Messi in PSG squad for first time and poised for debut

PARIS - Lionel Messi was named in the Paris Saint-
Germain squad for the first time on Sunday morning suggesting the breathless
wait for his Ligue 1 debut could end at Reims.

   Coach Mauricio Pochettino had indicated on Saturday that all three of
PSG's golden trio would be in his squad for the first time.

   On Sunday he made that official, naming Neymar, who also has yet to play
this season, and Kylian Mbappe in his squad for the trip to Reims for the
evening match.

   With two days left in the transfer window, this could be the only time the
three stars play as team-mates.

   While Messi, who joined PSG on August 10, is poised to say hello to French
football, Mbappe could be bidding it adieu.

   The World Cup winner's future is still uncertain after Real Madrid
reportedly made a bid to buy him. The rumoured fee would be the biggest paid
for a player by any club other than PSG.

   PSG are taking 22 players to Reims, but only 11 start with nine more on
the bench.

   On Saturday Pochettino said Messi was "very motivated" to play.

   Since it seemed unlikely the coach would take the six-time Ballon D'Or
winner along and not put him on the team sheet, the question that remained
tantalisingly unanswered was: whether Messi would start at the Stade Auguste-
Delaune, or would he tease from the substitutes' bench?

   Messi and Neymar both missed the first two league games as they worked
their way to match fitness after demanding summers. They met in the Copa
America final on July 10 in Brazil as Argentina won to earn Messi his first
international trophy.

   They will be reunited as team-mates for the first time since PSG broke the
bank to attract the Neymar for Barcelona in 2017.

   The possible symbolism of Messi's first official appearance for PSG in
Reims, where French kings were traditionally crowned, was not lost on sports
daily L'Equipe.

   "Leo I, a king in Reims", it wrote on its front page declaring his
possible selection a "coronation".

   Le Parisien pointed to the local club's history as home to "three of the
most beautiful artists of this game". A Reims squad led by Just Fontaine and
Raymond Kopa reached the first ever European Cup final in 1956. BSS/AFP