Messi already back training, Neymar and Renato Sanches missing

PSG will face Chateauroux on Friday, Jan. 6, as part of the French Cup Round of 64. The Parisian club had last Tuesday off after getting annihilated 3-1 by Lens last Sunday but returned to the training ground on Wednesday when they welcomed Lionel Messi.

More worryingly for the Paris Saint-Germain squad, neither forward Neymar nor midfielder Renato Sanchez was spotted at Camp des Loges on Thursday after having trained with the group on Wednesday morning without any problem.

The absences of Nuno Mendes and Presnel Kimpembe (not listed in the tweet above) were already known as they have been out for a while and are still recovering from their nagging injuries. Juan Bernat has already returned to training after missing the last two games with different issues.

Not finding Neymar and Sanches around, though, was something surprising and totally unexpected after having watched them on the ground midweek.

Neymar and Renato Sanches trained on Wednesday but missed Thursday's session at Camp des Loges

A lot of titis joined the first-team squad ahead of the game to be played tomorrow, and at least a handful of them are probably going to make it to the pitch either as starters or coming off the bench with many PSG first-team players down injured, suspended, or just resting.

Marco Verratti will miss Friday's game due to yellow-card accumulation. Mbappe and Hakimi are off for a week on a team-approved vacation period after playing in the last two games after the World Cup break.

Timothee Pembele, who returned to training just a few days ago after getting injured last year, was present at the session too, as was Messi now that he's back from Argentina.

Messi, though, is not expected to make his post-WC debut with PSG at least until the Ligue 1 game on Jan. 11 when Paris host Angers at the Parc des Princes. It will be his first competitive game played after the World Cup final staged on Dec. 18 when he finally got to lift the Jules Rimet trophy in Qatar.