Lionel Messi scored his 900th career goal on Wednesday to become the second player to reach the mark in elite men’s football after Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 38-year-old Argentine World Cup winner brought up the milestone with a left-footed strike in Inter Miami’s 1-1 draw with Nashville SC in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The 900th goal came 21 years after Messi scored his first in senior football for Barcelona as a 17-year-old in 2005.

Inter manager Javier Mascherano said Messi’s tally was “insane”.

“I’ve been lucky enough to see most, or many, of the goals he’s scored, much closer than you all, and that’s a privilege,” he added.

“The number we’re talking about is insane, and that’s why Leo is a one of a kind.”

Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, reached the landmark in his 1,142nd appearance for club and country, nearly 100 games fewer than Ronaldo, who took 1,236 games to reach the milestone in September 2024.

Portuguese forward Ronaldo has now reached 965 goals and has targeted the 1,000-mark before he quits the game.

The majority of Messi’s goals came during his spell at Barcelona, where he scored 672 times. He added 32 at Paris St-Germain and 81 for Inter Miami and scored 115 for Argentina, with whom he won the World Cup in 2022.

Messi’s teammates have been able to depend on him at crucial times with 175 of his goals coming in knockout matches, including 35 in finals.

His 129 goals in Europe’s Champions League is second only to Ronaldo’s 140.

Messi’s milestone goal came on a bittersweet night for Miami, who exited the competition on away goals after the first leg of their tie ended 0-0.

On December 18, Hollywood isn’t just releasing movies, it’s staging a cinematic war.

Two titans, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three and Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday, are locked in a high-stakes stand-off over the same release date.

Theaters, still recovering from years of drought, are bracing for an avalanche.

“Somebody’s gotta move,” one exhibitor groaned, warning of an “overwhelm that doesn’t make sense.”

Unlike the playful ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon of 2023, this isn’t a quirky mismatch.

Both films target overlapping audiences: broad, male-skewing, blockbuster-hungry fans.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Dune 2 drew 68% male viewers, skewing older while Avengers: Endgame pulled a 60/40 split, with Millennials and Gen Z leading the charge.

This time, the overlap means cannibalization is real.

Fans may choose one for theaters and save the other for streaming, leaving billions potentially on the table.

The real drama lies in the premium screens.

Dune 3 has locked down IMAX exclusivity for three weeks, leveraging Villeneuve’s sci-fi spectacle shot with IMAX cameras.

Marvel, astonishingly, will be shut out of IMAX, a move exhibitors call “insane” and “free money left behind.”

Without IMAX, Avengers: Doomsday risks losing its premium punch, while Dune positions itself as the ultimate big-screen experience.

The week before Christmas is the most coveted corridor in cinema.

Families are free, audiences are primed, and spoilers loom large.

Marvel fans rush to avoid leaks, while Dune 3 promises shocking departures from Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah.

Two juggernauts, one date, and a spoiler-fueled race to theaters: It’s a perfect storm.

At a January event, Robert Downey Jr. joked with Timothée Chalamet,

“We both have films opening on Dec. 18, and we decided to coin it — we’re thinking Dunesday. We’ll see if we’re still friends by then.”

It was playful banter, but beneath the humor lies a billion-dollar rivalry that could reshape holiday box office history.

The big question remains: Will one studio flinch, or are we truly headed for ‘Dunesday’ — a cinematic collision where only audiences win, and theaters brace for chaos?

Holly Ramsay has been seen in public since for the first time since her husband Adam Peaty’s sister spoke out about his feud with his family, as she attended the French Connection SS26: Join Our Club event on Wednesday.

The influencer and daughter of celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, joined the star-studded event for the launch of the brand’s new collection at Pergola in London.

In the weeks leading up to his wedding to Holly, Adam was involved in a bitter fallout with his mum Caroline, 60, which saw him disinvite her and the rest of his family – bar his sister – from his wedding in December.

However, Holly has been busy enjoying her married life with the Olympic swimmer and was recently seen supporting him at an International Swim Meet over the weekend. 

As for her style, Holly cut a chic figure in a stylish black fitted top and flowing cream pleated skirt, teamed with pointed-toe heels. 

The timing of the appearance is significant, as it marks Holly’s first outing since Bethany spoke out about her mother’s feud with the Ramsay family.

Bethany Peaty, 32, attended sister-in-law Holly Ramsay’s hen do and their wedding at Bath Abbey in December.

At that time, she was accused of ‘betraying’ her family when she prioritised her brother over her mother.

Now, Beth has shared her feelings about the ongoing rift, revealing she has been torn between her loyalties towards her mother and her Olympian brother.

While the tension shows no signs of easing between the sparring members, Beth told the Daily Mail that she has now made peace with her mother Caroline, 60, for the sake of her children.

Beth, a carer who has an eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter, told the Daily Mail it has been a ‘very difficult time’, adding, ‘I’m caught right in the middle of the row.

‘But I’ve made up with mum really for the children. They adore her and she is a great grandma and a good mum.’

Beth, who is engaged to partner Daniel Rogerson, 37, said it was ‘very sad’ that Adam had banned their mother from the wedding, saying: ‘It was a shame and very sad she couldn’t go.’

The mother-of-two had attended the Ramsays’ wedding ceremony as maid of honour, with Beth and Holly’s two sisters, policewoman Megan and aspiring chef Tilly, all wowing in floor-length red satin dresses.

She hinted she had tried to act as a go between the warring pair, but said she couldn’t help, noting, ‘we as Peatys are very strong minded people’.

The mother-of-two had attended the Ramsays’ wedding ceremony as maid of honour, with Beth and Holly’s two sisters, policewoman Megan and aspiring chef Tilly, all wowing in floor-length red satin dresses.