This Monday, 4:45 p.m. in Argentina, the Parisian team will face the modest US Pays de Cassel of the sixth division of French football.
The second semester of the 2022-23 campaign did not start in the best way for Paris Saint Germain, accustomed to walking in front of his French peers: three wins and two losses in five official matches after the World Cup, maintaining first place in the league 1 but with just three points ahead of Lens, one of his executioners.
Several of the figures of the Parisian team represented their teams in Qatar 2022 and they reached the final stages, with how exhausting it is physically to play a World Cup in the middle of the season, and seem to show the accumulation of parties. The defeat against Rennes, with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe from the start, was a warning sign.
Because, Lionel Messi was not called up for the game that PSG will play today, at 4:45 p.m. in Argentina, for the French Cup. For the 16th final of the domestic contest, those led by Christopher Galtier they will look to return to victory when they face the modest US Pays de Cassel.
When the club announced the squad list, there was fear of a possible injury to the 35-year-old Argentine star, but it was finally confirmed that they simply want to rest him and save him for the most important games of the season. On Tuesday, February 14 and Wednesday, March 8, first as a local and then as a visitor, They will face the round of 16 Champions League series against Bayern Munich.
Neymar and Mbappe, on the other hand, will be available to Galtier and are expected to start, in the same way as Achraf Hakimi and Marquinhos, among other figures from the French champion. Sergio Ramos, meanwhile, would start as a substitute.
Messi, what has been said, will rest after what was the tour of Qatar and Saudi Arabia that included the friendly on Thursday against the team of the stars of the Saudi league led by Cristiano Ronaldo and directed by Marcelo Gallardo.
clash of realities
On the one hand, the most powerful club in France, full of figures, and one of the most important in the world. On the other, a humble sixth division team made up of semi-professional soccer players who dream of a historic hit. The differences between a team valued at 900 million euros and another valued at 400,000 speak for themselves.
However, games have to be played and, as they say, “this is soccer”. The boys from Union Sportive Pays de Cassel cling to that illusion, who have just eliminated Wasquehal from Ligue 2 on penalties and will experience a historic day against the constellation of PSG stars. Without Messi, of course, but with other great figures.
They will face each other at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium in the city of Lens, since the headquarters of Pays de Cassel has a capacity for just over two thousand spectators and does not reach the limits established by the organizers of the French Cup.
Probable formation of PSG: Kaylor Navas; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Bitshiabu, Nuno Mendes; Zaire Emery, Vitor Ferreira, Gharbi; Neymar, Mbappé and Ilyes Housni.
