PSG – PSV Eindhoven: the light still comes from the savior Achraf Hakimi

After the defeat against Arsenal in October, Paris Saint-Germain had every interest in displaying good colors to stock up on points in this new edition of the Champions League. The Parisians welcomed PSV Eindhoven to the Parc des Princes. For this poster, Luis Enrique brought out the heavy artillery with the defensive executives present including Achraf Hakimi (2 goals, 3 assists this season in all competitions. During a very complicated first period during which Noa Lang opened the scoring for visitors, the Moroccan international was already doing well, before donning the superhero costume in the second act. In total in this meeting, Achraf Hakimi touched nearly 98 balls and the phases of Parisian domination passed through him. right side.

But this is hardly a surprise for Paris Saint-Germain. Indeed, the Spanish coach had also highlighted the day before the meeting all the progress that the Lion of the Atlas had made in recent months: “honestly, it’s very similar to last year. I even think it’s a little better on the defensive side, it’s more effective. But Hakimi is a very high level player, he is both young and with great experience, great competitiveness, a reference in relation to his colleagues. I see him more mature and that’s good. It shows that he is growing», Declared the Spanish coach at a press conference on Monday.

The Parisian number 9 is called Hakimi

While PSG still had difficulty finding the fault, it was Achraf Hakimi who managed to end a collective series of 94 shots without scoring a goal in the Champions League for PSG. A goal which allows the Parisians to limit the damage despite an obvious disappointment at not having pocketed the victory at home against an opponent, certainly solid, but more than affordable for PSG: “It’s a bit of a weird match. I think we did everything to win this match. Today, the ball didn’t want to go in, even though we had a lot of chances. I think that’s why we didn’t win. PSG number 9? No, no, I’m a lateral. I try to help my team. The coach gives me confidence, I try to arrive in the last meters to help the team. Today it’s back”explained the Moroccan full-back after the meeting. For illustration, the native of Madrid won nine of his 14 duels and finished with 89% successful passes.

In the 55th minute, on another corner on the left, Hakimi was served before hitting full axis between the legs of Walter Benítez, surprised by the rebound. A liberation for the Parisian people who then chained together several big offensive sequences where they almost scored a double with these strikes (81st, 89th): “I’m happy for the goal, but sad not to have taken the three points. A different PSG in Ligue 1 and the Champions League? No, I think we play the same way. We dominate all the matches, we create a lot of chances. Like I said, today it didn’t want to come in. We only scored once, but we could have scored three or four goals. Today it didn’t want to come in, but I hope that on Sunday they will come back», he then concluded at the microphones of Canal+Foot. In any case, Achraf Hakimi continues to take on another dimension, becoming almost indisputably the best full-back in the world, in addition to becoming consistent in defense.