Presidential tussle: Atiku’s CSU evidence inadmissible —Tinubu, APC, INEC

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Lionel Messi, Neymar, Angel Di Maria, and Leandro Paredes will not be involved at all against Clermont Foot 63 in Ligue 1 on Saturday after international duty in South America.

All four were in action in the early hours of Friday morning (at least as far as the clock in France is concerned) and Messi even scored a hat-trick as the Albiceleste made a triumphant return to their home country after this summer's Copa America success with a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Bolivia.

Craving even more coverage of the world's game? Listen below and follow ¡Qué Golazo! A Daily CBS Soccer Podcast where we take you beyond the pitch and around the globe for commentary, previews, recaps and more.

Keylor Navas, Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo have been included despite racking up the air miles over the past fortnight with their respective national teams while Kylian Mbappe, Marco Verratti and Presnel Kimpembe all picked up minor knocks.

Although the France international pair have made the cut, there is no guarantee that both will be fit enough to start while Sergio Ramos and Juan Bernat remain out injured and it is too early to go with deadline day signing Nuno Mendes from the off -- although he is in the squad.

"He will not start as he has only just arrived," said Pochettino on the new Portuguese arrival in his Friday press conference. "However, he is a player with great potential and the club have been following him for a very long time. It was a brilliant piece of business by (sporting director) Leonardo and the President (Chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi)."


Better news for Pochettino is that Mauro Icardi is fit after his shoulder problem which wrecked hopes of a return to the Argentina national team while Marquinhos and Achraf Hakimi's international breaks were cut short for very different reasons.


The Brazilian soccer federation were unsure where Marquinhos' suspension stood after the clash with Argentina was abandoned in farcical fashion while Hakimi was part of a Morocco squad which witnessed political unrest in Guinea which resulted in the qualifier being cancelled.

Fortunately for the Argentine tactician, he has the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum who have returned from the European internationals unscathed while Julian Draxler, Thilo Kehrer and Ander Herrera have all been at home and available for training.

While any potential XI aligned could feature some youth, such as Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe who has already seen action this season, there will be enough proven quality to make PSG competitive against a side they have rarely faced in their entire existence.