Ballon d'Or winner 'leaked' with La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid dominating

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique could have to appear in the Camp Nou with the name of his ex Shakira on his shirt.Reports in Spain said the Colombian singer could be the next to benefit from the Catalan club’s sponsorship with Spotify after they opted to wear the OVO owl on their jersey in Sunday’s El Clasico.The owl is the symbol of music artist Drake’s brand and he recently made history by becoming the first artist to reach 50 billion streams.READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo's sister hits out and makes her disgust clear at Newcastle substitutionShakira is about to release her new single Monotonia with Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and has already sparked speculation it reflects her acrimonious split with Pique after 11 years and two children together.Barcelona-based sports journalist Moises Llorens’ claims a deal is close to being sealed with the shapely singer-songwriter which would see her feature on the Barcelona shirt, has been echoed by several Spanish and south American newspapers.What's the most embarrassing moment you've seen a footballer involved in? Let us know in the comments section belowLeading Spanish news website El Espanol reported overnight: “Barcelona is planning the 'reunion' of Gerard Pique with Shakira.”There has not yet been any official comment from the singer or the football club, which has made no secret of its aim of bringing football and music together through its partnership with Spotify. Ex-Manchester United player Pique has had to endure jibes from fans who have chorused his ex’s name during matches after they confirmed in May they were splitting.

Real Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois struggled to hide his disappointment after he missed out on a spot on the 2022 Ballon d'Or podium.The big Belgian was hoping to become the first goalkeeper since the legendary Lev Yashin in 1963. Bu the shot-stopper failed to even claim a spot on the podium, and Courtois struggled to hide his emotions when speaking to the Spanish media.The Belgian said: I'm very happy for Karim Benzema.

Darwin Nunez has been stumbling from calamity to calamity all season and has even managed to turn his 2022 Ballon d'Or nomination into a point of ridicule.The Liverpool striker received a grand total of zero votes to finish dead lost in the polls, but at least he wasn't alone.Manchester City's Joao Cancelo joined him at the foot of the leaderboard, as did Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger, AC Milan's Mike Maignan, RB Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku and Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich, all of whom failed to garner a single vote.READ MORE: Karim Benzema's winning Ballon d'Or outfit inspired by rap legend Tupac say fansReal Madrid striker Karim Benzema was deservedly named Ballon d'Or winner after inspiring Los Blancos to La Liga and Champions League glory last season, pipping Bayern's Sadio Mane and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne to top spot.Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski and Liverpool forward Mo Salah completed the top five, with City goal machine Erling Haaland settling for a 10th-place finish.Elsewhere, Spain and Barcelona prodigy Gavi won the Kopa trophy, awarded the best U21 player, while Madrid's Thibaut Courtois scooped the Yashin trophy, given to the best goalkeeper.Does Darwin Nunez have any chance of being nominated for the Ballon d'Or again next year? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.For the first time ever the Ballon d'Or was based on the results of the previous season instead of the calendar year, meaning Nunez' nomination was more than justified, despite his stuttering start to life at Anfield.The 23-year-old netted 34 goals in 41 games in all competitions for Benfica last season, promoting the Reds to bring him to Merseyside for a club-record fee in June.Nunez bagged a goal on his debut in

won his first Ballon d'Or award on Monday night and fans reckon his outfit was inspired by rap legend Tupac Shakur. The Real Madrid striker was picked for the prestigious individual accolade ahead of France team-mate Kylian Mbappe, who was booed ahead of the ceremony, and ex-Los Blancos pal Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished in 20th spot - his lowest ever position in the rankings.Benzema was tipped to lift the award as bookies had him at 1/33 favourite to do so.

Karim Benzema has been voted the best player on the planet after scooping FIFA 's prestigious Ballon d'or gong.

Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon d'Or with eight Manchester-based players named in the top-30.

Real Madrid ace beat the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne, and Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the prestigious title on Monday evening at a ceremony in Paris' Theatre du Chatelet. The French striker, who scored in Real's 3-1 El Clasico win over Barcelona on Sunday, netted 27 goals last season in the league - and was even the top scorer in the Champions League with 15.Overall, he scored 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions.

Ballon d'Or, football's most prestigious individual award, by a single vote, with Eusebio getting pipped by Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton in 1966, and Ronaldo losing out to Germany midfielder Matthias Sammer in 1996.To be fair, in both cases there weren't all that many votes cast. Back in the day, a carefully selected panel of sports journalists would decide the winner, meaning that players were often separated by small amount of votes, whereas nowadays nearly three thousand are handed out, with players and international coaches joining the party.READ MORE: 8 players who finished second in Ballon d'Or - but never won the coveted best player prizeCharlton was crowned world player of the year after inspiring England to victory at the 1966 World Cup, earning 81 votes to see off the challenge of Portugal superstar Eusebio, who earned just one vote less.Thirty years later, the award was decided by the same margin, with Sammer, who had led Germany to glory at Euro 96 that year, receiving 144 votes to pip Ronaldo on 143.Would you make any changes to Ballon d'Or voting system? If so, let us know in the comments section below.By contrast, when Lionel Messi narrowly beat Virgil van Dijk to the award in 2019, he received a whopping 686 votes, with the Liverpool defender earning 679.There's no need to feel too sorry for Ronaldo or Eusebio though as both players ended up getting their hands on the big golden ball before retiring.

Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo received his lowest-ever ranking at this year’s Ballon d’Or - even behind one of his team-mates.The superstar, who was nominated among 29 other players on the shortlist, landed in 20th place - while Red Devils midfielder Casemiro received 17th place in the ceremony.Ronaldo had also hit 20th spot in 2005 during his junior years at United, tying with Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher. Though this year's result comes after a season where he was United's top scorer with 24 goals in 38 matches.READ MORE: Man Utd could finally land Frenkie de Jong after he was left 'disgusted' at BarcelonaThe Portuguese international has won a total of five Ballon d’Ors - the second-highest but still behind Lionel Messi, who has claimed a record seven titles.

Drake curse’ this weekend after the rapper betted on them to win their game against Real Madrid.For the game – dubbed ‘El Clásico’ in Spain – Barcelona wore a special kit dedicated to the rapper featuring his OVO owl as part of their sponsorship with Spotify.Ahead of the match on Sunday (October 16), Drake took to Instagram to share proof of a bet he posted for $8333,333 Canadian dollars (£537,000) on both Arsenal and Barcelona to win their games that day.While Arsenal were victorious in a 1-0 win against Leeds, later in the day Barcelona lost 3-1 to Real Madrid, seeing Drake lose over half a million pounds. A win for Barca would have won him nearly £2.5m.After the loss, many have called back to the ‘Drake curse’, with the rapper garnering a long-standing reputation for being a bad luck charm after posing with sporting stars or their team’s shirt.In recent years, Manchester City exited the Champions League after he posed with their player Sergio Aguero, while AS Roma even “banned” their players from taking photos with him in order to prevent devastating losses.In 2019, many said Drake used his “curse” to his advantage after seemingly ensuring that the Philadelphia 76ers lost a crunch game against his beloved Toronto Raptors.❗️Drake has placed a massive bet of €617,467 on Arsenal and Barça to win today against Leeds and Real Madrid.

Omonia Nicosia goalkeeper Francis Uzoho described Manchester United shot-stopper David de Gea as a 'legend' after the Spaniard made his 500th appearance for the Reds against Newcastle United on Sunday.

Barcelona crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico.Madrid went 1-0 ahead early on when Karim Benzema slotted home from close range after Vinicius' initial effort was parried by Ter Stegen. But Barcelona should've drawn level 12 minutes later when former Leeds star Raphinha played a teasing ball into the box.While Frenkie de Jong couldn't get on the end of it at the front post, Lewandowski looked a certainty to turn it home at the back stick.

Cristiano Ronaldo stand naked in front of a mirror and say 'Lionel Messi doesn't look like this' according one of Peter Crouch's conversations with Rio Ferdinand. Ronaldo made a name for himself during his six full seasons at Manchester United, a period in which Messi was beginning to become a world star while in Spain with Barcelona.

Lionel Messi incredibly signed his first professional contract on a napkin - and it's still safe to this day. When little Leo hopped across the Atlantic Ocean with Barcelona calling, it took just one trial match to convince Carles Rexach, Barca's sporting director, he was their guy.

Barcelona forward made the switch from Bayern Munich earlier this year as he looked to help in the revival of the fallen giant, but despite being in good form, the 34-year-old reckons he's lost out to rival forward Benzema in the hunt for the award handed to the best male footballer in the world. The Frenchman will definitely be up there in the rankings after an unforgettable year with Real Madrid, dominating La Liga and beating Liverpool to the Champions League.

Gary Neville and Paul Scholes agree that Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer a permanent fixture in the Manchester United starting XI under Erik ten Hag - but the two former Old Trafford teammates have different thoughts on how the manager handled that situation throughout the summer months.

Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong is reportedly disgusted with his current situation at Barcelona and could now be ready to finally quit the Camp Nou.The Dutch maestro, 25, was Erik ten Hag's No1 target in the summer transfer window and despite the Red Devils agreeing a £70million deal with Barcelona, De Jong was unwilling to relocate after settling down with long-term partner Mikky Kiemeney.Due to Barca's depleting finances, the Spanish giants had been keen to shift De Jong from their wage bill with boss Xavi even handing him an ultimatum to either take a mammoth pay cut or find a new club.READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo seen sharing joke with goalkeeper after being denied goal 701But while De Jong's relationship with the club appeared to have improved since Transfer Deadline Day, Spanish outlet Sport allege the Netherlands international is "disgusted" with his current bit-part role.De Jong has started just three La Liga matches for Xavi this season and just one in the Champions League. The midfielder was named on the bench for clashes against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan and was only entrusted to start the 5-1 pummelling of European minnows Viktoria Plzen.HAVE YOUR SAY! Should De Jong leave Barcelona in January? Let us know in the comments section.As one of Barca's highest earners, the Dutch star believed he had earned the right to be one of the first names on the team sheet but now finds himself behind Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Pedri in the pecking order.

Barcelona for appearing to hijack Sheffield Wednesday's badge for their El Clasico clash with Real Madrid this weekend.Barca take on Real in the fiercely contested match at the Bernabeu on Sunday, and the Catalan giants will sport a unique shirt to mark the occasion. The La Liga giants' tops have been emblazoned with Spotify this season following a £1billion sponsorship with the streaming giants.But Spotify's logo will be replaced with that of rap superstar Drake's emblem of an owl, which represents his 'OVO' brand, when Barca take on Real.

Manchester United used stoppage time to rescue themselves from an embarrassing draw with Europa League minnows Omonia on Thursday.