Lionel Messi will miss Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League match against Benfica on Tuesday because of a minor leg injury, the French club have said.
The Argentina forward sat out PSG’s goalless draw at Reims in the French league over the weekend because of the pain in one of his calves.
He had first felt the discomfort in his leg toward the end of the 1-1 draw at Benfica last week when the teams first met in Group H.
PSG said in a statement that Messi is not yet ready to play.
It read: ‘Nursing a calf niggle, Lionel Messi will not make the game against Benfica.’
Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes and Renato Sanches will also miss the game with longer-term issues.
Messi opened the scoring in PSG’s 2-1 win over Nice at the start of the month and scored a screamer in last week’s 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture but missed the draw with Reims, which saw Sergio Ramos sent off.
PSG and Benfica are both unbeaten in three matches and even on points at the top of the group, which also includes Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
Roger Schmidt’s side, who are top of the Portuguese Premeira Liga with eight wins from nine games, beat Juve 2-1 in the second round of matches after defeating Maccabi Haifa 2-0.
The match in Paris could go a long way to determining who qualifies for the knockout stages as group winners.
Full list:
1. Keylor Navas
2. Achraf Hakimi
4. Sergio Ramos
5. Marquinhos
6. Marco Verratti
7. Kylian Mbappé
8. Fabian Ruiz
10. Neymar Jr
14. Juan Bernat
15. Danilo Pereira
16. Sergio Rico
17. Vitinha
19. Pablo Sarabia
26. Nordi Mukiele
28. Carlos Soler
31. El Chadaille Bitshiabu
33. Warren Zaïre-Emery
35. Ismaël Gharbi
44. Hugo Ekitike
99. Gianluigi Donnarumma
