KOULIBALY ALLEGIANCE A SURPRISE TO DESCHAMPS

The 47-year-old has been tracking the Napoli centre-back for France's Euro 2016 squad having been unaware the defender has already played international football for Senegal

France coach Didier Deschamps has mistakenly been keeping taps on Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly for the host nation's Euro 2016 squad.

Deschamps was quizzed on the chances of Aymeric Laporte being called up for the tournament considering his good form for Athletic Bilbao in 2015-16.

The 1998 World Cup-winner said the young Basque faces competition from the likes of Barcelona's Jeremy Mathieu and Napoli's Koulibaly.

"For our defence, I've also been following Kouilibaly," he told French TV programme Canal Football Club.

The only problem is, despite being born in France, Koulibaly has played several times for Senegal since making his international debut for the African nation in 2015.

When told of this revelation, a surprised Deschamps responded: "Really?>

Lionel Messi starting to surpass levels of Pele, Maradona other greats - Zico

Zico claims Lionel Messi is on the brink of becoming the greatest footballer of all-time as Arsenal prepare to face the Barcelona superstar.

Messi and Co head to the Emirates Stadium to tackle the Gunners in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, with his forward colleagues Luis Suarez and Neymar also sure to be a major threat in London.

But former Brazil playmaker Zico considers Messi as accomplished a player as there has ever been.

"He is starting to surpass the level of Pele, Garrincha, [Johan] Cruyff, [Franz] Beckenbauer and [Diego] Maradona," Zico told Barca TV.

Argentinian Messi recently became the first player to reach 300 league goals in Spain, and at the age of 28 he could have many years left in the game.

He has delivered against Arsenal in the past, most memorably when scoring four at the Nou Camp against Arsene Wenger's side in 2010.

With Suarez and Neymar now providing a further threat, Zico fears the worst for Arsenal over two legs.

"The trident is fantastic because they play as a team and suit each other perfectly," Zico said, according to Barcelona's website.

"Barca are favourites both in London and at Camp Nou."

Despite his admiration for Messi, Zico suggested next year could see a Barcelona teammate land the FIFA Ballon d'Or award.

He said: "It would not be surprising at all if Neymar was named the best player in the world."

Didier Drogba defends Serge Aurier after Periscope outburst

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has leapt to the defence of fellow Ivory Coast teammate Serge Aurier who was suspended by Paris Saint-Germain for making derogatory remarks on social media.

Both players teamed up to help Ivory Coast win the African Cup of Nations last year and Aurier has been steadily rising as one of the top full-backs in world football since.

The rise, however, came to a staggering halt when Aurier was banned from the PSG squad prior to the 2-1 win over Chelsea in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie on Tuesday.

His suspension was for a video he posted on social media, where he made derogatory remarks about head coach Laurent Blanc and PSG's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

While it is unclear what the future holds for the 23-year-old defender, his countryman Drogba, wants the player to be educated and given a chance to learn from his mistake.

The Chelsea legend posted a long comment on Twitter, where he has rallied for the football fraternity to forgive Aurier and let him grow and mature as a player.

#justiceadeuxvitesses @Serge_aurier pic.twitter.com/14s24n9ptQ

Blanc, who labelled Aurier as "pitiful" for his comments did not confirm if the player will continue his career at PSG, and has left it to the club authorities to handle the matter.

Louis Van Gaal: I'd prefer Man United to win FA Cup over Europa League

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal would prefer to win the FA Cup than the Europa League but accepts that European success is the club's best route into the Champions League.

Van Gaal returned United to the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, but they are currently fifth, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

After dropping into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group, they take on FC Midtjylland on Thursday in the first leg of their round-of-32 clash.

Victory in the competition would see United qualify for next season's Champions League, but Van Gaal -- who is hoping to guide the club to their first major trophy since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 -- said his personal preference would be to lead them to a first FA Cup since 2004.

"My personal wish is to win the FA Cup. I have already won the UEFA Cup and I want to win a title in England," said Van Gaal, who won both the UEFA Cup and Champions League with Ajax in the 1990s.

"That is why I have come to this country, to make Manchester United champions or give them a title [in England], but I understand -- for Manchester United it is much more important to win the Europa League because it will give us the Champions League.

"It is not only my best route, but ours I think."

However, there are several elite clubs in contention for the Europa League this season, including reigning champions Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Porto, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen and Premier League rivals Tottenham and Liverpool.

Van Gaal added: "I think it is also difficult to win [the Europa League] because there are also very good European teams in the League. We are with the last 32 teams, so we still need to win a lot of rounds.

"It's a way to get into the Champions League. It's a fantastic aim for us to win this cup because Manchester United have never won it."

Van Gaal warned that Danish champions Midtjylland will also provide a stern test of his team's credentials.

"We have to beat Midtjylland, who are a very good team," he said. "They play in a difficult shape for us. Sunderland showed it [in United's 2-1 defeat on Saturday] and Midtjylland play in the same shape, 4-1-4-1.

"They are specialised at set plays -- they have scored 48 percent of their goals from them -- so we'll try to organise for that but it's difficult. We hope we can do that but we mustn't give too many corners or free kicks away.

"We don't have tall players but we know that in advance. I cannot select other players now because of their height. We have a squad of 26 players and 13 are left, then the rest are out of the second team. I always have to select players on quality, not height, but it is a problem.

"The circumstances are also not so easy. I have seen that the pitch is smaller than usual so it is not so easy to beat Midtjylland here and a lot of teams have experienced that."

United will be without captain Wayne Rooney, who is reportedly facing around two months out with a knee injury, but Van Gaal said he does not regret allowing Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez to leave the club in the summer.

"Our policy is that we didn't want a big squad, because otherwise you can't try youngsters in your team, and normally you don't have so many injuries," he said.

Will Keane, recently returned from a loan spell at Preston, is expected to be given a bigger role in Rooney's absence.

PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic: I'm 'in good shape' for Premier League

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has not ruled out a move to the Premier League in the summer when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires.

Ibrahimovic, 34, has won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France during a sparkling career, but could finally move to England when his deal expires in the summer.

The Sweden international, quoted in several national newspapers, said: "I have another three months here and then... what will happen? Big things will happen."

Asked specifically about a move to the Premier League, Ibrahimovic added: "Let's just say I am in good shape."

Ibrahimovic's career has taken him from Malmo to Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG.

Unless he were willing to take a significant pay cut, only a handful of clubs could afford to match his reported £200,000-a-week-after-tax wages, and Manchester City can almost certainly be ruled out after Ibrahimovic was critical of Pep Guardiola -- his coach at Barcelona -- in his autobiography.

Ibrahimovic played for Jose Mourinho, strongly linked with the Manchester United job should Louis van Gaal leave, at Inter.

Marcelo returns to Real Madrid's starting XI against Roma

Left-back Marcelo returned to the Real Madrid starting XI for their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie against Roma on Wednesday.

Marcelo was expected to be out for a couple of weeks after suffering a painful shoulder injury in Madrid's 2-1 win at Granada on Feb. 7, but the Brazil international was named in coach Zinedine Zidane's lineup to face Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Gareth Bale, who has been out of action since picking up a calf injury against Sporting Gijon on Jan. 17, remained unavailable for Zidane's side.

In all, two changes were made to the Real XI that defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-2 in La Liga play at the weekend.
Here's the complete lineup for Wednesday's match: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Isco, James, Benzema, Ronaldo.

Roma, for their part, will begin the match with Szczesny, Florenzi, Manolas, Rüdiger, Digne, Pjanic, Vainqueur; Salah, Nainggolan, El Shaarawy, Perotti.

Man United's Wayne Rooney could miss two months with injury - report

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney could miss two months of the season with a knee ligament injury, according to The Times.

Rooney was already set to miss United's match against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday, having not been named in the 18-man travelling squad for the first leg of the round-of-32 tie.

The club did not explain the forward's absence and manager Louis van Gaal confirmed he had a knee injury, but would not say how long Rooney would be out.

More on Rooney from the boss: "You can never say [how long he could be out for]. He has a knee problem so we must wait and see." #MUTV #mufc

- Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 17, 2016

"It's difficult to say but he was injured in the game versus Sunderland and has a knee problem," Van Gaal explained. "We have to wait and see how long that takes. I cannot say.

"Certainly in 2016, he has scored and that's why we had a good run in matches until Sunderland. But we have to cope with that. Everybody can be injured and also the captain can be injured.

"He's a guy who wants to go until the end and, if he is feeling pain, he doesn't want to go away, and certainly when you are drawing a match, because he wants to win. That's a fantastic attitude but also it's bad for his body. You do not know when it happened, so that's the difficulty."

The 30-year-old had rediscovered his form recently after a disappointing start to the campaign, scoring seven times in nine appearances since the start of the calendar year.

A prolonged absence for Rooney would test Manchester United's attacking resources, which have been questioned this season. Responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Anthony Martial, while Will Keane was named in the squad for the visit to Denmark.

The news is also a blow to England ahead of the European Championship in the summer. They have friendlies against Netherlands and Germany in March, which their captain is now expected to miss.

With at least 12 senior players not available for the Midtjylland match, Van Gaal has called up several young, inexperienced players such as Donald Love, Regan Poole, Joe Riley, James Weir and Keane.

And he said: ``When you analyse the injuries it's ridiculous. They are all contact injuries and it is a lot of bad luck. Maybe once or twice you have to back up the team with youngsters, but this year we have had to do it every week. But we have seen that it's also beneficial for Manchester United.''

Lionel Messi brace sees Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon and go six clear

Lionel Messi passed 300 Primera Division goals as Barcelona extended their lead at the top to six points with a 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon.

It took Messi just 25 minutes to reach the landmark, and six minutes later he made it 301, with Luis Suarez putting a missed penalty behind him to add the third in the 67th minute.

Gijon had briefly levelled matters through Carlos Castro and gave a good account of themselves, with goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar producing several good saves, including from Suarez's spot-kick.

Barca boss Luis Enrique grew up as a Sporting fan and said before the match that if their record 30-match unbeaten run was to end, he would want it to do so at El Molinon.

But that never looked likely to happen, and Cuellar produced his first fine save in the 21st minute to deny Suarez after he had been played through by Neymar.

Four minutes later Cuellar was beaten as Messi dropped his shoulder and cut in from the right before finding the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Sporting had looked dangerous on the break and it took them only two minutes to draw level, Alex Menendez playing a precision ball across the box for Castro to slide in and convert.

But four minutes later Messi struck again, finishing high into the net after an intelligent cutback from Suarez.

It was nearly three almost immediately but Cuellar denied Messi a hat trick and then earned some luck as Neymar's curled follow-up hit the far post.

Cuellar blotted his copybook by bringing down Suarez in the 61st minute to concede a penalty but made amends with a fine save.

After their headline-grabbing penalty at the weekend, when Messi passed for Suarez to score, Barca took the conventional route this time only to be denied.

Suarez did not have to wait long for a goal, though, and this time it was all his own work as he curled home a sublime finish in the 67th minute.

Cuellar prevented a fourth with another save from Neymar but the visitors had done more than enough to move six points ahead of Atletico Madrid.

Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp wary of motivated Augsburg in Europa League

Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool will be braced for Augsburg to raise themselves for the "biggest game in their history" when the clubs meet in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Bundesliga club are competing in European competition for the first time, and Klopp expects them to forget their struggles in the German league when they host the Reds in the round-of-32 first leg.

"It won't be too easy," Klopp told his prematch news conference on Wednesday. "Bundesliga clubs are never easy to play against and especially a club like Augsburg, who are a special story in Germany.

The boss in great spirits this evening! #LFC pic.twitter.com/LGmCu9wGa8

- Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 17, 2016

"They have said it is the biggest game in their history. If it is the biggest game in their history you can imagine how ready they are for this game."

The domestic relegation battle facing the home side would not detract from their focus on progressing to the last 16, Klopp said.

"You could say the Europa League is not the best competition for them at this moment when they are fighting in the Bundesliga, but they are really confident and want to go to the next round," he said.

"For a club like Augsburg the competition is the biggest money they can get in Europe because the Champions League is far away.

"These clubs want to go for the Europa League and no one would ever ask them a question like 'don't you think it's better to go out of European football and concentrate on the league?'

"Maybe in this case when you have 21 points and are in a difficult situation you could say 'yes' but from outside you will not see this at the game. They will fight for their lives, for sure, because for them it is an absolute highlight."

Klopp denied that the interest surrounding his first match in his homeland since being appointed Liverpool manager in October was a factor in Thursday's tie.

He admitted, though, that his years in charge of German clubs Borussia Dortmund and Mainz could give Liverpool an advantage -- and he identified Augsburg striker Raul Bobadilla as a man to watch.

"I don't think there is extra motivation because I am there," Klopp said. "I have never had a problem with their players or something like this.

"I've played a lot of times against them and that makes the preparation easier but in the end they will fight for everything.

"They have a good mixture of experience and young players and made some really good transfers.

"They have players with big potential and have one of the most physical strikers in Europe in Raul Bobadilla, who you need a navigation system to drive around! He is a real worker and difficult to defend.

"Their manager said it would be better for them if Liverpool had another manager because they would never have been to Augsburg. We know everything about this team."

Barcelona's Lionel Messi scores 300th La Liga goal against Sporting Gijon

Lionel Messi scored his 300th La Liga goal for Barcelona against Sporting Gijon on Wednesday night.

Messi, 28, netted his first La Liga goal almost 11 years ago and has gone on to hit 299 more in 335 appearances.

Messi cut onto his left foot just outside the box and curled a shot into the bottom corner through a forest of defenders' legs in the 25th minute.

Although Gijon levelled almost immediately, Messi scored his 301st goal in the 31st minute to put Barca back in front.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner turned down the chance to reach his 300 milestone in the 6-1 win over Celta Vigo from the penalty spot when he passed to Luis Suarez to score instead.

Barcelona have not lost in a club-record 30 matches and have a three-point lead at the top of the Spanish table, with a game in hand over second-place Atletico Madrid.