Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Donnarumma left off PSG squad

Paris Saint-Germain will face sixth-division club Pays de Cassel on Monday, Jan. 23, as part of the French Cup Round of 32. The Parisian club just returned from their Middle East tour on Friday after defeating a Saudi All-Star XI 5-4 last Thursday in Cristiano Ronaldo's debut on Arab soil.

After Christophe Galtier's press conference on Saturday afternoon, in which he already announced the expected absences of Nordi Mukiele, Presnel Kimpembe, and Marco Verratti for Monday's game, PSG published the list of called-up players for the match against Pays de Cassel including two internationals being left out of the squad.

If you have scanned the list above, you have already noticed: neither Gianluigi Donnarumma nor Lionel Messi will feature for PSG on Monday night's French Cup game.

The game, scheduled for a 20:45 kick-off at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, will see PSG arrive in Lens by bus (while negotiating the use of French trains for next season with the SNCF).

Messi and Donnarumma will miss the French Cup Round of 32 matchup

According to the information acquired and shared by RMC Sport, both players are being given a few days of rest.

It is a bit surprising in the case of the Italian goalkeeper (who didn't go to the World Cup) although he was not going to play anyway with Keylor Navas named the Cup goalie for PSG.

In the case of Messi, though, this type of measure is hardly surprising to see PSG taking after the club did something similar with Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi. Both internationals arrived quickly after the World Cup ended, played a few games, and then were given 10 days of rest which they spent touring the USA.

With no games played this week and only the French Cup matchup scheduled between now and next Sunday, Jan. 29, Messi would have had more than two weeks of rest--if we don't count the friendly in Saudi Arabia--when PSG return to Ligue 1 competition.

Finally, Achraf Hakimi will be back with the team for Monday's game while PSG titi Ayman Kari will miss the clash in Lens against Pays de Cassel.