Pillar of the Parisian defense since his arrival in July 2021, Achraf Hakimi (25 years old) is, today, considered an indisputable executive of the squad led by Luis Enrique. However, at the end of this round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, won (2-0) by PSG against Real Sociedad, the Moroccan international (72 caps, 9 goals) showed a worthy fragility less experienced elements. And for good reason. If the complicated performance of Lucas Beraldo, established to everyone’s surprise on the right side against the Basques, can be justified by his position, his youth, his adaptation or even his discovery of European intensity, that of number 2 Parisian proves to be much more problematic given its status in the capital.
Expected to be a strong man in the Ile-de-France collective for such a shock at the top, the native of Madrid ultimately disappointed in great ways. So yes, the former Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan player will not have made any errors detrimental to his team but his performance remains more than questionable. Symbol of the Parisian fragility observed during the first act, the 1m81 right-hander made numerous technical errors, dubious restarts and questionable choices. Rather serious in his duel against Ander Barrenetxea (6 duels won out of 12 contested), the Atlas Lions player has, despite everything, put his team in difficulty on several occasions. Guilty of 27 turnovers, the highest total of the 22 players present on the pitch at the Parc des Princes at kick-off, the ex-Madrilenian also showed unusual offensive discretion.
Too much technical waste, non-existent offensive performance!
Yet associated with Ousmane Dembélé, established on the right wing of the Parisian attack, the Moroccan has only too rarely shown himself near the Basque surface and has never improved the complicity formed with the former Barcelonan. A non-existent impact despite the difficulties displayed by Javi Galan in his duel with number 10 of PSG. Too behind, out of time on numerous sequences and very questionable in his technical accuracy (75% of successful passes, the worst record of his team among players having attempted more than 20 transmissions), Hakimi finally missed this shock. Credited with a 4 by the FM editorial team, the person concerned – who was under the threat of a suspension in the event of a yellow card – finally took advantage of the renewed energy of his team upon returning from the locker room to save a very contrasting evening on the individual plan.
“There are two very different halves. A first where Real Sociedad was much better, they took the ball from us, we didn’t manage to do our pressing. We had a lot of trouble, very difficult. But football is fickle. We were then able to change things. The match has changed. We pressed higher, we came back better from behind. This goal arrived, this 1-0. We gained confidence and won”, analyzed, in this regard, Luis Enrique, overall very frustrated with the first act delivered by his players. Back in France after Morocco’s disappointing run at CAN 2023, Achraf Hakimi, author of 4 goals and 5 assists in Parisian colors since the start of the season, will be keen to react next Saturday during the trip to Nantes for the 22nd day of Ligue 1…
