Lionel Messi left out of PSG squad for cup tie

PSG have this afternoon unveiled the squad picked for the trip up north to Lens to face sixth-tier outfit Pays de Cassel for their cup tie on Monday night, with Lionel Messi a notably absence.

Christophe Galtier has decided to rest the Argentine, who was present at yesterday’s training session, with Kylian Mbappé and Neymar named in the team.

Although the manager had indicated that he intends to play a full-strength team in order to get his players back in the groove after a post-World Cup slump, a number of young players do feature, such as Warren Zaïre-Emery, El Chadaille Bitshiabu and Ismaël Gharbi – the trio could be set to earn some more game time against the minnows. Marco Verratti, Nordi Mukiele and Presnel Kimpembe remain sidelined due to injury, while Achraf Hakimi is back in the squad. Gianluigi Donnarumma is also absent, with Keylor Navas set to return to the starting eleven, as had been the case in the first cup match of the season, against Châteauroux.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin

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