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Champions League soccer: PSG's Lionel Messi ruled out vs. Leipzig

Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi (pictured) will not join Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as part of the team's powerful attack for a Champions League game against RB Leipzig on Wednesday in Leipzig, Germany. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE
Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi (pictured) will not join Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as part of the team's powerful attack for a Champions League game against RB Leipzig on Wednesday in Leipzig, Germany. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Paris Saint-Germain will play without Lionel Messi for its Champions League group stage clash against RB Leipzig due to the forward's left hamstring injury, the French Ligue 1 soccer team announced Tuesday.

Messi limped off the field at halftime of PSG's 2-1 league win over Lille on Friday in Paris. He was not listed on PSG's 21-man roster for Wednesday's Group A match against Leipzig.

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PSG said Messi was ruled out due to "discomfort in his left hamstring and pain in his knee, following a contusion."

Defender Sergio Ramos and midfielders Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes are among the other PSG players ruled out of the match against the German Bundesliga opponent.

PSG said Ramos, sidelined with a calf injury, is training in an individual capacity and will join the team in the next few days. Verratti is working in the gym and swimming pool and undergoing treatment on his left oblique muscle. Paredes recently resumed running as part of his rehabilitation for a left quadriceps injury.

PSG faces Leipzig in the Champions League Group A match at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany. PSG leads Group A with two wins and a draw.

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English Premier League club Manchester City is in second place in group A, with two wins and one loss. Club Brugge of the Belgian First Division A is in third with a 1-1-1 record. Leipzig is 0-3 in Group A.

The first and second place finishers from each of the eight Champions League groups advance to the knockout stage. Messi, who joined PSG in August, won four Champions League titles at Barcelona. His 152 appearances at the tournament are the third-most in history, behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (179) and Spain's Iker Casillas (177).

Messi's 123 goals in the Champions League are the second-most in the history of the tournament. Ronaldo tops that list with 137 goals in the Champions League.

Messi has yet to score or assist a goal through five Ligue 1 appearances for PSG. He scored three times in three Champions League appearances, including twice in a 3-2 win over Leipzig on Oct. 19 in Paris.

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