Will Lionel Messi and Neymar play for PSG next Friday?

PSG are missing many players after the World Cup break because of different reasons. Their two best players, South American forwards Neymar and Lionel Messi, have already come back from suspension and vacation respectively. Will they return to the pitch and play the next PSG game on Friday?

Neymar surprisingly joined fellow Brazil international and PSG captain Marquinhos in his return to Paris back on Dec. 22. Both trained for a week and started in the miraculous 2-1 win against Strasbourg on Dec. 28.

Neymar, of course, got home earlier than expected after getting sent off against relegation-bound Strasbourg. The game was still tied at 1-1 and Neymar first slapped an opponent in the face before diving inside the area to receive back-to-back yellow cards in quick (two minutes) succession.

The two yellow cards Neymar saw, and the subsequent red, forced him to sit New Year's uber-important game against Lens. PSG went on to lose by a sound 3-1 away from home, with Neymar probably enjoying some Brazilian samba away from Paris in his home, warm, South American nation.

Neymar and Messi can play on Friday, Jan. 6, but they will probably stay out until Wednesday, Jan. 11

Neymar is eligible for the French Cup game next Friday, Jan. 6, and the next Ligue 1 match against Angers on Jan. 11. He should be forced to play on Friday after burying the team chances against Lens missing that match with a silly suspension, but it's not quite clear if Christophe Galtier will do so.

After winning the World Cup with Argentina, GOAT Lionel Messi came back to Paris on Tuesday to much acclaim and returned to the training ground at Camp des Loges early on Wednesday morning.

Messi, who last played with Argentina in the World Cup final back on Dec. 18, has been out of football pitches for more than two weeks and even if he plays next Friday, his absence would span nearly three weeks.

The Argentine forward has not trained at all before Wednesday, enjoying a trip to his country to celebrate the World Cup victory with his international teammates in Buenos Aires before spending the Christmas and New Year festivities in his native Rosario.

Lionel Messi is expected to be eased into the team practices and games, and he is not expected to play next Friday in the French Cup game against Chateauroux FC. Messi will most probably make his debut with PSG next midweek when PSG hosts Angers on Jan. 11 as part of the MD18 of Ligue 1.