Kylian Mbappe returned from a vacation following the World Cup, but Paris Saint-Germain lost 1-0 to Rennes on Sunday in Ligue 1, putting them just three points behind the leaders at midseason.
In Brittany's rain, Renne's captain Hamari Traore scored the game's only goal in the 65th minute to send PSG to their second consecutive away league defeat.
On New Year's Day, PSG lost 3-1 to Lens, which was in second place.
Prior to that, they had won all 23 of their first 23 games this season, and this latest defeat gives their rivals hope in the race for the title.
Since PSG's superstar attacking trio returned from the World Cup, Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar had never played together.
After leading Argentina to glory in Doha, Messi received a prolonged vacation and scored on his return in a 2-0 victory against Angers in midweek.
Mbappe, who scored a hat trick for France in the World Cup final against Argentina on penalties, had played in his club's first two games after the tournament.
However, he missed his team's final two games because he went on vacation with teammate Achraf Hakimi in New York.
On Sunday, he was supposed to start, but he started on the bench while Hugo Ekitike, a 20-year-old, played in front of Messi and Neymar.
PSG was sluggish in front of the goal without their leading scorer, and Rennes goalkeeper Steve Mandanda didn't make a noteworthy save until three minutes into the second half when he stopped a Danilo Pereira header.
In the 56th minute, Mbappe took Ekitike's place and received applause from the home fans, who were eager to express their gratitude for the striker's performances at the World Cup.
However, their Malian right-back Traore gave Rennes the lead shortly after, and Mbappe, who was making his 200th appearance in Ligue 1, missed a chance to make it 2-2 when he broke through on goal but missed with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Juan Bernat came closest for PSG to equalizing with a shot that was tipped over by Mandanda, as Messi and Neymar failed to make the impact that was anticipated.
With the Champions League last-16 matchup with Bayern Munich just a month away, PSG coach Christophe Galtier will hope that his attacking trio can quickly reclaim their early-season form.
Rennes have now won nine consecutive home league games after losing their leading scorer Martin Terrier for the remainder of the season to a serious knee injury.
After Monaco's 7-1 victory over Ajaccio earlier in the day, they are fifth in the table, just behind Monaco in fourth place on goals scored.
Content created and supplied by: Sportyhub (via Opera News )
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