Messi, Mbappe and Neymar Set to Join Forces for First Time since World Cup

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe together before PSG's game against Auxerre in Paris in November. FRANCK FIFE / AFP/File
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe together before PSG's game against Auxerre in Paris in November. FRANCK FIFE / AFP/File
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Messi, Mbappe and Neymar Set to Join Forces for First Time since World Cup

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe together before PSG's game against Auxerre in Paris in November. FRANCK FIFE / AFP/File
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe together before PSG's game against Auxerre in Paris in November. FRANCK FIFE / AFP/File

Paris Saint-Germain's trip to Rennes on Sunday is set to be the first time their superstar front three of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar have all played together since the World Cup.

Mbappe returned to training on Thursday having been given 10 days off after coming back from Qatar and playing in PSG's first two games following the tournament, AFP said.

He jetted off to New York for a break and was nowhere to be seen as Messi made his comeback, and scored, in a 2-0 victory for the Ligue 1 leaders against Angers on Wednesday.

The World Cup was a clear motivating factor in the trio's outstanding form during the early months of the campaign, and how they play together will be crucial in determining how the remainder of the season goes for PSG.

They are six points clear of Lens before completing the first half of the season in Rennes, but the Champions League is their main objective.

After failing to come top of their group, Christophe Galtier's side were drawn to play Bayern Munich in the last 16, with the first leg at home set for February 14.

Galtier described the 35-year-old Messi as "relaxed and in great shape physically" after his first match since captaining Argentina to a penalty shoot-out victory over Mbappe's France in an epic World Cup final last month.

The question now is how much motivation the former Barcelona star has after that career-defining triumph.

PSG are keen to extend his contract in the French capital into a third season and Messi's biggest goal now will be to win the Champions League for the first time since 2015.

Fuelled by losing the World Cup final despite scoring a hat-trick, 2018 world champion Mbappe will be desperate to get his hands on the Champions League trophy for the first time.

Neymar, meanwhile, appears a little like the odd man out -- he left the World Cup in tears as Brazil lost on penalties in the quarter-finals, aware his chance of winning that trophy may have gone forever.

He was then sent off in PSG's first game post-Qatar against Strasbourg, completing a miserable end to 2022.

But for PSG it is not just about those three.

They look light in defense, where they appear overly reliant on an ageing Sergio Ramos, and short of muscle in midfield, an area where a fragile Marco Verratti is their key player.

Galtier insists they still need time to get back up to speed.

"We are all just getting used to playing together again and you could see at times that we lacked some of the connections between the players that we had more often before the World Cup," he said after the midweek game.

Player to watch: Ross BarkleyIf the England midfielder was hoping to relaunch his career in France, the move was not working out for the 29-year-old former Everton prodigy as he struggled to make a serious impact in the first three months of the season. Things have improved for him at the start of 2023, however. Barkley scored a brilliant goal against Rennes on January 2 in a 2-1 defeat, and then came off the bench to score twice in Wednesday's 6-1 thrashing of Montpellier.

The latter game was also the first for Nice since coach Lucien Favre was sacked and replaced by Didier Digard. Barkley will hope to make a greater impression under a new manager in the months ahead with the club owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.

Key stats48 - Goals Mbappe, Neymar and Messi have scored between them for their club this season

10 - Bottom side Angers have lost their last 10 league games. The record for the most consecutive defeats in a single French top-flight season is 12

8 - Rennes have won their last eight home league games.

Fixtures (kick-offs GMT)

Saturday

Lens v Auxerre (1600), Marseille v Lorient (1800), Lyon v Strasbourg (2000)

Sunday

Lille v Troyes (1200), Reims v Nice, Angers v Clermont, Montpellier v Nantes, Toulouse v Brest (all 1400), Monaco v Ajaccio (1605), Rennes v Paris Saint-Germain (1945)



Courier Says Djokovic's Rome Pullout a Worrying Sign

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his match against Matteo Arnaldi of Italy during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his match against Matteo Arnaldi of Italy during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Courier Says Djokovic's Rome Pullout a Worrying Sign

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his match against Matteo Arnaldi of Italy during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his match against Matteo Arnaldi of Italy during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Novak Djokovic's shock withdrawal from next week's Italian Open should be a huge worry for the 24-times Grand Slam champion's fans as he heads to the French Open without winning a match on clay this season, former Roland Garros winner Jim Courier said.
Djokovic, who turns 38 three days before the year's second Grand Slam begins on May 25, has been woefully out of form and was comprehensively beaten in his opening matches at Masters tournaments in Monte Carlo and Madrid this month.
The Serb was expected to jumpstart his clay campaign in Rome before returning to Paris, where he won Olympic gold last year, but on Tuesday he said he was skipping the Masters 1000 event, without providing a reason, Reuters reported.
"That's troubling. It's worrying for me as a Novak fan," Courier, who won back-to-back Roland Garros titles in 1991 and 1992, said on the Tennis Channel.
The American added that Rome would have been the perfect venue for Djokovic to find his rhythm as it had similar conditions to Paris without the challenge of playing at altitude in Madrid.
"If you're going to play one between Madrid and Rome (then) Rome would be the one you would want to play to get ready for Roland Garros," he said.
Djokovic, who is chasing a 100th tour-level title and first since his ATP Finals triumph in 2023, said after his loss in Madrid that he was trying to come to terms with a "new reality" in tennis where he is just "trying to win a match or two".
"I don't know what to make of it, but I don't like the way it feels in the gut," Courier added.
"It's a very strange thing to announce a pullout now, well in advance of it, and we'll see what it all means when we get to Roland Garros."