Lionel Messi will miss Paris Saint-Germain’s trip to Reims with a calf problem, the club said yesterday. The Argentine star was “fatigued” after PSG drew away to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday in Lisbon, said coach Christophe Galtier.
The 35-year-old Messi scored PSG’s goal in a 1-1 draw and was replaced by Pablo Sarabia with nine minutes to go. “Leo will be rested. He will resume running on Sunday and will train on Monday before the return match against Benfica,” said Galtier.
Galtier and PSG face nine games before breaking for the World Cup on November 13. Messi’s Argentina kick off their campaign in Qatar against Saudi Arabia on November 22. It will be Messi’s fifth World Cup and he said this week it will definitely be his last. “It’s my last World Cup, surely. I feel good physically,” he said on Thursday.  “It was essential to get to where I am, with a good state of mind and a lot of hope.”
The PSG medical statement said Messi was suffering “discomfort in the calf”. It added that Kylian Mbappe is recovering from a sore throat and “trained in the gym” but he is a doubt for the match in Reims.  PSG host Benfica on Tuesday and the following Sunday face bitter Ligue 1 rivals Marseille, who are just two points behind in the Ligue 1 table going into this weekend’s matches.

PSG make green gesture
and take bus to Reims
PSG will travel to Reims by bus, manager Christophe Galtier said, a month after provoking controversy by mocking a suggestion his team should stop taking short-haul flights. “We will travel by bus, even if the bodies are tired. It is close to home, we will be very comfortable on our bus,” Galtier said ahead of the visit to Reims for a Ligue 1 game today.
Last season, PSG went to Reims, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the capital, by plane. On September 5, Galtier was asked why PSG had flown to Nantes which is 380km west of Paris but located on a high-speed train line.
Asked whether the club was taking its carbon footprint seriously, Galtier replied with sarcasm. “We had a chat with our travel organisers earlier to see if we can travel by sand-yacht,” he said, referring to sail-powered buggies that are popular on some French beaches. He later pleaded “misplaced humour” but insisted that he was personally “very conscientious” personally to favoured trains over planes when travelling.

Ligue 1 Fixtures
Today: Marseille v Ajaccio (1500), Reims v Paris Saint-Germain (1900)
Tomorrow: Montpellier v Monaco (1100), Angers v Strasbourg, Clermont v Auxerre, Nice v Troyes, Brest v Lorient (all 1300), Rennes v Nantes (1505), Lille v Lens (1845)