According to sources, Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain is questionable to play against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 matchup on Tuesday. Messi has a hamstring strain. In PSG’s 2-1 Coupe de France loss to Marseille on Wednesday, Messi played the entire ninety minutes; nevertheless, he afterwards complained of hamstring tightness, and a scan revealed a strain, according to reports.
It would be very challenging for Paris Saint-Germain to play Julian Nagelsmann’s Bundesliga leaders without Messi and Mbappe in the upcoming match against the German superpowers. Messi, according to L’Equipe, has a hamstring issue that has already prevented him from travelling to Monaco, the club where Mbappe first started playing, on Saturday. The injury is not significant, and PSG is optimistic that he will play against the German champions at Parc des Princes, but he is not likely to be fully recovered.
When Galtier addresses the media on Friday during a hectic and challenging run of games, the Ligue 1 leaders are anticipated to officially announce Messi’s injury. After hosting Bayern, PSG will host Lille OSC before travelling to Marseille to cap off a miserable month that began at Stade Velodrome with Messi’s injury.
Kylian Mbappe, PSG’s leading scorer, is already anticipated to miss the opening leg against Bayern. The French forward was sidelined for three weeks by the club after suffering knee and thigh injuries against Montpellier last week. Messi has scored 15 goals for PSG this season, including three in six games since his return from Qatar where he helped Argentina win the World Cup.
The Champions League is still the focus at Parc des Princes, and PSG might not have their two star players available for the first round.