SPORTS

One takeaway which has been made 100 percent clear — in case the first four games of the season weren’t enough — is this: Manchester United are, in every way imaginable, a different team when Paul Pogba is on the field. Pogba returned to action on Saturday and paced Man United to a 4-1 thumping of Newcastle United. After the game, United manager ...

KARIM BENZEMA has reportedly had enough of being made the scapegoat for Real Madrid’s troubles in the league this season. The France international once again fired blanks in Real’s 0-0 draw with arch-rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday. He has scored just two goals in 13 games in all competitions this season so far with pressure building on the striker. Real ...

Rafa Benitez couldn’t resist taking a sly dig at his old foe Jose Mourinho after Manchester United secured victory over his Newcastle side. The pair have had a stormy relationship dating back to Mourinho’s first spell as Chelsea manager while Benitez was in charge at Liverpool. They went toe-to-toe again at Old Trafford as the Red Devils came from behind ...

Cristiano Ronaldo says he wants to have seven children and win the same number of Ballons d’Or. The Real Madrid star recently had his fourth child, and is expected to win his fifth Ballon d’Or when the award is announced next month. But the 32-year-old has still come in for recent criticism, as his return of one goal in seven ...

Ghana’s two boxers Frederick Lawson and Duke Micah will be in action on Saturday night at the Resorts World Casino NYC in Queens, New York. Welterweight contender Frederick ‘General Okunka’ Lawson, (25-1, 20 KO’s) will square it off with Colombian Fidel Monterrosa Munoz. Duke “The Baby Faced Terminator’ Micah, (20-0, 18 KO’s) a makes his highly anticipated American debut against ...

MANCHESTER UNITED are reportedly keeping tabs on West Ham’s Domingos Quina. The 17-year-old midfielder was watched by United scouts while scoring for Portugal under-19s against Spain this week. Quina spent three years in the Chelsea academy after moving from Benfica. But he was released last summer and picked up by the Hammers. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are also keeping a ...

JOSE MOURINHO has played down suggestions there is any lingering bad blood between him and Rafa Benitez. The two managers clashed several times when Mourinho was in his first spell as Chelsea boss and Benitez was in charge of Liverpool. Chelsea beat the Merseyside club in the League Cup final of 2005 but Benitez got his revenge by knocking the ...

ZINEDINE ZIDANE says he’s not affected by the dressing room war between Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos. Their relationship between the pair has turned sour after Ronaldo slammed the ‘weakening’ of the Real squad following the exits of Alvaro Morata, Pepe and James Rodriguez. Ramos didn’t take kindly to such comments and said: “I don’t agree with him that the ...

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba return to the Manchester United squad for Saturday’s Premier League game against Newcastle at Old Trafford. Striker Ibrahimovic, 36, is yet to play this season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in April. Midfielder Pogba, 24, has not played since injuring a hamstring against Basel in September. Defender Marcos Rojo is also available and ...

BARCELONA star Lionel Messi has consoled Neymar with his PSG dream beginning to turn sour, according to reports. Neymar made the stunning decision of leaving Barcelona in the summer, tying up a £200million move to PSG. With 11 goals from 12 games so far, the Brazilian looks primed to fire Unai Emery’s side to the Ligue 1 title. However, reports ...