Messi arrived at Wembley widely regarded as the sport’s preeminent force but the likes of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney also had their claims to be the world’s best.

Those arguments will now be forgotten as Messi produced a second match-winning display in a Champions League final against United in the space of just three years.

Back in 2009, Messi announced his arrival as a true great with a headed goal in Barca’s 2-0 victory over United in Rome.

This time he did his damage with a sweet strike to restore Barca’s lead early in second half before a superb solo run provided the impetus for David Villa’s clinching third goal.

A remarkable tally of 56 goals in 62 games for club and country this season suggests Messi deserves his place alongside Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano and George Best in the pantheon of all-time greats.

Maradona worked with Messi when he was Argentina manager at last year’s World Cup and said recently: “I’ve heard many times over the years that there is a ‘new Maradona’. With Messi, though, I believe the player is equal to the hype.”

It was easy to see why Maradona is so enthralled by his compatriot as he bewitched the United defence time and again.

Messi was denied a sight of goal by Nemanja Vidic’s brilliantly timed tackle in the early stages.

The 23-year-old had never scored in England and he was out of luck again on the stroke of half-time when he stretched to reach Villa’s cross.

He dropped deep to link up with the midfield on several occasions and embarked on several twisting runs into the heart of United’s defence without finding the killer pass.

When a chance finally came his way with space on the edge of the penalty area early in the second half, Messi’s shot was headed away for a corner.

But United had been warned and they failed to heed the lesson in the 54th minute.

Andres Iniesta slipped a pass to the Argentine 25 yards out and, as Patrice Evra and Vidic backed off, Messi whipped a fine low strike past Edwin van der Sar.

Messi’s 12th Champions League goal of the season equalled the record set by former United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy during his time at Old Trafford.

He was close to another as he escaped Rio Ferdinand’s attentions to drive in a shot that Van der Sar pushed away, but he wasn’t finished yet.

A typically fleet-footed piece of skill left Nani trailing in his wake as Messi cut in from the right to unhinge the United defense in the build-up to Villa’s 69th minute minute goal.

Fittingly, Wembley, renowned as the Venue of Legends, was the backdrop for Messi’s rise to the ranks of the immortals.

While Messi shone, it was a frustrating night for Rooney.

The 25-year-old admitted this week that he was so enthralled by Barca’s 5-0 win over Real Madrid earlier this season that he leapt from his sofa to applaud their sublime display.

And Rooney was reduced to the role of spectator again as Barca weaved their magic to take the lead through Pedro in the 27th minute.

United’s need for Rooney to step up to the plate had never been greater and the England forward rose to the occasion to equalise in the 34th minute.

After Rio Ferdinand won possession, he took Michael Carrick’s pass in stride and flicked the ball onto Giggs, whose flick was just right for Rooney, drifting between Barca’s center-backs, to curl a superb first-time shot past Victor Valdes.

However after that he was starved of possession for long periods and cut a frustrated figure as Barca strolled to their fourth European Cup triumph.

The seventh seeded Russian, whose best performance here remains a 2007 semi-final place, comfortably reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Taiwan qualifier Chan Yung-Jan.

Sharapova had to recover from a set and 1-4 down to defeat French 17-year-old, and world 188, Caroline Garcia in three sets to reach the last 32 on Thursday.

But there were no dramas on Saturday with the former world number one and triple Grand Slam title winner strolling to her third victory in three meetings with the 129-ranked Chan.

Sharapova will next face Agnieszka Radwanska, the 12th seed, for a place in the quarter-finals, boasting a 6-1 career record over the Pole.

“It’ll be a really tough match because I think this is one of her best surfaces,” said Sharapova. “She’s a really good mover and gets a lot of balls back.”

Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka, a 2009 quarter-finalist, and China’s Li Na, the sixth seed, also eased into the last 16.

Azarenka romped to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Italian 30th seed Roberta Vinci while Li, the first Chinese player to make a Grand Slam final at the Australian Open this year, enjoyed a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Saturday’s results came a day after top seed Caroline Wozniacki was knocked out in the last 32 while second seeded Kim Clijsters exited the day before in the second round.

It was the first time since 1971 that the top two seeds had failed to get beyond the third round.

“The players that they lost to, you have to give them credit,” said Azarenka. “They must have been playing damn good if they beat such tough opponents.”

The 21-year-old next faces Ekaterina Makarova of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.

Li reached the fourth round for the second time by seeing off 21-year-old Cirstea, a 2009 quarter-finalist, and will next face dangerous Czech ninth seed Petra Kvitova who ended American interest with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Vania King.

Andrea Petkovic, the German 15th seed, also went into last 16 with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Jarmila Gajdosova, the last Australian in the event.

“I’m really proud of myself. I was composed and fought well in the third set. I had chances to finish it in two sets, but I missed three or four times just by centimetres,” said 23-year-old Petkovic.

Petkovic, who reached ther first Grand Slam quarter-final in Australia, will face Russian 25th seed Maria Kirilenko, who put out Clijsters’ conqueror Aranxta Rus.

Meanwhile, Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder called time on a 17-year career which brought 11 titles, 59 Grand Slam appearances and a family split caused by a bizarre relationship with an orange juice-obsessed guru.

The 32-year-old made her majors bow at Roland Garros in 1996 and suitably chose her 16th successsive French Open to announce her retirement.

“It’s time to close this chapter of my career,” said a tearful Schnyder.

“I had always wanted to win a Grand Slam title but that will have to remain a dream.”

Schnyder hit the headlines as a teenager when she hooked up with Rainer Harnecker who convinced her to give up meat and drink three litres of orange juice a day.

Her parents became so concerned for the welfare of their daughter, who by now was Harnecker’s girlfriend, that they hired a private detective, Rainer Hofmann to help out.

Schynder’s story then took a new twist, worthy of any soap opera, when she split with Harnecker and eventually married Hofmann in December 2003.

The five-time champion at Roland Garros needed five sets to win his opening match, and was then

pushed to tiebreaker in the deciding third set of his next match. But against Veic, Nadal had only 18 unforced errors and managed to break his opponent nine times.

Andy Murray also moved into the next round despite an injury scare in the second set when he twisted his right ankle. He eventually beat Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. On the women’s side, Australian Open finalist Li Na also reached the fourth round, defeating Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-2.

Later Saturday,was to return to the court to face Juan Martin del Potro. The pair started their match Friday, splitting the opening two sets, but it was suspended because of darkness. Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova was also scheduled to be on court.

Nadal has been dominant at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, when he won the first of four straight titles. His only loss at the clay-court Grand Slam came in 2009, when he was defeated by Robin Soderling in the fourth round.

But this year, Nadal started off with a bit of wobble, needing five sets to beat John Isner. In the second round, Nadal defeated Pablo Andujar 7-6 (4) in the third set.

On Court Suzanne Lenglen, Murray was playing Berrer when he twisted his right ankle and dropped to the ground in pain.

The fourth-seeded Brit called for a trainer and had his ankle taped before returning to the court and breaking his German opponent on the next point.

Murray will next face Victor Troicki of Serbia, who beat No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The sixth-seeded Li, who this year became the first Chinese player to get to the final at a major tournament, will next face No. 9 Petra Kvitova. Li has made at least the quarterfinals at the other three Grand Slam tournaments, but she has never progressed past the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Kvitova defeated Vania King of the United States 6-4, 6-2, while fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also advanced, beating No. 30 Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-2.

“I think I can improve, and I have been improving from match to match, which is important,” Azarenka said. “Probably could do things better, but I have time to work on and prepare for the next match.”

Doctors performed biopsies on a tumour in Carter’s brain and the hospital said the results show it “appears to be malignant.”

“Once the pathology report is available, which will take several days, we will discuss treatment options with Mr. Carter and his family,” said Doctor Allan H. Friedman said Friday.

The 57-year-old Carter announced last Saturday that an MRI had revealled four small tumours on his brain.

The 11-time all-star Carter was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. He played his last game with the Expos in 1992 and batted .262 with 324 homers and 1,225 RBIs in 19 seasons. He helped the New York Mets win the World Series in 1986.

The NBA club did not confirm the report, which had them making an offer to McHale on Friday after a month-long search to replace Rick Adelman, who was not retained after a 43-39 season that did not include a playoff berth.

If 2.26m Chinese star center Yao Ming, who missed all but five games last season with a broken foot, is able to return to the NBA and the Rockets, he will have a former NBA star big man as his new coach.

McHale, 53, spent 13 seasons with the NBA Boston Celtics and together with NBA legend Larry Bird helped them capture three NBA titles in the 1980s. He was twice named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year as top reserve and averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for his career.

Off the court, McHale takes over a club at the start of the season for the first time after two interim coaching stints with Minnesota after firings.

McHale went 19-12 as an interim coach at the end of the 2004-2005 season after the Timberwolves fired Flip Saunders.

In the 2008-2009 campaign, T-Wolves ownership asked him to return to a coaching job and he went 20-43 but was removed from the job after the season.

Marquez, the WBA and WBO lightweight champion, told Examiner.com on Wednesday that he’ll bulk up once again, just like he did against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but this time it will be done under doctor’s supervision.

“I will come in at a higher weight than normal,” said Marquez, who’ll be chasing Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight crown at a catch weight of 144 pounds on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas. “But I will have doctors monitoring my progress.”

Photo by Laura Rauch, AP

The 37-year-old Marquez learned during his lopsided unanimous decision loss to Mayweather on Sept. 19, 2009, that he isn’t that mobile when he weighed in at 142 pounds.

In their first encounter in 2004, Marquez recovered from three first-round knockdowns to forge a draw with the

pound-for-pound king.

When they fought again in 2008 at 130 pounds, Marquez again fell in the third round and it proved to be the pivotal factor in Pacquiao’s split decision win.

A worldwide promotional tour for the bout will kick off in Manila in August, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told the Inquirer yesterday.  The worldwide tour will end in Mexico after hitting big capitals of the world.

Arum also indicated that he expects Pacquiao to train for about eight weeks, beginning in mid-September.

The Dane has been No. 1 in the WTA rankings for almost the entire season but never really challenged her Slovak opponent on Court Suzanne Lenglen, having her serve broken five times.

“She played very, very well today, better than me for sure,” said Wozniacki, who had never before lost a set to Hantuchova in three previous matches. “She knew what she was going to go out there and do. She was just too good.”

Following No. 2 Kim Clijsters’ loss on Thursday, it is the first time in the Open era that the top two seeded women failed to make the round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament.

Sam Stosur, last year’s French Open runner-up, was also eliminated, but 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone advanced to the fourth round. On the men’s side, 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer had 10 aces and only 20 unforced errors in a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 29 Janko Tipsarevic.

Later Friday, Novak Djokovic is scheduled to put his perfect season on the line against 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

Wozniacki came into the French Open after winning the clay-court title at the Brussels Open. During the final, she called for a trainer and had her left thigh bandaged.

Although she played the first two rounds at Roland Garros with the same thigh bandaged, she was not wearing any protection on her leg Friday.

But injured or not, the Grand Slam drought remains — even though Wozniacki said she is not concerned with what others think.

“The only one I feel pressure from is myself to go and give my all for every match and, obviously, I’m a competitor,” Wozniacki said. “I love winning. I don’t like losing.”

Hantuchova beat a current No. 1 player for the first time in her career after six previous losses, including one against Wozniacki this season.

Federer, who won the French Open two years ago to complete a career Grand Slam, again had his serve working, landing 67 percent of his first serves and winning 84 percent of those points.

“So far in this tournament, I’ve been doing good job, but it’s really only at the end of the tournament where I would think it really matters how I did,” Federer said. “Right now it’s important to keep that up and do that against the best players out there.”

Seventh-seeded David Ferrer also won, beating No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. No. 9 Gael Monfils of France also advanced, while Albert Montanes of Spain defeated No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-1, 7-6 (0), 6-1 and Fabio Fognini of Italy beat No. 30 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Stosur was knocked out by Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. The eighth-seeded Australian struggled early but easily won the second set to take back control. The 51st-ranked Dulko then put herself back in the match by breaking to take a 4-2 lead in the third. She then held twice to advance.

“I was trying to be very aggressive, and I did it very well,” Dulko said. “And I think after I have a few ups and downs, and I was lucky to play very good tennis at the end of the match.”

Stosur, who also reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2009, had 35 unforced errors in the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“She seemed to be out ahead a little bit better and really kind of be the one dictating the points, which, for me, I’m usually the one able to do that,” Stosur said. “Pretty much right from the first game she kind of set that tone, and it was very difficult for me to turn that around.”

Dulko matched her best Grand Slam result by reaching the fourth round. She also won three matches at the 2006 French Open and the 2009 U.S. Open.

Schiavone was broken at the beginning of her match, but then won five straight games to take the first set and eventually the match when opponent Peng Shuai of China retired while trailing 6-3, 1-2.

Peng called for a doctor after the first game of the second set and had her blood pressure checked. She looked exhausted in her chair and then started to cry but broke for a 2-0 lead.

Schiavone won the next game before her opponent quit.

“I’ve been just sick for three or four days,” Peng said, adding that she has had a fever. “So it’s tough for me to play. I was really tired. I was really sick so my body could not really handle that.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 French Open champion, advanced by beating Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-0, 6-4.

“Now it’s starting to be more complicated matches,” the 13th-seeded Russian said. “I pass three rounds, so next round going to be hard. Just have to focus and start to play better.”

No. 10 Jelena Jankovic reached the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States, while No. 11 Marion Bartoli of France, a former Wimbledon finalist, defeated No. 17 Julia Goerges of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade (shooting here over Charles Boozer of the Chicago Bulls) waxed white-hot with 21 points to eliminate the hard-luck Bulls from the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA 2011 season. Wade, together with Heat superstar Lebron James (28 points), were simply spectacular down the stretch, each scoring eight during a game-ending 18-3 run as the Heat obliterated a 12-point deficit to bag the series.

CHICAGO–LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sparked a fourth quarter rally as the Miami Heat came from behind to beat Chicago 83-80 Thursday to reach their second NBA finals in five years against the Dallas Mavericks.

Miami went on an 18-3 run late in the game to beat the Bulls in five games in their best-of-seven semi-finals series.

The Heat is in the finals for the first time since 2006 when they beat the Mavericks in six games.

The Mavericks advanced by eliminating Oklahoma City in five games on Wednesday.

Eastern Conference at Chicago

Miami 83 Chicago 80
(Miami wins series 4-1)