The father and agent of Lionel Messi touched down in Barcelona on Wednesday ahead of crunch talks with club officials over his son's future.
Jorge Messi landed at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport on an overnight flight from Argentina Wednesday morning to be greeted by throngs of supporters and reporters.
When asked whether his son will remain at the club, Jorge replied: "I don't know anything, guys."
One Barca fan held a sign with the words "Messi da la cara" (Messi take your responsibility), though thousands have pleaded for the club's record goalscorer to stay.
Messi senior was taken by a taxi to his apartment in Barcelona ahead of showdown talks with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, where he is expected to express his son's desire to leave Camp Nou.
The Argentine superstar has been absent from training this week as the squad meet new manager Ronald Koeman, who replaced the sacked Quique Setien last month.
Last week, Messi's representatives sent a burofax, which is in effect a recorded letter, stating the 33-year-old's intention to leave the club in this transfer window on a free. Barcelona replied the same, telling Messi they want him to stay.
There is a dispute over whether Messi, scorer of more than 630 goals for Barca, has given the club due notice of his intent to leave. Barca believe the clause was not activated by June 10, meaning any club that want to enter into negotiations for their most decorated player must first meet his €700 million (Dh3.039 billion) buyout agreement.
You can read more on that here.
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Fixture
Friday, March 29, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, The Sevens, Dubai
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
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India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
WE%20NO%20LONGER%20PREFER%20MOUNTAINS
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MORE ON CORONAVIRUS & THE ECONOMY
MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
Superliminal%20
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Predictions
Predicted winners for final round of games before play-offs:
- Friday: Delhi v Chennai - Chennai
- Saturday: Rajasthan v Bangalore - Bangalore
- Saturday: Hyderabad v Kolkata - Hyderabad
- Sunday: Delhi v Mumbai - Mumbai
- Sunday - Chennai v Punjab - Chennai
Final top-four (who will make play-offs): Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
