Head coach Christophe Galtier revealed Messi will miss the Strasbourg game, and Sunday's trip to Lens, after being given dispensation to stay in Argentina for an extended post-World Cup break. Lionel Messi will not return to Paris Saint-Germain until early January, but Kylian Mbappe is set for an immediate return to Ligue 1 action against Strasbourg on Wednesday. Messi headed home after Argentina's Qatar 2022 triumph, to be feted for his leading role in the team's triumph after their dramatic win on penalties against France in the December 18 final. Galtier said: "There are individual cases with the players who went very far. Achraf Hakimi played in every game at the World Cup for Morocco. He was in the team of the World Cup.  "He wanted to get back as quickly as possible, as did Kylian Mbappe. He also turned in some brilliant performances and was the top goalscorer at the World Cup. "After speaking to him and all my different teams who stayed in regular contact with the players, Kylian Mbappe wanted to join back up with us pretty quickly.
"There could be a time when Achraf Hakimi and Kylian Mbappe need to rest. Not necessarily physically, but definitely mentally. "As for Leo Messi, who had a brilliant tournament, given they won the competition, he went back to Argentina for the celebrations. We made the decision to give him until January 1, so he will be back here with us on the second or third to get back into the swing of things after 13 or 14 days off."
Galtier suggested all the blame for that episode was with Martinez. "What happened in the celebrations belongs to the Argentinians, and it is not down to me. What matters to me is what I saw in the final and on the sidelines I saw Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi embrace," Galtier said.
"There is a lot of respect between them. They have an exemplary attitude after the games. And of course, [Messi] needs to be congratulated for the trophies, and the Argentina coach as well.
"So I would focus on the relationship between them. It wasn't Leo Messi winding anybody else up. What I saw after the final, what I have experienced, is there is no reason to mix these things up because the goalkeeper's behaviour is down to him.