Paris Saint-Germain will be without Lionel Messi again in their Champions League clash with Benfica on Tuesday night due to injury.
Messi suffered a calf injury during the meeting with the Portuguese side in Lisbon last week. He was immediately substituted by PSG boss Christophe Galtier.
Although they initially played down the severity of the injury, the Argentine didn’t feature in the goalless draw at Reims during the weekend. But Messi won’t only miss the return clash with Benfica, the French club are also sweating over whether the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will be back in time for Le Classique on Sunday, when they meet bitter rivals Marseille.
"Leo felt a problem in his calf during the first game with Benfica,” said Galtier on Monday. “We all thought he was going to be able to play in the second game, but it's not quite there. There's only six days between the two.
“He's a lot better, but he still has that feeling that could be problematic in a game of this importance, and he preferred to sit it out.
“We're going to see how it progresses during the week, and it's very probable that he's available for Marseille."
With the World Cup fast approaching, and almost certainly set to be Messi's last, the 35-year-old is unsurprisingly unwilling to take risks ahead of his final attempt at football's biggest prize with an Argentina side in good form.
PSG top Group H on seven points, level with Benfica, with Juventus third, four points further back. Victory for PSG will all but secure their passage into the knockout stages.
Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes and Renato Sanches are also set to miss the fixture for the hosts at Parc des Princes.
Neymar, only used as a substitute at the weekend, is set to return to the starting lineup, and will lead the attack alongside Kylian Mbappe. Questions continue to be asked about the relationship between the Brazilian superstar and the French phenom.
"The technical relationship between Ney and Mbappé exists," said Galtier, albeit not entirely convincingly and focusing on the on-field aspect of their relationship.
"It works well and the stats show that. But we have to have other variations in our play, otherwise it's too easy for our opponents to close us down. We have to find solutions out wide."
