Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi already back at PSG

After spending a PSG-approved week resting, both World Cup participants Achraf Hakimi and Kylian Mbappe returned to the training ground with the rest of Paris Saint-Germain first-team players on Thursday.

World Cup champion Mbappe and Morocco international Hakimi spent a week off the field and resting and touring the United States after returning earlier than anyone from Qatar.

Both appeared in multiple games after coming back from the World Cup and PSG deemed it optimal to give them some rest to have them fresh for the second half of the season.

Hakimi and Mbappe returned to train at Camp des Loges with the rest of the squad on Thursday after PSG defeated Angers 2-0 on Wednesday evening as part of match day 18 of the Ligue 1 campaign.

Hakimi and Mbappe trained with the group on Thursday, should play next Sunday

The wing-back was suspended for the league game against Angers, so his absence wasn't entirely caused by the time away from the team this past week and therefore excused. On the other hand, he missed last week's French Cup outing while on vacation.

Mbappe missed both classes on pure resting, though, as he had not been suspended for any of the two games played last week and last Wednesday. Both players are expected in the lineup, let alone the matchday squad, next Sunday when PSG visit Rennes away from the Parc.

PSG didn't need any of the two players to qualify for the French Cup Round of 32, with the next game of the competition taking place on Jan. 23 against a still-unknown opponent.

The Parisien didn't find it hard to get past Angers on Wednesday either, putting a couple of goals past the bottom dwellers to earn three more points on their way to getting crowned autumn champions of Ligue 1.

Ligue 1 resumes this weekend with PSG facing Rennes on MD19 at Roazhon Park.