatia largely forgotten because France were already en route to glory.
Soccrates Images / Getty Images Sport / Getty
At 31, what appears to be a downturn in quality from Lloris is ahead of schedule. There may be external factors to his struggles (he was discovered by police covered in his own vomit when operating a vehicle in central London last month) but his form, or lack thereof, cannot be tolerated by a team with Tottenham’s aspirations. The wider concern for Spurs is that Michel Vorm and Paulo Gazzaniga don’t present reasonable replacements for a team vying in the upper echelons of English football.
Then there’s Alderweireld. His dawdling after 30 minutes set in motion a result that may eventually condemn Spurs to a best-case scenario of Europa League football after Christmas. Lozano had been giving Ben Davies a tough assignment earlier in the match, so for Alderweireld to switch off with the scuttling attacker on his shoulder was going to be costly, despite the Belgian’s best efforts to make amends.
Hanging onto Alderweireld is going to cost Tottenham a lot of money, and it’s surprising his exit wasn’t brokered amid an already difficult relationship with Pochettino due to dwindling minutes. An unhappy defender who was apparently subject to a £50-million offer from Manchester United in the last transfer window can now leave for nothing next summer when his contract winds down.
Changes are afoot, and Pochettino will have less money to conduct them.
Manchester City romped to the title last season but still signed Riyad Mahrez and unsuccessfully scoured the summer market for a deep-lying midfielder. But, unlike Tottenham’s constant tides of change, that was renewal and a means to remain hungry for success. Spurs, meanwhile, are locked in a transition, and just as the squad had been fleshed out to the point that Janssen was made redundant, the older, usually reliable parts seem to be breaking off.
When will the old “they’re improving” excuses abate? Will Pochettino stick around long enough to see the spine of Davinson Sanchez, Harry Winks, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Harry Kane truly reach fruition?
The NFL recognizes that Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead should have been penalized for a hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on Sunday, a source familiar with the league’s thinking said Tuesday.
Whitehead could have been flagged for one of two infractions: unnecessary roughness for a hit to the head of a sliding player or unsportsmanlike conduct for using his helmet to hit a player, the source said.
The NFL is not commenting on the hit. Fines are typically announced on Fridays. If the league fines Whitehead, it will be public affirmation that the play should have been penalized.
The hit occurred in the Bucs’ 26-23 overtime win on Sunday. Mayfield slid at the end of a 35-yard run on second-and-26 in the fourth quarter. Shortly after Mayfield’s knee hit the ground, Whitehead’s helmet hit the side of Mayfield’s head.
Whitehead lowered his head to make the hit and used the crown of his helmet. Both are textbook examples of what the league does not want and are included in the descriptions of hits that could lead to a player being ejected.
Officials initially flagged the play, but after a conference, referee Shawn Hochuli announced that the flag would be picked up.
“The quarterback was still a runner and therefore is allowed to be hit in the head,” Hochuli said to the crowd. “He had not yet begun to slide.”
Mayfield was ruled down at the Tampa Bay 41-yard line with 7:47 left and the Browns trailing 23-16. A 15-yard penalty would have moved the Browns to the 26. The Browns moved to the Bucs’ 1 on the drive but failed to score on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.
When Mayfield started to slide is a judgment call; hits to the head are not. Sliding players are protected by league rule from hits to the head. The league knows the penalty should have been called, according to a source.
“There’s a lot of stuff being put out on protecting the quarterback,” Mayfield said after the game. “Doesn’t seem like the Browns are getting a lot of calls, but they can review it, and they can say I was a runner, but I started my slide. That’s helmet-to-helmet contact.”
Browns coach Hue Jackson said after the game that he did not understand why the flag was picked up. Other players complained. On Monday, Jackson said the team would ask the league for clarification.
“That was disappointing,” Jackson said. “That is all that I can say.”
