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The Brazil international won a remarkable 23 trophies across eight seasons at Camp Nou but left on a free transfer to join the Serie A giants in 2016. Guardiola: Wenger treatment is unacceptable And in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC, Alves accused Barcelona’s board of failing to discuss the prospect of a new contract with him until the club were hit by a player registration ban for breaking FIFA rules related to signing young players....

Guardiola won three LaLiga titles during his time in charge at Camp Nou, also leading the club to two Champions Leagues in three years. The Catalan left at the end of the 2011-12 season but his spell leading Barcelona will go down in history for the club’s stunning football and relentless collection of silverware. Alves was a key player for Barcelona during the Guardiola era, later signing for Juventus and then joining Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain....

Zidane on Bale, Marcelo and Brahim Diaz’s future Real Madrid are set for a squad overhaul in the summer and it looks like Zidane has already made a few decisions. The manager was asked about the future of Bale, Marcelo and Diaz at the club after their match against Real Sociedad and the Frenchman made things clear. The former Tottenham man was left out of the squad for the match and rumours suggest that he will be sold in the summer....

The Germany international is in the final year of his deal at the Westfalenstadion and could leave as a free agent this summer. This has piqued Barca’s interest. The Catalan giants, given their financial troubles, could have to rely on free signings at the end of the season. They snapped up Franck Kessie, Marcos Alonso, and Andreas Christensen on a similar deal last year. They could be enticed to repeat that trick with Moukoko....

The 32-year-old midfielder damaged knee ligaments in a 2-1 win at Valencia on October 22 but returned to training last week and has been declared fit to take part in the first Clasico of the season. Roberto Carlos: Madrid must win La Liga Head coach Luis Enrique told reporters at his news conference: “He’s not just the captain, he’s the centrepiece of what our style is all about. “He offers a lot on and off the field....

The Senegal international became the Potters’ third buy in the January transfer window after securing a work permit. Ndiaye, presented at the bet365 Stadium during the half time of Stoke’s league tie against Watford, is ‘very happy’ to join Paul Lambert’s side. “I am very happy to join Stoke City, a very big club in England - it is a proud moment for me,” Ndiaye told club website. “There have been many talks this month but I wanted to join Stoke City, so to be here now is very exciting for me and I am looking forward to helping the team move forward....

Reigning rookie of the year Mathew Barzal set up Josh Bailey’s power-play winner 43 seconds into overtime, and the Islanders began their post-Tavares era by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Thursday night. “That whole power play has been really good through the preseason,” Trotz said. “(Bailey) understands the spots. Obviously, it runs through Mathew on that one side. They’ve got a real good understanding.” Valtteri Filppula also scored as the Islanders gave Trotz a victory in his debut with the team and spoiled Rod Brind’Amour’s first game behind the Carolina bench....

Nicholas Pooran was the talisman of a disappointing Windies innings, his 37-ball 58 the best contribution for the hosts as they reached 160-8 after the tourists won the toss at Gros Islet. Tom Curran took 4-36 for England, who made light work of their target thanks to Bairstow, who needed only 27 balls to bring up his fifty in an innings that saw him dropped twice. England were well ahead of the run rate by the time he departed for 68, Joe Denly and Sam Billings helping finish the job to put them ahead in a series that moves to Saint Kitts and Nevis for the final two matches....

Bank mergers are hardly a new phenomenon: there have been hundreds over the past decade. The new crop is different only because the institutions involved are huge. But size, by itself, has nothing to do with how consumers fare. The critical issue is how much competition the postmerger giant will face. For example, the planned combination of Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. will create the country’s third largest banking organization, but customers may not notice much effect on fees or interest rates: with a host of financial institutions fighting for business, New York is among the most competitive banking markets anywhere....

One thing known for sure is that certain characters from the original Baldur’s Gate saga will appear in Baldur’s Gate 3, and given the sheer number of optional companions present in BG, BG2, and BG2: ToB, that leaves a number of possibilities. Roughly a century will have passed between the events of the original saga and Baldur’s Gate 3 so that naturally rules out (most of) the human characters, but some of those other Dungeons & Dragons races are plenty long-lived enough to still be kicking–and available for a cameo....

The Wales captain completed the move back to the north London side on a year-long loan on Saturday after a seven-year spell at Real Madrid. Mourinho said this week that he tried to sign the 31-year-old when he was in charge of the Spanish giants, who ended up bringing him to the Santiago Bernabeu after the Portuguese coach’s departure earlier that year. Bale is excited to finally get to work with the ex-Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter boss, and is confident Spurs will win trophies with him in charge....

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The designer label was accused of promoting “child pornography” with their holiday campaign, with one photo showing a young child posing with a teddy bear dressed in bondage gear, including a fishnet vest, studded collar, and harness. Another campaign shoot with a child featured a page from the 2008 United States v. Williams Supreme Court ruling, which upheld federal laws that criminalized the presenting, distribution, advertising or promotion of child pornography....

Caupain might have stopped and taken a 3-pointer. He might have tried a pull-up jumper. Instead he judged he had enough time to get all the way to the rim, and that no one would be there to deal with him. MORE: Must-see photos | Scoreboard | Ellis ejected for throwing punch | Hammons takes basketball to face And then his layup hung on the rim for what seemed like 7....

Nottinghamshire’s Ball, 26, won the only contentious place ahead of fellow seamer Craig Overton in the England line-up after three warm-up games. It will be Ball’s fourth Test cap, but his first in an Ashes series, after his recovery from a sprained ankle suffered in England’s second warm-up match in Adelaide two weeks ago. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” skipper Joe Root the official England website today. “Craig’s come into the squad, and everything that’s been asked of him he’s done brilliantly well, but Jake has bowled well when he’s had his opportunities on the tour....

But the historic moment was marred when DJ Martin Solveig asked the Norweigan international to ’twerk’ after receiving the award. Hegerberg looked irritated and answered “no” after the DJ host asked her to do the provocative dance. “You’ve seen that I prepared a little celebration for (France forward) Kylian (Mbappe) so we said we’re going to do something similar. Do you know how to twerk?”, Solveig asked Hegerberg. Kylian Mbappe, who won the Kopa trophy, looked stunned after the Norweigan striker was asked to twerk at the live event....

Striker Balotelli was not involved on Saturday as new boss Vieira suffered a losing start in Ligue 1, Nice going down 1-0 at home to newly promoted Reims. Asked about the absence of the Italy international, Vieira confirmed the player had made clear his desire to move on after two seasons at the Allianz Riviera, and therefore was not considered for selection. “The player wants to leave, so it’s unlikely he’ll remain here,” the former Arsenal midfielder said in an interview with Canal+....

Quayshawn Shymel Simmons, 29, pleaded guilty in July to orchestrating a scheme whereby he would purchase guns from federally-licensed dealers in Virginia using a false address, and then transport the weapons to D.C. “Those who buy firearms in Virginia just to turn around and sell them illegally in Washington, D.C., as Simmons did here, are not simply committing paperwork violations,” Ashan M. Benedict, special agent in charge of the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said in a press release....

I need not dwell on the consequences of this colossal, collective failure of global leadership. The pandemic is still spreading, its death toll now in the hundreds of thousands. The global economy is at a standstill. Hundreds of millions of people are unemployed, and as hunger grows, so will civil strife. According to the UN, a quarter of a billion people may starve this year. What progress we have made on reducing poverty and malnutrition and our other social development goals could be wiped out within months....