Monaco captain Denis Zakaria to remain on Le Rocher | OneFootball

Denis Zakaria (27) has not played for AS Monaco since pulling up in the warm-up ahead of the Derby de la Côte d’Azur against OGC Nice just over three weeks ago. The former Juventus and Chelsea midfielder suffered a minor adductor injury and was subsequently omitted from the starting line-up at the last minute, replaced by Soungoutou Magassa as Les Monégasques suffered their first defeat of the season.

It was hoped, and expected, that Zakaria would return for the final Ligue 1 game before the international break, against RC Strasbourg Alsace on Saturday. That game came after the midfielder had been named in the Swiss national squad for the upcoming international break.

However, Zakaria was not even in the matchday squad and in the wake of that omission, he has now been dropped from the Switzerland squad, as confirmed by the Swiss FA. It means that he will have time to recover ahead of an intense run of games, which sees the Principality club face Stade Brestois, Benfica and Olympique de Marseille in the space of just over a week.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle