Lionel Messi being found guilty of tax fraud yesterday, and handed a prison sentence of 21 months and fine of €3.5 million, is unlikely to cause too many long-term on-field problems for either the Barcelona star or his team.

Pep Guardiola could be poised to manage in the Premier League next season after Bayern Munich announced yesterday that he would stand down as their head coach at the end of the current campaign.

Barcelona are heading into Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus with optimism at sky-high levels among blaugrana fans, as a season which at one point seemed set for crisis looks increasingly likely to end in glorious historic success.

Louis van Gaal will put up his "iron shield" and do battle with those who criticise his methods at Manchester United.

Louis van Gaal will put up his “iron shield” and do battle with those who criticise his methods at Manchester United.

The process of making Luis Suarez a Barcelona player has been managed very cleverly, but fitting another high-profile attacker into the blaugrana team could well prove much more difficult.

EVERY young teenager gets excited at turning 18. It’s when you’re legal, you can drive with a full licence, drink, vote, own land, appear in court, do fun, outrageous things and the main thing for teens is now you’re legally an adult.

Luis Suarez’s hopes of a “friendly” resolution with Liverpool to his transfer saga suffered a massive blow last night after John W Henry insisted the striker will not be sold to Arsenal or to any other European club this summer.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta claims Manchester United have accepted defeat in their attempts to sign Cesc Fabregas.

Gary Neville has advised Wayne Rooney against a move away Manchester United, insisting there is no bigger achievement than playing for the Premier League powerhouse.

Bayern Munich 4 Barcelona 0

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is confident Jose Reina will still be at the club next season.

Dutch champions Ajax have confirmed the signing of Barcelona forward Isaac Cuenca on loan for the rest of the season.

Joe Ledley was today still struggling to take in Celtic’s historic Champions league win over Barcelona even after watching it on television.

As far as I was concerned Robin van Persie was dead to me from the moment he came over to bid us all adieu, at the conclusion of last season’s campaign at The Hawthorns.

SINGLES TO HAVE A BALL AS BARÇA BECKONS

Juan Mata is hoping Stamford Bridge will prove Barcelona’s bogey ground once again as he prepares to face his fellow Spaniards in Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final first leg.

Chelsea were today sweating over a potential defensive injury crisis ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola confirmed David Villa would be sidelined for a “long time” after the Spain striker broke his shinbone in today’s 4-0 Club World Cup semi-final victory over Al-Sadd.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has dismissed Spanish media reports linking David Villa with a move away from the Nou Camp in the January transfer window.

The Football Association of Ireland today confirmed that its appeal to UEFA to have the Andorra v Republic of Ireland match played in Barcelona on October 7 has been turned down.

MANCHESTER UNITED remain hopeful of signing Samir Nasri although Arsenal say they have not received a formal bid for the French midfielder.

Barcelona are in talks with Udinese over a possible move for Arsenal and Liverpool target Bojan Krkic to the Serie A outfit, according to the player’s agent.

OF all the countless tributes paid in recent years to the star player on a star-filled Barcelona team, we particularly liked the one The Guardian penned after he’d ripped the champions of England apart, so much so we’ll recite it here.

Edwin van der Sar wants to take a year off to get used to being normal again.

MICHAEL CARRICK looked to the line. Then he did so again. And again. There were 20 minutes gone in the 2009 Champions League and the Manchester United midfielder must have glanced at his manager’s bench at least 30 times. What he sought was instruction. But all he saw was Alex Ferguson sitting motionless and stony-faced.

I KNOW it’s juvenile but perhaps my favourite moment this past memorable weekend was hearing BBC Radio reporting live that a stunt mounted by the Red Issue fanzine had succeeded perfectly.

Barcelona celebrated their latest trophy success with their fans last night - and immediately set their sights on doing it all again in two weeks’ time.

Record-breaking Brazil striker Ronaldo is poised to announce his retirement from football.

CRISTIANO RONALDO has sought to play down talk of tonight’s El Clasico being merely a duel being him and ace Lionel Messi.

Xavi believes Spain team-mate Cesc Fabregas will join him at Barcelona at some point, and hopes a deal can be agreed sooner rather than later for the Arsenal captain to return home to Catalonia.

XAVI believes Spain team-mate Cesc Fabregas will join him at Barcelona at some point – and hopes a deal can be agreed sooner rather than later for the Arsenal captain to return home to Catalonia.

ARSENAL last night completed the signing of long-term target Marouane Chamakh and vowed to do their “damnedest’’ to keep want-away skipper Cesc Fabregas at the club.

Arsene Wenger faces one of the biggest tests of his managerial career as he attempts to persuade Cesc Fabregas that the Arsenal captain can achieve all his ambitions with the Gunners rather than at Barcelona.

ARSENE WENGER will hope Cesc Fabregas’ integral role at the heartbeat of the Arsenal side is enough to persuade the midfielder to remain at Emirates Stadium for at least another season.

Barcelona “flatly deny” they have reached an agreement with Cesc Fabregas which would see the Arsenal captain return to the Nou Camp at the end of the season.

MICHAEL ESSIEN’S future at Chelsea has been thrown into doubt after his agent claims the midfielder would consider a move away from Stamford Bridge.

BARCELONA winger Lionel Messi yesterday said the Catalan giants never gave up hope of reaching the Champions League final even though Chelsea looked to have ruined their dreams at Stamford Bridge.

Allen returns to – nearly – his best form with this romantic comedy that, surely, will please the Spanish Tourist Board … seldom has Barcelona or the Spanish countryside looked more glorious.

Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb has admitted that he has been trying to persuade former Arsenal team-mate Cesc Fabregas to join him at the Nou Camp.