Paulo Dybala could be staying with Juventus a little longer with contract talks expected to begin in the new year.
Dybala will be speaking with Juventus management in January regarding extending his contract at the club. His current contract expires in 18 months and per reports, the club would want to keep the Argentine. Speaking with Sky Sports, here’s what Juventus director Fabio Paratici had to say:
“We’re gonna meet the agent of Paulo Dybala to talk about his contract.”
Alejandro Papu Gomez is set to leave Atalanta in January following an argument with the team coach.
Papu Gomez will likely not end the season with Atalanta after he posted a message on his Instagram page. Now 32 years of age, Gomez reportedly had a bust-up with Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini at half time during their Champions League match against Midtjylland two weeks ago. Since the argument, he has been left out of the last two league matches.
Gomez took to his Instagram where he posted the following:
“I just wanted to tell you that when I leave you will know the truth of everything. You know me and you know the person I am. I love you, your captain.”
Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona were both named in France Football’s Ballon d’or Dream Team starting eleven.
The two Argentine’s made the final eleven with the results revealed on Monday. The votes were made up from 140 journalists from around the world. Here were the players selected:
Lev Yachine; Paolo Maldini, Franz Beckenbauer, Cafu; Pele, Lothar Matthaus, Xavi, Diego Maradona; Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Lionel Messi
Congratulations to the two best players in history on making the team and making Argentina proud.
A total of 17 Argentine players remain in the Champions League as we the draw for the Round of 16 has been made.
From the 17 players that remain, only two have won the Champions League. Those two being Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María, both of which will be playing against each other. A minimum of three Argentine players will make the quarter finals, with a maximum of 13, meaning at least four of them will be eliminated.
The big match is FC Barcelona and PSG, with four Argentine players taking part in the matches. Lionel Messi will try to lead Barcelona to another quarter final appearance while the Argentine trio at PSG will look to make the final for a second consecutive year.
Sergio Agüero will want to help Manchester City go further in the competition and ultimately win it for the first time. The Argentine has never taken part in a final of the Champions League.
Joaquín Correa and Gonzalo Escalante are up against the favorites and current winners Bayern Munich. Should Correa and Escalante be able to eliminate Bayern, it would no doubt be seen as an upset.
Diego Simeone is looking for a third Champions League final appearance and hopefully be able to win it as Atletico Madrid are up against Chelsea. One experienced coach in Simeone against an inexperienced Frank Lampard as one will make the quarter finals.
RB Leipzig and Liverpool is the only match with no Argentine representative.
Paulo Dybala scored his first goal of the season for Juventus and will look to carry that momentum and help Juventus into the next round. Dybala hasn’t had the best of seasons and while he has won the league with Juventus, he hasn’t played in a Champions League final.
Lucas Ocampos, who’s form hasn’t been the best for a few weeks, will want to take Sevilla further against possible dark horses Borussia Dortmund.
In two matches that will likely have goals, Atalanta play Real Madrid. The three Argentine’s with Atalanta went far in last season’s competition while Madrid crashed out earlier. Here are the matches involving the Argentine players:
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Manchester City (Sergio Agüero)
Lazio (Joaquín Correa, Gonzalo Escalante) vs. Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid (Ángel Correa) vs. Chelsea (Willy Caballero)
RB Leipzig vs. Liverpool
FC Porto (Agustín Marchesín) vs. Juventus (Paulo Dybala)
Barcelona (Lionel Messi) vs. PSG (Leandro Paredes, Mauro Icardi, Ángel Di María)
Sevilla (Lucas Ocampos, Marcos Acuña, Franco Vázquez) vs. Borussia Dortmund
Atalanta (José Luis Palomino, Alejandro Gómez, Cristian Romero) vs. Real Madrid
Lionel Messi scored for FC Barcelona in their 1-0 win vs. Levante.
Messi scored goal number 600 while wearing Barcelona’s number 10 shirt. A pass by Frenkie de Jong found Messi as the Argentine would score the only goal of the match.
That goal was also his 642nd for the club as he is now one goal away from Pele’s all time record of 643 goals, the most ever for a single club.
The Argentine has now scored 100 opening goals for Barcelona in the league.
Barcelona needed a goal.
— Goal (@goal) December 13, 2020
Messi delivered 😎pic.twitter.com/gBncz1WZ8U
