Tennis icon Novak Djokovic has revealed why he was desperate to meet Lionel Messi and Neymar while in Paris for the 2023 French Open

Eddie Howe says Newcastle are not able to launch blockbuster moves for superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar despite the financial muscle of their Saudi owners.

Several hundred PSG supporters gathered outside club headquarters on Wednesday evening where they set off smoke flares and sang hostile chants about underperforming stars Messi, Neymar and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti

A brilliant Lionel Messi goal helped Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-1 home win over Lens on Saturday to surely end any doubt about the outcome of this season's Ligue 1 title race, after an early sending-off left the visitors with a mountain to climb.

New France skipper Kylian Mbappe said he would not change after being given the armband by coach Didier Deschamps for the Euro 2024 qualifiers as he promised to be "a different captain" to long-term predecessor Hugo Lloris.

Paris St Germain suffered yet another setback as they slumped to their first Ligue 1 home defeat of the season when they were beaten 2-0 by Stade Rennais on Sunday.

Doctors at the Aspetar hospital would not give a date when the 31-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker would return to action but they are confident that Friday's surgery was a success

Paris Saint-German forward Neymar arrived in Doha on Friday for an operation on the ankle injury that has ended his season, Qatar's official news agency said.

Bayern Munich host Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday with the stage set for star turns from their 2022-23 additions Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt.

Neymar tweeted he would not be discouraged by his latest injury

The Brazilian, who suffered the injury on February 19 against Lille in Ligue 1, "has had several episodes of instability in the right ankle in recent years," said the club, adding that its medical staff "recommended a ligament repair operation" be undertaken in Doha

"New examinations taken today confirm a sprained ankle for Neymar with ligament damage," PSG said in a statement

Brazilian forward Neymar, who scored PSG's second goal in the 17th minute, left the field in tears early in the second half after colliding with Lille's Benjamin Andre and rolling his ankle

The visitors were punished when Mbappe turned in Juan Bernat's cross to make it 3-3 before Messi's free-kick five minutes into stoppage time sealed a dramatic victory for PSG.

PSG head coach Galtier noted Neymar played in a poker tournament on Wednesday and visited a McDonald's branch with friends. It came at a point when PSG's season has reached crisis point, with three damaging defeats in succession putting Galtier under pressure.

Bayern Munich visit the French capital for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next Tuesday, but there will be no easy build-up to that game for PSG.

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior has won the Samba Gold award, also known as Samba d'Or, and it is the sixth time the Brazilian playmaker bagged the prize in nine years.

Paris St Germain head coach Christophe Galtier said injuries sustained by Sergio Ramos and Kylian Mbappe in their 3-1 win at Montpellier on Wednesday were not serious and that they were taken off to manage their workload during a busy schedule.

South America's top national team competition, the Copa America, will be held in the United States in 2024 and feature 10 teams from South America's CONMEBOL and six teams from the CONCACAF region.

Lionel Messi will be rested for Paris St Germain's French Cup game at third division side Chateauroux as the Argentine forward needs more time to recover from his world Cup winning campaign, coach Christophe Galtier said on Thursday.