Leo Messi ruled out Saturday, Hakimi questionable vs. Monaco

Not only did PSG lose to Marseille 2-1 in the French Cup Round of 16, but they also returned to Paris with a couple of players banged up and expected to miss time: Lionel Messi and Achraf Hakimi.

The French newspaper L'Equipe reported on Thursday the health woes suffered by Argentina international Lionel Messi in the evening at Marseille. Messi, according to Le Parisien, suffered a hamstring injury and has already been ruled out for the game against Monaco on Saturday.

Messi suffered the injury at some point during the R16 matchup against OM last Wednesday and informed PSG staff after the game was over. The club is seemingly erring on the safe side with Bayern Munich coming next Tuesday, and Messi will sit out the next Ligue 1 game against Monaco this weekend.

On its printed edition of Friday, L'Equipe is adding Achraf Hakimi to the list of questionable players on the PSG side to feature this weekend against Monaco after feeling pain and discomfort in his hamstrings.

These two injuries, along with those already known, make quite a list of talented PSG players being left out for a pivotal game against Monaco on the road after losing last Wednesday's trip to Marseille.

Messi, Renato Sanches, Nordi Mukiele, and Kylian Mbappe are definitely out Saturday with mid-term injuries. Presnel Kimpembe and Hakimi are questionable to play and won't appear on the starting XI barring a surprising decision by coach Christophe Galtier.

While PSG can afford to drop points against Monaco having an eight-point lead over second-place Marseille in the league, the truth is that they shouldn't fall into bad habits nor lose more important games if they don't want to enter dark territory.

It's time for PSG to step up as a collective and for Galtier to make things work much better than they have to date and mostly of late. And that should start no later than Saturday at the Stade Louis-II, no matter who is or is not available for PSG.