Ex-Liverpool ace Djibril Cisse claims Newcastle hero is "as good as Lionel Messi"

The BRIT Awards are always a highlight in the showbiz calendar, with outlandish outfits, sizzling performances from the top chart stars and outrageous behaviour all on offer in abundance over the years. This year's hotly-anticipated ceremony will see a few changes from previous years, such as the male and female categories being replaced by gender neutral gongs.

World's Scariest Man, has showcased just how seriously he is taking his upcoming fight with Iranian Hulk by receiving a nasty black eye in sparring.The strongman and actor revealed last month that the highly-anticipated showdown has been signed and sealed to take place at London's O2 Arena on April 2 - promising that he is training to achieve a knockout victory.In the latest update over his progress, Ford has told his followers that he is currently working with the best in the world - and has been left battered and bruised from sparring.After saying that he forgives athlete and actor Rico Verhoeven for giving him a black eye, Ford detailed just how committed he is to improving his ability in the ring.He wrote: "For those who doubted I was taking this seriously, when I say I am 100% in. Sparring with literally the best in the WORLD.

Manchester United fans have been left baffled by Harry Maguire's comments after conceding a soft goal against Burnley in the Premier League.Maguire, 28, harked "we have to see it out better," following a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor, to the annoyance of supporters on social media.Following a shock FA Cup exit to a resilient Middlesbrough side, Ralf Rangnick's men were looking to bounce back at Turf Moor, four days later.The Red Devils seemed to be well on the way to exorcising their demons when Paul Pogba struck home midway through the first half.Twice more they had the ball in the back of the net but Raphael Varane's header and Marcus Rashford's deflected effort were both chaulked off by referee Mike Dean.And a sucker punch arrived immediately after the restart when Jay Rodriguez beat David de Gea at his near post from close range.The Man Utd captain spoke to the press after the game admitting there is an issue conceding leaky goals."We have to see it out better, not concede a goal in that moment," said Maguire."Disappointing goal to concede our behalf. It was a last man challenge, so I did not want to make the challenge.

Christian Horner has been hailed as an “excellent troll” for winning a charity auction that gives him a tour of the Mercedes factory.The Silver Arrows were embroiled in a bitter title fight with Horner’s team last season, winning the constructors’ title but losing the drivers’ championship.In a bid to get a headstart on his bitter rivals, Horner has now taken extraordinary measures, paying nearly £3,000 for a tour of the Mercedes factory.The auction was held at the Autosport Awards on Sunday night, with all proceeds going to the Grand Prix Trust, who provide help and advice to F1 personnel.After winning the bid to have a look around the Mercedes factory, Horner cheekily suggested he wanted to bring ‘about 20’ of his Red Bull team with him.“Adrian [Newey, Chief Technical Officer], myself, Pierre Wache [Technical Director] and probably Paul Field, our Director of Production,” he joked to RacingNews365.“It'll be interesting to go and see how they're spending their budget cap.”The news of Horner’s bid was met with delight by F1 fans, who branded him an “excellent troll”, with pre-season testing now just a fortnight away.Who do you think will win the 2022 F1 World Championships? Let us know in the comments section...“Excellent troll job,” one fan wrote on Twitter.“Merc definitely going to blindfold him the whole way round,” added another.“If I'm Merc I put Mickey Mouse trophies all over the factory. A mini-RBR car rolling by with clowns jumping out of it.

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker made sure he didn't get on the wrong side of his co-host Sally Nugent after he joked that he could possibly get into trouble for disagreeing with her.Before heading into their main headlines, the morning duo discussed Adele's win at the BRIT Awards which took place in London on Tuesday night.But when broadcaster Sally admitted that Adele's album was great, Dan was lost for words and confessed that he hadn't listened to it all.Discussing her win, Dan said to Sally: "She had a great night, didn't she."Saly agreed: "Yeah, making a point as well!"Mentioning the number of awards she received on Tuesday evening, Dan replied: "Three out of four isn't bad." Sally chimed: "She did really well, it's a great album though." But Dan who hadn't listened to Adele's album to its entirety looked back at Sally and giggled. Realising, that Dan didn't know what she was talking about Sally was also left laughing at her co-host in disbelief.Giggling he said: "I wasn't disagreeing with you by the way, you'll get me in trouble."Picking up on their reactions, one viewer chimed: "Can't believe how much fun Dan & Sally are having this morning.

Tuesday night was a big one for singer Dua Lipa as she scooped up the gong for Best Pop/R&B Act award at the Brits. The 26 year old raven-haired beauty couldn't make the Brits, as she's currently in Miami. But she did appear via video link to virtually collect her accolade and explained that she's currently touring in America.

Chelsea academy when they were both just seven-years-old. They instantly grew close and their families even holidayed together before Rice was released by the club in 2014.Despite their tragic separation, they've spent plenty of time in each other's company since.

Lionel Messi is said to have put his luxury Miami penthouse up for sale just seven months after buying it - despite rumours linking him with a move to David Beckham's Inter Miami.The six-time Ballon d'Or winning forward signed a two-year deal with PSG following his emotionally charged Barcelona departure in the summer, which will take him up to his 36th birthday.Although Messi has been open about his desire to return to Catalonia with his family in the future, he has also spoken about his dreams of playing in the United States.While the attempted sale of his Miami penthouse could lead to some doubt over that plan, the Argentina icon still has the keys to his property in the Porsche Design Tower downtown.The apartment that he is keen to sell

PSG hierarchy that the squad isn't speaking French enough, with Spanish taking over as the dominant language.The Parisian giants boast one of the most multicultural sides in world football, and PSG have players in 11 different national sides.And as a result, Spanish is now the most popular language spoken in the dressing room at the Parc des Princes.Mauricio Pochettino, himself, barely uses French, and the gaffer opts to convey instructions to his team in Spanish or English.And in a report from Spanish-outlet Marca, there is growing concern about the lack of French from PSG's executives.PSG's dwindling French influence isn't just limited to the language, and the Parisian side currently has 13 French first-team players.While this is way more

Lionel Messi doesn't leave an audience awestruck.Considered by many to be the greatest player to ever kick a football, the little Argentine is an absolute master of taking people's breath away.But what about the time Messi's breath was taken away - causing him to throw up on the pitch?Let's rewind eight years, shall we?Estadio Hernando Siles is the Bolivian national side's home stadium, situated in the nation's capital, La Paz.The stadium has become a very serious weapon in Bolivia's arsenal, as well as a source of international controversy.The reason? It sits among the mountains in the north-eastern Andes, some 3,637 metres above sea level, making it one of the highest sports stadiums in the world.At that sort of altitude, athletes need a

Lionel Messi says he will move back to Barcelona once his spell at Paris Saint-Germain comes to an end.Messi has struggled to settle into his new surroundings in the French capital and has admitted he “misses everything” about his old life in Spain where he spent more than two decades.The Argentine international said he will move back to the Catalan capital after Paris with his three children, in a move which both he and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo desire.He has described his time living in a hotel in Paris as "bad" and although the family have now moved into a rented property, he is missing the daily routine which he became used to.In an interview with Catalan daily Sport which is bound to set alarm bells ringing at his new club, the

Lionel Messi has said that he was "hurt" by Barcelona president Joan Laporta's comments after his exit from the club and blasted that he "didn't deserve that".Messi was forced to leave Barca following the expiry of his contract at the end of last season as the club's financial issues prevented them from re-signing him.La Liga blocked their attempts to complete the signing of a new contract and would not allow Barca to register him as part of their squad for this season.However, in a recent interview with radio station RAC1, Laporta said he “hoped Messi would do a U-turn” and “play for free”.The PSG forward has now responded to those comments and revealed Laporta's words left him "hurt".Speaking to Sport, Messi said: “Nobody at FCB asked me

Lionel Messi was substituted at half-time in Paris Saint-Germain's clash with Lille as a 'precaution', Mauricio Pochettino has revealed. Messi, 34, was withdrawn at the interval with PSG 1-0 down against defending champions Lille on Friday night.

Mauricio Pochettino has been slammed for 'making PSG look like Newcastle' after Lionel Messi was subbed at half-time against Lille.Messi, 34, has struggled to hit the ground running since his dramatic summer move from Barcelona, but few expected the Argentine to be withdrawn midway through on Friday night.But with PSG 1-0 down following Jonathan David's 31st minute opener, Pochettino made the bold decision to replace the six-time Ballon d'Or winner with Mauro Icardi during the half-time interval. Although the decision paid off as the home side went on to turn the game around with goals from Marquinhos and Angel di Maria, supporters were still unhappy on social media.

Premier League stars Nicolas Anelka and Djibril Cisse have disagreed over Lionel Messi's start at PSG.Messi moved to the French capital over the summer, when his contract at Barcelona came to end, and the Catalan side were unable to renew his deal.Both Anelka and Cisse have had spells at various Premier League clubs plus time in Ligue 1, but despite the pairs lengthy CVs, they have never shared a dressing room with one another.Anelka, who had two separate spells at PSG, has suggested that Messi hasn't been good enough, while Cisse believes he needs more time to adapt."Today we demand from Neymar, but we can do the same with Messi," Anelka told RMC as he defended Neymar before taking a swipe at Messi."Since the beginning of the season it is

Lionel Messi are among the favourites for the prestigious award which recognises the best player in world football.And it appears as though the result could have made it out earlier than planned.A leaked image appearing to display the final standings of the vote has gone viral, though it is yet to be confirmed if the snap is genuine.The sneaky pic, supposedly belonging to France Football, shows a document dated October 25 with the final rankings, including the hotly awaited winner, revealed.According to the dubious image, Bayern Munich’s goal machine Lewandowski will pip record six-time winner Messi to football’s most coveted individual accolade.The prolific Pole was denied the prize last year following the ceremony’s cancellation due to

It's not exactly been a vintage few months for Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Lionel Messi” is undoubtedly one of the most pressuring tags a young footballer can labelled with.Over the years numerous players around the world have caught the eye of an over-eager scout or passionate fan and thus been rashly compared to the Paris Saint-Germain superstar.But none have come anywhere close to Barcelona and Argentina’s record goal-scorer and appearance-maker – nor have they won six Ballon d’Ors.Daily Star Sport looks at six of the most memorable talents who have been compared to the Argentine maestro over the years, with each achieving varied levels of success in their career.Barcelona wonderkid Bojan was dubbed the next Messi by Football Mercato in 2006 before Messi even became the player we recognise today.The Argentine

Lionel Messi means that every player wants to play against him and every fan is desperate to catch a glimpse of arguably the greatest footballer of all time.

A pitch invader briefly threw Marseille's Ligue 1 clash with PSG into carnage by storming the turf to approach Lionel Messi.

Although the current versions of Real Madrid and Barcelona do not carry the same gravitas as previous incarnations, the Clasico is a fixture that still boasts an aura.