Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero will lead Argentina's bid to resurrect their flagging World Cup campaign in crucial qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia later this month.

Argentina defender Marcos Rojo's form for Manchester United has earned him a recall to a 26-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia later this month.

Footballers in Argentina pushed ahead with a strike on Friday over unpaid wages, forcing the year's first league games to be suspended despite a $22 million government payout, officials said.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen posted the fastest time on a track artificially soaked to test wet conditions as Lewis Hamilton's first week of testing fizzled to a premature end on Thursday.

Barcelona must believe in their ability to make history as the first Champions League team to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit when they line up against Paris St Germain at Camp Nou on March 8, captain Andres Iniesta said on Monday.

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo hauled Real Madrid back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Villarreal on Sunday and regain top spot in La Liga from Barcelona.

Sevilla captain Vicente Iborra came off the bench to lead his side to a second-half comeback at fierce local rivals Real Betis on Saturday, assisting and scoring in a 2-1 win to provisionally take Jorge Sampaoli's side joint-top of La Liga.

Barcelona will open a soccer academy in southern China this year in partnership with local developer Mission Hills Group, the La Liga club said on Friday.

Lionel Messi could not be happier than at Barcelona, and can crown his status as an all time great by winning the World Cup with Argentina, national coach Edgardo Bauza told AFP on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi's late penalty saw bedraggled Barcelona scrape a 2-1 victory over Leganes on Sunday at a divided Nou Camp as the La Liga champions looked as if they had still not recovered from their harrowing midweek defeat to Paris St Germain.

Neymar, Barcelona and Santos will stand trial on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer of the Brazilian forward after their appeals were turned down by Spain's High Court on Monday.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique labelled harsh treatment dished out to his players by Barca fans nonsensical as the Spanish champions squeezed past Leganes 2-1 on Sunday.

Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off lowly Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the Spanish champions continued on Sunday.

Javier Maschernao has hailed Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as “the best player in the history of the game” and fully expects him to extend his contract with the club.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi postponed a visit to Egypt to promote a campaign to fight Hepatitis C in the wake of Barcelona's defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, Egypt's tourism ministry said Wednesday.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane warned that it was still all to play for in their Champions League last-16 clash against Napoli after the holders strolled to a 3-1 win in the first leg on Wednesday.

Scientists have found signs of brain damage that could cause dementia in a handful of former soccer players, fuelling worries about the danger of frequent knocks from heading the ball or colliding with others on the field.

Angel Di Maria scores a brilliant brace on his birthday as Paris Saint-Germain sensationally destroyed Barcelona 4-0 at the Parc des Princes in their Champions League last 16 first leg

Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday with their Spanish coach Unai Emery desperate to improve his awful personal record against the Catalans.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona went top of La Liga for the first time since October with a 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday.