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BUENOS AIRES — Superstar footballer Lionel Messi will take a break from his Barcelona soap opera as he bids to fire Argentina to the World Cup in Qatar and what will probably be his last chance to try to win the coveted trophy.

The 33-year-old, a record six-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, has won everything in the club game with Barcelona several times over but his international trophy cabinet looks bare in comparison.

“The only goal I have now is to win the World Cup with the national team,” he has said.

The closest he has come so far was as losing finalist against Germany in 2014.

Thursday’s clash with Ecuador gives him the chance to start building towards one last tilt at that goal.

He will be 35 by the time the Qatar World Cup ends, and will turn 39 during the following global showpiece in North America.

In the meantime, he has a pair of qualifiers — Argentina also travels to Bolivia next Tuesday — to distract him from his club travails.

Messi tried to force his exit from the Catalan giants in the close season but Barca held firm and a 700 million euro release clause ensured he remained, albeit disgruntled.

Playing Ecuador in his homeland may provide a welcome respite but it is also fraught with potential difficulty.

Four years ago at the start of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Ecuador stunned Argentina 2-0 at River Plate’s iconic Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.

It took a hat-trick by an inspired Messi in Argentina’s final qualifier — away to Ecuador — to send the twice world champions to Russia.

Thursday’s match will be in another iconic stadium: Boca Juniors’ Bombonera.

But it will be a surreal experience in an empty ground that would normally be bouncing with stands packed full of some of the most fervent and passionate fans in the world.

COVID-19 has put paid to any hopes of a paying public.

‘Memory’ players

This is a much-changed Argentina from that which disappointed at the last World Cup.

Young coach Lionel Scaloni embarked on an ambitious regeneration of the squad following the abject exit from Russia under the tutelage of Jorge Sampaoli.

However, alongside Scaloni’s ‘new guard’ remain several old hats, like Messi.

“We can say that there are seven or eight ‘memory’ players that are the foundation,” said Scaloni, pointing out that with “only one day of preparation” they would need the experienced heads to help the team hit the ground running.

He will be without the injured Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero, though, while Scaloni has left out Paris Saint-Germain winger Angel Di Maria.

“Messi needs two players ahead of him that he can assist, and sit deep, not at the tip. That’s how we got results at the Brazil 2019 Copa America,” added Scaloni in reference to Argentina’s third-place finish.

One player competing to lead the line is Sevilla’s Lucas Ocampos.

“He’s strong, technical and scores goals, and also helps in the defensive phase,” said Scaloni, who will have to also select between Paulo Dybala of Juventus and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.

Cruyff’s successor 

It’s been a turbulent covid period for Ecuador, who will be led by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro after Dutchman Jordi Cruyff quit without ever leading the team.

Cruyff, the son of late Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, was hired in January but football was put into lockdown over COVID-19 before he could take charge of his first match and he subsequently resigned in July with no restart date yet fixed.

Alfaro has coached 13 clubs in Argentina, winning the Copa Sudamericana with Arsenal in 2007, but this is the 58-year-old’s first job as a national team coach.

LONDON — Manchester United swooped for Edinson Cavani among four signings on Monday, but Arsenal completed the biggest deal of transfer deadline day with the arrival of midfielder Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid.

United were under the spotlight to respond to a humiliating 6-1 home defeat to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Dutch international midfielder Donny van de Beek had been the only addition to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad prior to Monday’s arrival of Cavani, Alex Telles, Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri.

Cavani, 33, has been a free agent since leaving Paris Saint-Germain in June and signed a one-year deal with the option for a second season.

The Uruguayan scored 200 goals in seven seasons in the French capital to become the club’s all-time top goalscorer.

“Manchester United is one of the greatest clubs in the world, so it is a real honour to be here,” said Cavani. “I’ve worked really hard during the time off and I feel eager to compete and represent this incredible club.”

The arrival of left-back Telles from Porto for £13.5 million ($19 million, 15 million euros) is arguably even more important to aid a United defence that has conceded 11 goals in three Premier League games to start the season.

“He is a player we have been tracking for some time and his performances over the past few years are exactly what we are looking for,” said Solskjaer on the Brazilian international.

“He is a fighter and a winner and will add real determination and competition to the squad.”

After a forlorn chase of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, United also secured two promising 18-year-old wingers in Uruguayan Pellistri from Penarol and Atalanta’s Diallo, who will join in January in a deal that could reportedly reach up to 41 million euros.

Long-term target

Partey has been a long-term target for the Gunners, who have matched his 50 million euro (£45 million, $59 million) buyout clause to bolster their threadbare midfield options.

The Ghanaian has made 188 appearances for the Spanish giants and was part of the Atletico sides that reached the 2016 Champions League final and beat Arsenal on the way to winning the Europa League in 2018.

“We have been watching Thomas for a while, so we’re now delighted to add such a high quality player to our squad,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. “He is a dynamic midfielder with great energy.”

Uruguayan international Lucas Torreira has gone the other way from Arsenal to Atletico on a season-long loan deal, while another frozen out midfielder at the Emirates, Matteo Guendouzi, joined Hertha Berlin on loan.

Premier League table-toppers Everton signed centre-back Ben Godfrey for a reported initial fee of £25 million and Swedish international goalkeeper Robin Olsen on loan from Roma.

Quiet window for European giants

According to a report by the Centre for Economics Business Research, Premier League clubs were on course for an astonishing 95 per cent of the net spend in Europe’s big five leagues this transfer window.

Barcelona’s accounts for the 2019/20 season showed the drastic impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on even the world’s richest clubs as the Catalans revealed 97 million euro losses on Monday.

Barca’s financial problems meant they could not agree deals for Lyon’s Memphis Depay or Manchester City defender Eric Garcia, but Rafinha left the Camp Nou in a cut-price deal to join PSG.

Juventus secured one of the hottest properties in Italian football as Federico Chiesa joined from Fiorentina on a two-year loan deal worth 10 million euros with an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met for a further 40 million.

English defender Chris Smalling returned to Roma on a permanent deal from Manchester United for 15 million euros after impressing during a loan spell last season.

French midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko has also returned to Serie A, joining Napoli on loan from Chelsea.

Bayern Munich added a trio of new players as Douglas Costa returned to the Allianz Arena for a second spell on loan from Juventus.

The European champions also signed former PSG striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on a one-year deal and Bouna Sarr from Marseille.

MIAMI — The Miami Heat, fuelled by a 40-point triple-double from Jimmy Butler, clawed their way back into the NBA Finals with a 115-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

The under-manned, under-sized, underdog Heat turned the tables on the Western Conference champions in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, cutting the deficit in the best-of-seven championship series to two games to one.

“I think we realised that we belong,” Butler said. “They can be beat, as long as we do what we’re supposed to do.”

Butler scored 40 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out 13 assists to power a Heat team missing injured Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic for the second straight game.

The injuries to Adebayo and Dragic were a huge blow to the Eastern Conference fifth-seeded Heat’s hopes of pulling off a title upset, but Miami, with Butler leading the way, declined to back down.

Superstar LeBron James led the Lakers with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

But it was a tough night for Anthony Davis, who was in foul trouble early and finished with 15 points and just five rebounds in the defeat.

An 8-0 scoring run capped by Rajon Rondo’s driving layup saw the Lakers take a 91-89 lead with 8:56 left in the game.

The Heat responded with an 8-0 run of their own launched by Butler’s fadeaway jumper under pressure in the paint.

After James was whistled for travelling, Butler cut through the Lakers defence and fired a pass to Kelly Olynyk on the perimeter for a three-pointer and the Heat were on their way.

“They continued to make shots,” James said. “We had some turnovers, we didn’t make shots. They came out and executed after we took the lead.

“Jimmy had his hand in all those plays, pretty much,” added James, who said Butler was “phenomenal”.

‘Big-time’ Butler

“He did everything that they needed him to do tonight and he came through big-time in a big-time game,” James said.

Butler added two blocks and two steals as he did a stellar job defending James, but said individual numbers are meaningless at this stage.

“Win,” he said of his total focus in game three, a mission no doubt sharpened by the knowledge that no NBA team has rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.

“I don’t care about the triple-double, I don’t care about none of that, I really don’t. I want to win. We did that, I’m happy with the outcome.”

Rookie sensation Tyler Herro and reserve Kendrick Nunn added 17 points apiece for the Heat. Duncan Robinson scored 13 and Jae Crowder chipped in 12 for Miami.

With their backs against the wall and plenty of pundits predicting a Lakers sweep, the Heat surged out of the gate and led by as many as 13 in an impressive first quarter.

In the face of stifling defence, Davis had four turnovers and didn’t get a shot off in the first period while collecting two personal fouls.

James also turned the ball over four times as 10 Lakers turnovers led to 11 Heat points.

“You just can’t turn the ball over against this team,” said James, who finished with eight of the Lakers’ 20 turnovers on the night. “And I take full responsibility for that.”

Despite their sloppiness, the Lakers trailed by just three after the first quarter.

Markieff Morris drained a three-pointer to knot the score less than a minute into the second period. Davis’s first points of the night, a three-pointer off an assist from Rondo put the Lakers up 32-30, and Rondo found Davis for an alley-oop dunk that made it 34-33.

It looked like the Lakers were poised to mount the kind of comeback they put together in game one, when they surged back from a 13-point first quarter deficit to win by 18.

But the Heat kept the pressure on. Butler scored 11 points in the second quarter, Davis picked up his third personal foul and the Heat took a 58-54 lead into halftime.

Miami opened the third quarter on a 10-0 scoring run, and less than two minutes into the third Davis was whistled for his fourth foul.

“The foul trouble made him a little passive,” James said of Davis.

Game four is on Tuesday, and Sunday’s victory ensures a game five on Friday and increases the chances that either Adebayo, nursing a neck and shoulder injury, or Dragic, who has a torn left plantar fascia, could return before the series ends.

“We’re not concerned,” James said. “We know we can play a lot better. We have another opportunity to take a commanding lead on Tuesday.”

LEEDS, United Kingdom — Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge stumbled for the second time in their opening three games as Leeds rallied to earn a 1-1 draw from a wide-open game at Elland Road.

City were soundly beaten 5-2 at home by Leicester last weekend and seemed keen to make amends with a dominant start during which Raheem Sterling opened the scoring.

However, despite handing a debut to £62 million centre-back Ruben Dias, Pep Guardiola’s men remained unsure in defence and Leeds levelled when Rodrigo pounced on an error from goalkeeper Ederson just before the hour mark.

City could now find themselves eight points behind Liverpool by the end of the weekend should Jurgen Klopp’s men maintain their perfect start at Aston Villa on Sunday.

A first meeting between Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa in English football was highly-anticipated and did not disappoint in a pulsating game that somehow ended with only two goals.

Guardiola’s men started with intent to quieten their critics as they pounced on Bielsa’s determination for his side to play out from the back by forcing the hosts into mistakes with an intense press.

Despite City’s continued failure to progress beyond the Champions League quarter-finals under Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne was named UEFA midfielder of the year on Thursday and the Belgian nearly showed why inside three minutes with a stunning effort from a long range free-kick wide on the left that nearly caught out Illan Meslier by hitting his near post.

Ferran Torres had a shot blocked on the line as City cut Leeds open in the opening quarter, but Bielsa’s men could have gone in front when Ezgjan Alioski headed over a great chance.

City’s pressure was finally rewarded in the opener as Sterling cut inside before burying a low shot into the far corner on 17 minutes.

However, Leeds composed themselves as the first-half wore on and City’s energy levels dipped.

Luke Ayling should have equalised before half-time when he pounced on Benjamin Mendy’s poor clearance, but failed to beat Ederson one-on-one.

Leeds started the second-half as they ended the first, by posing the bigger threat, especially once Bielsa introduced Rodrigo 10 minutes after the break.

The Spanish international gave City a warning shot when his deflected effort came back off the crossbar. 

But from the resulting corner, Leeds record signing levelled when Ederson dropped the ball invitingly at his feet.

A wild game then raged from one end to the other with neither side settling for a point.

Ederson made amends for his error at the equaliser by turning Rodrigo’s header onto the bar.

Moments later, Sterling was racing clear in behind the Leeds defence, but ran the ball too close to Meslier, who smothered at the England international’s feet.

City then became the first victims of a change in interpretation to the handball law in the Premier League as a Leeds arm blocked Bernardo Silva’s shot that would surely have resulted in a spot-kick just a week earlier.

Sterling also had strong claims for a penalty turned down moments later as Leeds clung on to continue their fine start to life back in the top-flight.

Bielsa’s men have taken seven points from their opening four games, including clashes with Liverpool and City.

MIAMI — Anthony Davis and LeBron James powered Los Angeles to a 124-114 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday that put the Lakers two wins away from their first NBA title since 2010.

The injury depleted Heat hung on as best they could, but 33 points from James and 32 from Davis were just too much.

Davis, playing in his first NBA Finals, overpowered a Heat defence sorely missing injured Bam Adebayo. He added 14 rebounds as the Lakers took a two games to none lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals in the league’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.

“He’s a big-time player,” James, playing in his 10th championship series, said of Davis, whose 14 rebounds included eight offensive boards. “He understands the position we’re in.”

Davis made 14 of his first 15 shots from the field, finishing with 15 baskets in 20 attempts.

For the second straight game James approached a triple-double, adding nine assists and nine rebounds.

Rajon Rondo added 16 points off the bench and Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 11 points apiece for the Lakers.

Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 25 points and Kelly Olynyk added 24 off the bench, as the Heat had to make do not only without Adebayo but with star guard Goran Dragic, who was sidelined by a left foot injury.

Even without them, James said, Miami remained a dangerous team, adding that the Lakers need to clamp down harder defensively.

“Myself, coach and AD were not happy with our defensive presence tonight,” James said. “We can do a lot better.

“Myself and AD, we’re not satisfied with just the win. We want to be great.

“They have five guys on the floor that’s a threat, as they showed tonight,” James added of Miami. “So we have to continue to stay on our P’s and Q’s and cross our T’s and dot our I’s through the course of a game.”

Stung by the Heat’s quick start in game one, the Lakers came out of the blocks hot.

Chasing a record-equalling 17th NBA title but their first in a decade, the Lakers dominated inside, outscoring the Heat 18-6 in the paint in the first quarter to emerge from the opening period six points up.

Danny Green’s three-pointer pushed the Lakers lead to 13 three minutes into the second quarter.

The Heat got the deficit down to four three times, but Rondo, a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, came up big off the Lakers’ bench, delivering impressive alley-oup passes first to James and then to Davis, whose dunk and free throw made it 64-49 with 1:48 remaining in the first half.

Rondo himself drove for a layup in the final minute of the half that stretched the Lakers’ lead to 17 points, and they took a 68-54 advantage into the break.

The Lakers connected on 55.5 per cent of their shots from the field in the opening half. They were less successful from three-point range but not from lack of trying, connecting on nine of their whopping 27 first-half attempts from beyond the arc.

They finished with 16 three-pointers on an astonishing 47 attempts.

Davis poured it on in the third quarter, piling up 15 points on an array of shots — jumpers, a step-back three and a driving floater just the beginning.

Although the Lakers stretched the lead to 18 points multiple times, the Heat wouldn’t go away.

They out-scored Los Angeles 39-35 in the period — but in the end they just didn’t have sufficient stopping power and they couldn’t get the deficit below nine points in the final quarter.

“We need a little bit more from everybody, whatever that is,” Olynyk said.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledged that the Heat face a tough challenge against the bigger, physical Lakers.

“But this is the deal. If you want something badly enough you’ll figure out how to overcome it. We’re trying to get something accomplished and you just have to go to another level,” added Spoelstra, whose team will try to do just that in game three on Sunday.

MIAMI — The Los Angeles Lakers manhandled the Miami Heat 116-98 in game one of the NBA Finals on Wednesday in a dominant start to their quest for a 17th championship.

After a 10-year absence from the championship series, the Lakers returned with a vengeance in the NBA's quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.

Anthony Davis, in the best-of-seven title series for the first time after years of frustration in New Orleans, scored 34 points to lead the Lakers.

"I felt good," Davis said. "A little nervous, but when the ball was tipped up, I just went out there and played basketball. This is a moment I've waited for my entire career and I want to make sure I take the opportunity, because it doesn't come around too often."

LeBron James, the fourth player to make a 10th appearance in the NBA Finals, was just shy of a triple double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

"We've got a lot more work to do," James said afterwards. "The job is not done. We're not satisfied winning one game. It's that simple."

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 points and Danny Green contributed 11 for the Lakers, who led by as many as 32 points.

The Heat, the Eastern Conference fifth seeds who swept the Indiana Pacers before toppling the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics on the way to the Finals, showed no sign of nerves in an energetic start against the Western Conference top seeds, racing to a 13-point lead midway through the first quarter.

But the Lakers inexorably seized control and the Heat's dream start devolved into a nightmare with key contributors Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo exiting with injuries and star forward Jimmy Butler hobbled by a twisted ankle.

Butler still scored 23 points to lead the Heat, who will try to bounce back in game two on Friday.

'We came out slow'

Davis and James both said the Lakers need to start stronger in game two, after Miami came out firing.

"They came out very hot, we came out slow."

Added James: "I think they smacked us in the mouth, and we got a sense of that.

"And so we knew how hard we had to play if we wanted to try to make it a game. From that moment when it was 23-10, we started to play to our capabilities. We started flying around. We started getting defensive stops. We started sharing the ball a lot better offensively and just got into a really good groove."

Caldwell-Pope drained back-to-back three-pointers to trim the deficit to 25-18 and Davis knotted the score 28-28 on a layup off an assist from James before finding reserve Alex Caruso for a three-pointer to end the first with the Lakers up 31-28.

Los Angeles continued to pour it on in the second quarter, out-scoring the Heat 34-20 to take a 48-65 lead into the break.

Three-pointers from Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo pushed the Lakers' lead to 37-32 less than two minutes into the second period.

Two three-pointers from rookie Tyler Herro briefly saw the Heat lead 43-41 — but the Lakers responded and pulled away courtesy of a 64.7 per cent success rate from three-point range in the first half, when they made 11 of 17 from beyond the arc.

Overall the Lakers shot 45.2 per cent from the field and made 15 three-pointers. They out-rebounded the Heat 54-36.

After Caldwell-Pope came up with a steal a driving Kuzma found Davis for a dunk that made it 61-48 with 1:15 left in the first half.

James made two free throws and Davis threw down a dunk to stretch the Lakers' lead to 17 after a first half that saw James shaking out a shoulder after colliding on the floor with Jae Crowder in pursuit of a loose ball.

But Miami endured worse injury news, with Dragic — the Heat's leading scorer in the playoffs — exiting at halftime with a left foot injury.

Adebayo departed in the third quarter with a left shoulder problem as Butler played on despite twisting his left ankle in the first half.

Immediately after the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he did not yet know the prognosis for Dragic and Adebayo.

"Regardless," he said, "The Lakers set the tenor, the tone, the force, the physicality for the majority of the game.

"They just took control and we weren't able to get it back."

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said his team would attempt to keep applying the same kind of pressure in game two.

"This is just one win," Vogel said. "We're happy that we got the win, but we've got to keep our foot on the gas."

LONDON — Jose Mourinho believes players are being put in danger by the football authorities after Tottenham beat Chelsea 5-4 on penalties to progress to the quarter-finals of the League Cup after a 1-1 draw.

Mourinho’s men were playing the second of four games in eight days in three different competitions.

Eric Dier was the only outfield player retained in the Tottenham team that started Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the Premier League against Newcastle and the England defender had to dash from the field for a comfort break in the second-half.

“The number of minutes played is dangerous. What I did today with I Eric Dier today is very dangerous,” said Mourinho, suggesting that dehydration could have led to the defender’s problem.

“It should be forbidden to play two matches in 48 hours. What Eric Dier did is not human.”

Timo Werner’s first goal for Chelsea compounded Mourinho’s woes in a dominant start from Frank Lampard’s men.

But Erik Lamela deservedly levelled for Spurs seven minutes from time and new Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to stop Dier, Lamela, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane scoring from the spot.

Tammy Abraham, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Emerson also converted their penalties as the first nine of the shootout were successful.

But Mason Mount’s effort clipped the post to the delight of the watching Gareth Bale, who could be fit to feature in the last eight with the quarter-finals not till late December.

“Anything can happen on penalties,” said Lampard. “You want to stay in these competitions of course but there’s lots to like. We dominated the first half but the game changed [in the second-half].”

Mourinho claimed the fixture pile up gave him no choice but to prioritise Thursday’s Europa League tie against Maccabi Haifa given the financial incentive on offer for the club.

“I told the players they should only think about this game, but I have to think about three games,” added Mourinho, who faces another of his former clubs Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

“I cannot believe in 48 hours we are playing a European game. The boys were absolutely phenomenal.”

Lampard made eight changes, but Werner was one of those retained from the 3-3 draw at West Brom on Saturday and he took the opportunity to get his first goal for the club after a big money move from RB Leipzig.

Tottenham debutant Sergio Reguilon was twice at fault in the build up as he gifted possession to Azpilicueta and then dived in trying to block the Spaniard’s cross, which allowed the Chelsea captain to pick out Werner at the edge of the box to arrow a shot into the bottom corner.

Lampard had won his previous three meetings against his former manager Mourinho and the tensions between the two flared during the first-half as they exchanged angry words on the touchline.

On the field, Spurs were the better side as Mendy made important saves from Lamela and Reguilon either side of half-time.

Mourinho showed his intent by introducing Kane from the bench with 20 minutes to go.

Moments later the Portuguese was marching down the tunnel after Dier as the defender made a dash to the dressing room before quickly returning.

“He wasn’t happy but there was nothing I could do about it, nature was calling,” said Dier of being pursued by Mourinho.

Chelsea were punished when Lamela slotted home at the far post from Reguilon’s cross to send the game to a shootout and ultimately Spurs into the last eight.