Newly re-elected Barcelona president Joan Laporta tendered an olive branch to Lionel Messi, saying the erstwhile club legend and Inter Miami superstar would always be welcome to return.

Laporta routed challenger Victor Font in Sunday’s election, earning 68.1% of votes cast by 48,480 club members to retain the presidency through 2031.

He overcame Font’s focus on his strained relationship with Messi and an accusation from Xavi, the former Barcelona manager, that Laporta blocked the Argentine midfielder from returning in 2023, two years after Messi left for France.

“Leo will be linked to Barcelona in whatever way he wants to be,” Laporta said. “He deserves a tribute (match) and also a statue. That would be hugely significant. Only Ladislao Kubala and Johan Cruyff have statues at the stadium.

“The doors at Barca are always open to him, whenever he wishes, so that he can continue to strengthen and bring greatness to this institution.”

A lawyer and former Catalan politician, Laporta was club president from 2003-10, reclaimed the post in 2021 and initiated a personnel overhaul that led to Messi’s departure for PSG.

With Messi pulling the strings, Barcelona became a European powerhouse and perennial La Liga champion during Laporta’s initial term.

Messi, 38, led Barcelona to 10 domestic championships and four Champions League titles before continuing his dominance in France and with Inter Miami, with whom he won MLS Cup in 2025 along with back-to-back league MVP awards.

Barcelona’s all-time scoring leader with 672 goals in 778 games, Messi has maintained he would like to come back in the twilight of his career, which also includes the 2022 World Cup triumph with Argentina.

“Last night, I returned to a place that I miss with all my heart,” Messi wrote last November in a social media post that showed him touring the renovated Camp Nou.

“It’s a place where I was immensely happy, where you made me feel like the happiest person in the world a thousand times over. I hope that one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do…”

Laporta outlined his priorities for the next five years at Barcelona, the current top team in the La Liga table and an aspiring Champions League quarterfinalist.

“To keep building a great team with (manager Hansi) Flick on the bench,” Laporta said. “To win titles, which is what the fans love, but also to play well. And to finish the stadium halfway through the mandate, because that guarantees the club’s future on a financial level but also a venue fitting for putting on a show on the pitch.

“We also want to keep the women’s team really competitive and to keep growing economically. The best years of our lives lie in wait.”

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Maple Leafs will carry the momentum of two wins in three games into their clash Tuesday night against the visiting New York Islanders.

Sparked by two goals from AHL call-up Benoit-Olivier Groulx, the Maple Leafs built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 road victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

It followed a 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Toronto snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-4 win on Thursday over the Anaheim Ducks, when team captain Auston Matthews went down with a season-ending knee injury.

“No one’s folding the tent,” said Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who also scored against the Wild. “We’re trying to compete. We’re trying to push and play good hockey and win games. And, I mean, you’re not going to win every night, but you want the compete to be there, you want the effort to be there, and I think it has been lately. We’ve got a ways to go, but we’re going to look to build off tonight.”

Despite gaining five points over the past three games, the Maple Leafs sit 10 points out of the playoffs as the seventh-place team in the Atlantic Division.

Groulx has three goals in four games since his promotion from the Toronto Marlies. He has four goals and eight points in 69 career games with the Maple Leafs and Ducks.

“It felt really good,” Groulx said. “I thought I had a really tough first period. I was behind the play. I was surprised by their speed, honestly, and their execution, and came back in the second, and I knew I had to regroup.”

Said Toronto head coach Craig Berube: “I know what I’m getting out there, shift after shift with (Groulx). It’s great to see him get a couple of goals tonight. He had another good game all around.”

The Islanders are coming off a 3-2 home win on Saturday over the Calgary Flames.

Simon Holmstrom scored twice in a three-minute span, once while killing a penalty, to help the Islanders go up 3-0.

“We had a really good first period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a good jump. I mean, we scored three goals. I was pretty pleased with the way we came out, and that was part of what we talked about before the game. We want to get off to a good start. And we had that good start we were looking for.”

Holmstrom was moved to the second line Saturday to play with newly acquired veteran center Brayden Schenn and Anthony Duclair.

“It gives us four very good lines,” Roy said. “Having (Holmstrom) play with Schenn, I thought that was giving us scoring from that line, A, and B, (we feel) comfortable that they can defend very well.”

The Islanders, 11-5-0 in their past 16 games, were third in the Metropolitan Division after their win on Saturday.

“We’ve been doing a good job of managing the puck when we know that our legs aren’t really there, getting the puck deep and trying to outwork them in their own zone,” Holmstrom said. “Everyone is fighting.”

–Field Level Media

After what he called a “stressful” final round at The Players Championship on Sunday, Robert MacIntyre withdrew from this week’s Valspar Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla.

The Scotland native, and ninth-ranked player in the world, shot a 3-under-par 69 in the final round at TPC Sawgrass to finish alone in fourth place at 10 under in The Players. He finished three shots behind winner Cameron Young.

MacIntyre’s chip from the rough at No. 16 bounced in front of the green then rolled entirely off the massive putting surface and into the water to essentially end his bid for a victory. It was one his two bogeys over the final five holes.

“No, it was stressful,” said McIntyre, who was the runner-up at the U.S Open last year. “I was actually struggling to eat early on the back nine. … Obviously, last year was a big kind of wake-up call for me in order to know that I can really compete at the top end of world golf.”

No official reason was given for MacIntyre backing out of the tournament. He was replaced by Andrew Putnam.

PGA Tour rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Canada and Keith Mitchell also withdrew from this week’s tournament. They will be replaced by Kris Ventura and Doug Ghim, respectively.

Yellamaraju finished in a tie for fifth at The Players, shooting 9 under for the tournament, including a final-round 4-under 68.

Seven of the top-20 players in the world are entered at the Valspar Championship, which is being held just outside of the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Included in the field is defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway, as well as Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.

Schauffele finished third at The Players, while Thomas tied for eighth in his second tournament since returning from back surgery.

–Field Level Media