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From marble racing to balcony marathons: the sports that are filling the void | Andy Bull

Amateur pastimes provide fair entertainment when the alternative is staring at the wall or, worse, watching the newsIf you know one thing about CB Fry, it’s that he was a man of many talents. He made a Test century against Australia, tied the world long-jump record, took a five-wicket haul at Lord’s, won a cap for England at right-back, started an FA Cup final for Southampton and played three games on the wing for the Barbarians.His CV reads like a schoolboy’s daydream. But there is nothing in it quite so unlikely as his ability to make a standing leap on to a mantelpiece. Fry is the man who declined the throne of Albania and tried to forestall the war by...

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Lionel Messi and money are keeping rudderless Barcelona afloat | Jonathan Wilson

Sacking of Ernesto Valverde and Messi’s fallout with sporting director Eric Abidal are symptoms of long-term stagnation and disjointed structure at the Camp NouL ast Tuesday, as Lionel Messi lashed out at the club’s sporting director, Eric Abidal, the crisis at Barcelona became official. But this is a story about far more than clashing egos and mismanagement at the Camp Nou. It is a parable of modern football, of the problem with genius and the difficulty of identity.Perhaps the strangest aspect of the saga – sparked by the Argentinian reacting with fury to what he saw as Abidal’s attempt to blame the players for the recent sacking of Ernesto Valverde – is that it has taken so long to reach...

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What is a foul? Lionel Messi’s anger highlights controversy surrounding VAR | Jonathan Wilson

The thought that VAR may end dispute over decisions has proved laughably misguided, if anything football is more controversial than everThere was a time before VAR. There may be a time after VAR. But this is the age of VAR and nothing can ever happen but that VAR is central to the discussion. The thought that VAR may end controversy has proved laughably misguided; if anything it has made the controversies worse because incidents that would have been seen as a referee making an understandable call in a difficult situation are perceived as being part of a wider failure of process, which is a small step from all-out conspiracy.Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Brazil’s 2-0 win...

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It really is Lionel’s world now: Messi has remade football in his own image | Barney Ronay

From U9s in parks to Pep Guardiola’s champions, no one person has had such a vast impact on a major sport’s footprint as Barcelona’s superstarThere was some consolation this week for anyone feeling a little maxed-out by the relentless individual brilliance of Lionel Messi. We have at least found something he isn’t good at on a football pitch. It turns out Messi isn’t very good at punching Fabinho in the head.Frankly, he’s terrible at it. The TV replays showed Messi doing something along these lines at the Camp Nou just before that mind-bending free-kick goal. Fabinho looked stunned at the time, but perhaps he was just shocked by the nature of the blow, a slappy, wristy thing executed with laughably...

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Klopp took a risk with his tactics at Barcelona – and Messi made him pay | Jonathan Wilson

Attacking Barcelona is not wrong given it can unsettle them but it leaves teams exposed and Liverpool found that can be fatalContemplating his side’s Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City last season, Jürgen Klopp said that to sit back and look to absorb pressure against such a side was in effect to try to “win the lottery”. Against the very best, he believes there is no point – at least for a team of Liverpool’s ability – in curling up like a hedgehog and hoping the threat somehow goes away. He vowed to attack, and did, and his reward was three goals in an extraordinary 20-minute spell that settled the tie before half-time in the first leg. Related: Incomparable Messi...

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