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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

Lionel Messi’s penalty pass to Luis Suarez was a tribute to Johan Cruyff, intended for Neymar

Suarez had to have the hat trick.

David Ramos/Getty Images

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Barcelona destroyed Celta Vigo on Sunday, and the highlight was this penalty by Lionel Messi.

Credit: user penguin 672232 on r/soccer

He didn’t try to score it, but passed to Luis Suarez, who smashed it in to complete his hat trick while Celta’s players wondered if the move was even legal. It is, by the way.

This was a tribute to Johan Cruyff, who took the same penalty in 1982. Neymar said they worked on the move in training, but that the pass was meant for him. Suarez just wanted that hat trick.

In the news

PSG’s Serge Aurier made a video where he called his coach homophobic slurs and joked that he has sex with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Welp. (Telegraph)

There are a lot of new contracts and transfer deals on Football Leaks, including James Rodriguez’s.

Marco Verratti has signed a new contract at PSG. (PSG)

Manchester United will rename their south stand after Sir Bobby Charlton. (Manchester United)

The Chicago Fire have traded popular midfielder Harry Shipp. (Chicago Fire)

Joleon Lescott is sorry for tweeting a picture of an awesome car after fans accused him of not playing hard. (BBC)

Joel Matip will join Liverpool from Schalke on a free this summer. (Guardian)

Obafemi Martins looks likely to move from Seattle to Shanghai, but it’s not done yet. (ESPN FC)

Holger Badstuber has suffered yet another serious injury. (Bundesliga)

You should be reading

Amy Lawrence on Angel di Maria’s revival at PSG. (Guardian)

Johnny Hynes on Kevin Keegan’s time at Hamburg. (The Set Pieces)

Robert Redmond on the League of Ireland’s struggle to attract a huge fanbase. (These Football Times)

What happened this weekend

Here’s a recap of all this weekend’s Premier League action.

What we learned from Juve’s big win over Napoli.

Barcelona put six past Celta Vigo. (Barca Blaugranes)

Real Madrid did well in a win over Athletic Bilbao. (Managing Madrid)

Atleti kept pace in the title race by beating Getafe. (Into The Calderon)

Dortmund squeaked out a win over lowly Hannover. (Fear The Wall)

But they didn’t make up any ground on Bayern, who also won. (Bavarian Football Works)

What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)

Olympic qualifying: USWNT vs. Puerto Rico (8:30 p.m.) -- Expect to see a lot of new faces and stars rested. Puerto Rico’s done well just to get this far, and isn’t quite up to mid-level international standards yet. This should be a whooping.

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