PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi will miss Saturday's Ligue 1 trip to Bordeaux through injury but could feature for Argentina in this month's World Cup qualifiers, manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday.
The 34-year-old Messi, who signed from Barcelona in the off season, is still recovering from "knee and hamstring pains", the club said. He also sat out the 2-2 draw against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek.
️ Pochettino: "Leo Messi is not available for tomorrow's game." #PSGlive | #FCGBPSG
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) November 5, 2021
Medical update #FCGBPSG@Aspetar
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) November 5, 2021
"Tomorrow he won't be available to play for the team. We will see if he can travel to play for his country. We hope he can go and play for his country and then return to us fit," Pochettino told reporters.
Argentina travel to Uruguay on Nov. 12 and host Brazil four days later. Second-placed Argentina trail Brazil by six points.
Messi has had a frustrating start to his career in Paris, featuring in just eight games in all competitions.
PSG sit top of the league table with 31 points from 12 games, eight points ahead of second-placed Nice.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
