PARIS—Lionel Messi is set to make his debut for Paris Saint-Germain later Sunday after being included in the squad for the game at Reims.
PSG delayed naming its squad from Saturday afternoon until 11 a.m. Sunday morning. The record six-time Ballon d’Or winner and four-time Champions League victor could play his first game in the modest surroundings of Reims.
The 34-year-old Argentine, who led his nation to the Copa America title last month, joined PSG three weeks ago after his new contract with Barcelona fell through.
Striker Kylian Mbappe was also named in the squad as Real Madrid tries to sign him before the end of the summer transfer window.
With the timing of Messi’s eagerly awaited debut for Paris Saint-Germain getting nearly all the attention, Nice got on with the business of winning with a 4-0 rout of Bordeaux in the French league on Saturday.
Amine Gouiri continued his fine start to the season with two goals. The forward has three goals and an assist so far for Nice, which is coached by Christophe Galtier. He left Lille after guiding it to the French title last year.
The hosts opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Justin Kluivert, the son of former Netherlands and Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert. It was his first goal for Nice after joining on loan this season from Italian club Roma.
Gouiri then netted twice before the break, the second with a penalty after being fouled by veteran defender Laurent Koscielny.
The fourth was scored late on by midfielder Khephren Thuram, the son of former France defender Lilian Thuram.
Nice is unbeaten so far but there were no fans to cheer the team on because of a stadium ban following fan violence in the team’s previous league game against Marseille.
Marseille also won, beating another bitter rival in Saint-Etienne 3-1 in a game where visiting fans were not allowed to travel for the game at Stade Velodrome.
New signings Matteo Guendouzi, fellow midfielder Gerson — on his debut — and winger Cengiz Under all scored for the home side, with defender Timothee Kolodziejczak getting Saint-Etienne’s goal.