Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier has revealed the advice he got regarding defending Paris Saint-Germain forward and Argentinian legend Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona legend, who won the World Cup this winter in Qatar, was a nemesis of Trippier when the full-back was at Atletico Madrid.

However, Trippier admits that his then coach Diego Simeone told him there was not much they could do to stop Messi in full flight.

"You can't stop Messi, to be fair," Trippier said to Spanish outlet AS.

"It's funny because obviously, Simeone was the coach and both are Argentines.

“Even he would say before meetings, 'basically pray'. You just can't do anything. You cannot organize or prepare to stop it because he is that unique."