At Paris Saint-Germain, it is not just Lucas Chevalier who stands out among the summer recruits having difficulty convincing. Recruited in exchange for €70 million, Illia Zabarnyi only wanted Paris. Arriving all smiles when the Rouge et Bleu won the first European Super Cup in their history against Tottenham, the Ukrainian defender has been much less flamboyant since. Last Friday, against Strasbourg, his duet with Lucas Beraldo made more than one shiver, but not really with happiness.
A second complicated match in a row
The Ukrainian always appears quite heavy on the pitch and is often moved. Without forgetting his difficulties against more lively opponents. Against the Alsatians, it was Joaquin Panichelli who put him in difficulty in the air, scoring a magnificent goal with his head after jumping well above the former Bournemouth resident. Fortunately for him, the return of Willian Pacho, who had replaced Beraldo, allowed him to regain a little more confidence. This Tuesday evening, it was worse.
If PSG savors its crushing 7-2 victory against Bayer Leverkusen, Zabarnyi is perhaps the only Parisian not smiling. While his team led 1-0, the Ukrainian caused a first penalty by touching the leather of his hand while falling after a duel with Etcheverri (27th). Fortunately for him, the post repelled Grimaldo's attempt. Ten minutes later, he was beaten by Kofane. New penalty, but this time, Aleix Garcia put the teams back on level terms and Zabarnyi was sent off (37th).
Two penalties caused
Fortunately for Paris, this did not prevent DĂ©sirĂ© DouĂ© and his partners from beating the Germans. But at a time when Marquinhos is back in the group, but still preserved, Zabarnyi has not really taken advantage of the Brazilian's absence to demonstrate that he can succeed him in the future. “What's a little annoying about Zabarnyi is that it seems like he refuses to lose duels. Sometimes you lose your duel. You have to let go at worst. Doing that is even worse. You can still get a red one. He saw that the guy was ahead of him, at a certain point, no longer looking for a physical fight. Either way, the duel is lost. I think he's a bad loser.”declared Laure Boulleau at the microphone of Canal+.
At the end of the match, Ousmane DembĂ©lĂ© did not want to push his teammate, but the 2025 Ballon d'Or did not hesitate to mention the Ukrainian's red card. “We started the match well by opening the score. Afterwards, we had a difficult period with lots of yellow cards and red cards. I think our red card could have been avoided, but hey, that’s how it is.”. For his part, Luis Enrique played Luis Enrique, he avoided maintaining the controversy. “The feeling is very positive, because we played very well. We had clear chances and we deserved the victory. It was a bit weird, because with the player sent off, it became a different game ten against ten.”. Will Illia Zabarnyi be there against Brest? No one knows, especially with the return of Marquinhos, but the Ukrainian was able to see that his coach is not in the habit of letting things fall into the trough.
