Returned from Lisbon with an injury, Paris Saint-Germain has no time to catch its breath and plays this Friday at Auxerre to open the 19th matchday of Ligue 1.

Five players are already confirmed to miss this Auxerre vs. PSG match, but there are several uncertainties two days before the match. Let's take stock.

No time to breathe for PSG. Beaten 2-1 by Sporting CP on Tuesday night in Lisbon, PSG trains this Wednesday from 4 p.m. in view of its trip to Auxerre on Friday night as part of the 19th matchday of Ligue 1.

This Auxerre vs. PSG match will already be PSG's sixth in 2026, and Luis Enrique will again be without his two long-term injured players, Matvey Safonov and Quentin Ndjantou.

The two have still not resumed group training to date, and will therefore still be too short for this trip to Burgundy.

Ndjantou's return is expected around mid-February, while that of the Russian goalkeeper, initially hoped for in mid-January, should rather take place in early February, according to the latest rumors in the French press, given that it has now been exactly five weeks since he has been absent.

The third long-term injured player in the Parisian infirmary, Lee Kang-in, returned to group training on Wednesday, as the club announced on its social networks.

But after an absence of over a month, a single training session may not be enough, and he is therefore very doubtful for Auxerre vs. PSG, even if his return to competition is now very close.

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In addition to its long-term injuries, PSG has also been without its Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves for two matches, a victim of muscular discomfort.

"It's nothing major, but we don't want to take any risks. If it were a final tomorrow, he could have played, but we continue with our mentality of not taking any risks," Luis Enrique confided on Monday before Sporting vs. PSG. He also returned to training this Wednesday, and everything indicates that he should be able to return soon.

While next Wednesday's PSG vs. Newcastle will be very important for a place in the Top 8, will PSG take risks with Neves this Friday at Auxerre? This may depend on the health status of Fabian Ruiz, who was injured on Tuesday night in Lisbon, as Luis Enrique revealed after the match.

However, the severity of the Spanish midfielder's injury is not yet known, but the trip to Auxerre seems to come too soon for him, and he is practically certain to be scratched given the very short recovery time between the two matches.

Finally, there is also a question concerning Achraf Hakimi and Ibrahim Mbaye, who participated in the AFCON final last Sunday.

The latter was still celebrating his country's victory on Tuesday in the streets of Dakar, but he indeed returned to training this Wednesday, returning to the Campus PSG with a big smile as African champion. The 17-year-old winger played practically every match, but always as a substitute, and is therefore fresh. As for Hakimi, he has not resumed training, and imagining him playing at Auxerre seems illusory.

On the Auxerre side, which is 17th in Ligue 1 before this 19th matchday, Christophe Pélissier has brought in Romain Faivre during this winter transfer window.

The Bournemouth winger, who spent the first half of the season in Saudi Arabia, was already in action last weekend during Auxerre's narrow defeat to league leader Lens.

Auxerre, however, parted ways this week with its Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman, who was on loan from Brighton and had participated in 15 matches since the start of the season.

On the Auxerre side, two players return from suspension, Ghanaian left-back Gideon Mensah and his compatriot defensive midfielder Elisha Owusu, who is the captain of AJA. The Burgundy club has only one absence for PSG's visit: its Chilean central defender, Francisco Sierralta, who arrived this summer from Watford and is currently injured.

Absences for Auxerre vs. PSG so far:

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