Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami appeared to be a marketing dream for all concerned, that was before their pre-season tour of Asia. After playing just seven minutes in Saudi Arabia and missing a ‘last dance’ with Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi failed to feature in Hong Kong with the fallout still rumbling on. So why has Messi’s no-show caused geo-political tensions to rise and is the GOAT in danger of becoming a show pony in the final stages of his illustrious career? Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic's Adam Crafton and Paul Tenorio to analyse the episode as well as dissect the wider impact on the growth of MLS. Produced by Guy Clarke Additional Production by Mike Stavrou Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead Further reading: ‘A thuggish flamingo’: Why China turned on Lionel Messi - The Athletic Hong Kong uproar, Messi injured and just one win: Inside Inter Miami’s Asian tour - The Athletic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pete Graves and Dharmesh Sheth are joined by journalist and Transfer Talk legend Sam Tighe to discuss how a combination of profit and sustainability rules and lack of spending from clubs in Saudi Arabia forced Premier League clubs to watch their spending in January. Lyon hit out at West Ham after the deal for Said Benrahma is cancelled after the window shut and how Liverpool's academy can influence the title race. Plus, Pete and Dharms review their transfer window predictions. Transfer Talk is a Sky Sports podcast. Listen to every episode here: skysports.com/transfer-talk You can listen to Transfer Talk on your smart speaker by saying "ask Global Player to play Transfer Talk". For all the latest football news, head to skysports.com/football For advertising opportunities email: [email protected]

FOX Sports Soccer Insider Doug McIntyre joins Alexi Lalas and David Mosse to break down Messi and Inter Miami's preseason, the rivalry budding between MLS vs. the Saudi Pro League and the USMNT transfer moves including Gio Reyna to Nottingham Forest. (7:17) We are set for a MASSIVE weekend of soccer and the guys preview all the big clashes including Brandon Vazquez and Monterrey taking on Club America, Juventus battling Inter Milan, and Arsenal gunning for Liverpool at the top of the EPL. (25:03) In #AskAlexi, the guys answer a question on Pep Guardiola & MLS before diving into changes with VAR coming to the English Premier League. (48:09) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can we say ... we recorded this after game 1 vs Cape Verde and even then you could tell that we had no hope. Where do we go from here?

Jordan Henderson has found his way out of the Saudi Pro League and Karim Benzema is hunkered down in Mauritius searching for his own escape. What's gone wrong with the Saudi Pro League? And how is it implicated in much larger economic and geopolitical dynamics and the broad political outlook of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Support the show

Jimbo is joined in The Athletic studio by Natalie Gedra, Caoimhe O’Neill and Duncan Alexander in a week packed full of action across multiple competitions. The two most in-form teams in the Premier League meet on Sunday as Iraola’s resurgent Bournemouth face league leaders Liverpool. Can Dominic Solanke do the business against his old club? What do we expect to see from Ivan Toney as he makes his return to football with Brentford hosting Nottingham Forest? The FA Cup 3rd round replays throw up a number of stories, including the fan who became the 4th official at Molineux and Rob Edwards going viral. The WSL returns from its winter break with champions Chelsea shorn of Sam Kerr for the rest of the season. How worried should the women’s game be worried about all the ACLs? And Maher Mezahi joins us again to review a first round of fixtures full of shocks at AFCON. Produced by Charlie Jones. RUNNING ORDER: • PART 1a: Bournemouth v Liverpool preview (03.00) • PART 1b: Henderson leaves Saudi Arabia (13.00) • PART 2: West Ham knocked out by Bristol City (20.00) • PART 3a: More FA Cup 3rd round replays (25.00) • PART 3b: The rest of the Premier League weekend (38.00) • PART 4a: The WSL returns (45.00) • PART 4b: AFCON update with Maher Mezahi (53.00) SIGN UP TO THE ATHLETIC TODAY FOR £2 A MONTH FOR 12 MONTHS • theathletic.com/totally Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The consideration around which of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo is better may eventually have been answered following the former’s World Cup achievement last year. But, for those that quietly need conversion, we ’ve had a look at how the brace’s ridiculously piled trophy lockers compare. Messi and Ronaldo are without distrustfulness the two greatest Footballer of their generation. Between them, they've scored over 1500 career goals and handed many times of inconceivable skills or game- winning prowess. They've also picked up nine - UCL, 17 domestic - titles, two senior international tournament title and dozens of other collaborative and individual commendations. Succeeding his World Cup heroics, Messi just collected his rearmost individual accolade by uplifting a history- outstretching eighth Ballon d’Or after assisting PSG hold their Ligue 1 title in 2022- 23 – and covering on to hold his FIFA ‘ The Best ’ award. The two era- outlining heroes are now into the nightfall years of their careers in the United States and Saudi Arabia individually, where they ’ve inescapably lifted yet more silver. There are aplenty out there who would like to form the explanation for one footballer over the other, but Messi and Ronaldo typically prefer to avoid accelerating contestation. In reality, it seems they do n’t mind each other at all. “ We ’re associates, ” Ronaldo narrated Marca in 2014. “ We ’re work amigos, so to talk, and so, obviously, we do n’t have a relation outside the world of football, just as we do n’t with a lot of other athletes. “ He tries to do his best for his club and for his national team, as I do, and there's a degree of rivalry with both of us trying to do the best for the teams we represent We've to look on this rivalry with a positive spirit because it’s a good thing. ” In 2018, when Ronaldo transferred to Juventus from Real Madrid, Messi stated FM Club 947 “ Although it was a bit tricky to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige. ” Which of them, however, has the bigger collection of silver? We ’ve busted down both the awards they ’ve won with their separate clubs and national teams and those they ’ve held as individualities. Remark for the years in which the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or were combined, we've numbered the award as a Ballon d’Or. We've also not contained top scorer or competition- especial individual awards, only those for which players in any European league are eligible. Lionel Messi Team Domestic La Liga 10( 2004- 05, 2005- 06, 2008- 09, 2009- 10, 2010- 11, 2012- 13, 2014- 15, 2015- 16, 2017- 18, 2018- 19) Ligue 1 2( 2021- 22, 2022- 23) Copa Del Rey 7( 2008- 09, 11-12, 14-15, 15-16, 16-17, 17-18, 20-21) Spanish Super Cup 8( 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019) Trophee des Champions 1( 2022) Continental Champions League 4( 2005- 06, 2008- 09, 2010- 11, 2014- 15) Leagues Cup x 1( 2023) UEFA Super Cup 3( 2009, 2011, 2015) Other FIFA Club World Cup 3( 2009, 2011, 2015) International World Cup 1( 2022) Copa America 1( 2021) Olympics 1( 2008) Total 42 Individual Ballon d’Or 8 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023) The Best FIFA Men’s Player 4 (2009, 2019, 2022 and 2023) UEFA Best Player in Europe 2 (2011 and 2015) Total 14 Cristiano Ronaldo Team Domestic English Premier League 3 ( 2006- 07, 2007- 08 and 2008- 09) La Liga 2( 2011- 12, 2016- 17) Serie A 2( 2018- 19, 2019- 20) English League Cup 2( 2005- 06 and 2008- 09) FA Cup 1( 2003- 04) Copa Del Rey 2( 2010- 11, 2013- 14) Coppa Italia 1( 2020- 21) Portuguese Super Cup 1( 2002) Community Shield 1( 2007) Spanish Super Cup 2( 2013, 2018) Italian Super Cup 2( 2019, 2021) Continental Champions League 5 (2007- 08, 2013- 14, 2015- 16, 2016- 17 and 2017- 18) UEFA Super Cup 2( 2014, 2017) Arab Club Champions Cup( 2023) Other FIFA Club World Cup 4( 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017) International UEFA European Championship 1( 2016) UEFA Nations League 1( 2019) Total 33 Individual Ballon d’Or 5( 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017) The Best FIFA Men’s Player 3( 2008, 2016, 2017) UEFA Best Player in Europe 3( 2014, 2016, 2017) Total 11

Pete Graves and Dharmesh Sheth discuss Jordan Henderson's cancelled contract in Saudi Arabia and question whether a Premier League club could make a late move for the England international. Manchester United, a club not expected to be busy during the January window, are being linked with two players and Manchester City have 'all but signed' Claudio Echeverri, an Argentinian wonderkid who has been described as a mix between Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. Plus, David Prutton and NTT20's George Elek join Pete and Dharmesh to discuss what players in the EFL could be on the move this month. Transfer Talk is a Sky Sports podcast. Listen to every episode here: skysports.com/transfer-talk You can listen to Transfer Talk on your smart speaker by saying "ask Global Player to play Transfer Talk". For all the latest football news, head to skysports.com/football For advertising opportunities email: [email protected]

Ste is here with another Redmen Weekly Episode as we look back at some of the Redmen Plus Shows from the week. To kick things off we have a clip from our Biased Football Podcast where Chris, Chloe and Dan looked at Timo Werner joining Spurs as well as Eric Dier joining Bayern Munich. Next, Ste was joined by Neil Jones for Journo Insight as they reacted to the news that Jordan Henderson desperately wants to leave Saudi Arabia and Ajax are leading the race to sign him. Then we have our Final Word show where Ste was joined by Jamie and Lewis as they reflect on Liverpool's 2-1 win over Fulham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi final. Our final clip for this week is from Dan's Transfer Insight with Lewis Steele as they look at the potential Centre Back signings Liverpool may do in the Transfer Window. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ste joins us with the final Redmen Bitesize Podcast for this week as he gives us all the LFC updates from the last 24 hours, including Luke Chambers loan move to Wigan and Steven Gerrard wanting Joe Gomez and Joel Matip to join Al Ettifaq. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.