Messi surpasses Pelé with help from Barca teenager
Lionel Messi broke Pelé’s all-time scoring milestone for their clubs by netting his 644th career goal for Barcelona on Tuesday, while Atlético Madrid beat Real Sociedad 2- 0 to increase its lead of the Spanish league.
Messi, who helped Barcelona win 3- 0 at Valladolid, had equaled Pelé’s alltime scoring tally on Saturday. His 643rd career goal for Barcelona since his 2004 debut matched Pelé’s tally for Santos from 1957-74.
For his 644th — Barcelona’s third of the night — Messi had help from 18-year- old Pedro “Pedri” González.
After receiving the ball near the edge of the area, Pedri deftly rolled his boot over the ball to push it behind him to meet the Argentine’s run. The slick pass left Messi clear to finally beat goalie Jordi Masip, who had denied with twice.
In a meeting between the front-runner and the sensation of the league this season, Atlético put on another dominant performance to show why it is the early title favorite.
College football
AURBURN FINALIZING DEAL WITH HARSIN » Auburn and Boise State’s Bryan Harsin are finalizing an agreement for him to become the Tigers’ head coach.
A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Harsin and Auburn were in the final stages of a deal.
The 44-year-old Harsin is 69-19 with three Mountain West titles in seven seasons at Boise State, his alma mater.
Auburn fired Gus Malzahn earlier this month after eight seasons, a somewhat surprising move after a 6-4 season — and one that cost the school more than $21 million to buy out the former coach’s contract.
Auburn has been an upanddown program, winning the national championship under Gene Chizik before going on a rapid decline. CLEMSON’S LAWRENCE,
ALABAMA STARS MAXWELL AWARD FINALISTS » Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Alabama stars Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith are the finalists
for the Maxwell Award given to college football’s top player.
The winners will be announced Jan. 7 during ESPN’s college football awards show. Lawrence and Jones are also finalists for Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, along with Florida’s Kyle Trask. SOUTH CAROLINA PULLS OUT OF BOWL » South Carolina won’t be going to a bowl game, after all.
The Gamecocks, who finished 2-8, opted out of the Gasparilla Bowl against UAB due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the program. The game in Tampa, Florida, was scheduled for Saturday.
Pro football
HASKINS APOLOGIZES AFTER PHOTOS SHOW MASKLESS PARTYING » Washington quarterback Dwayne
Haskins publicly apologized after photo evidence came to light of him partying with several people unmasked after playing Sunday.
Haskins said on Twitter he spoke with coach Ron Rivera and took full responsibility for putting the team at risk during the pandemic.
There was no immediate word whether Haskins would be fined or suspended for violating COVID-19 protocols. The team fined him earlier this season for a separate violation while on the road.
College basketball
FLORIDA’S JOHNSON LEAVES HOSPITAL » Florida forward Keyontae Johnson is being released from the hospital, 10 days after collapsing on the court at Florida State and needing emergency medical attention.
The school released a statement from his family saying, “We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family.”
The family added that it will share “any information we think could help others” regarding the cause and extent of Johnson’s illness.
Kentucky’s John Calipari is one of many coaches in college basketball who have said they would like to know if Johnson’s collapse was related to his positive COVID-19 test months earlier.