Barcelona Left on Shelf After Real Madrid's Champions League Triumph
Barcelona start hunt for sponsors, Ronaldo plans to rest up, and rain brings French Open to a halt.
by Tim Stannard
1) Barça make room for Messi's BBQ bonanza
Poor unfancied, non-Champions League-winning Barcelona have been left struggling without a shirt sponsor for the new season. The deal with Qatar Airways has not been renewed leaving room for a cheap razor club logo or that rather cool magic hose that shrinks back into a tiny ball after being used.
The new-look strips for the upcoming season were released on Monday with the stripes now going vertically rather than horizontally after Leo Messi complained that he wanted something more slimming to accommodate a summer-time BBQ splurge that the wee Argentinean is planning.
2) Carvajal in doubt for Euro 2016 as Ronaldo takes a rest
Dani Carvajal will not be smiling as much as the rest of the Real Madrid squad on Monday after the Champions League victory and understated celebrations at the Bernabeu. A hamstring injury picked up in Milan sees the Spanish fullback in danger of missing Euro 2016. Stay tuned to the XTRA at 10PM ET all week for all the latest team news and transfer talk.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to miss Portugal's friendly with England on Thursday, saying he needs a rest before heading off to the European Championships. "I have a lot of minutes in the legs, but I am still there, I am always there." Catch-up with the Locker Room on Monday at 10.30PM ET as the Kay and the Gang pour over the ashes of Saturday's game.
3) Messi on road to recovery as Lippi called for a more Italian Serie A
Marcelo Lippi has called for Serie A clubs to half a self-imposed rule of just five foreign types in each line-up in order to promote home-grown talent. The former Italy coach was speaking ahead of the Euros where pundits are fretting over the perceived weakness of the Italian squad.
Argentina have said that Leo Messi is recovering well after a big knock to his back suffered in a 1-0 win over Honduras on Saturday.
If you are needing a bit of a football fix before the USA kicks off against Colombia in the Copa America on Friday then a Euro 2016 warm-up between Sweden and Slovenia is coming up at 11.15 on beIN CONNECT. Sadly, King Zlatan will not be there, both nursing a sore calf muscle and a bundle of job offers for next season.
4) Alan Pulido rescued after kidnap ordeal
Some good news from Mexico after the very worrying case of the kidnapping of Mexico and Olympiakos player, Alan Pulido. The footballer was rescued hours after he was reportedly snatched by masked men in the early hours of Sunday morning.
5) Rain wipes out day's play from Roland Garros
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were due in action in the French Open on Monday. But all play for the day has been cancelled due to rain. The forecast for Tuesday is not much better.
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