“He will play, but I don’t know how many minutes”. This is what Luis Enrique said, a few hours before the long-awaited European clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, co-leaders of the league phase of the Champions League after three days. The answer is now known: 25 minutes. Aligned from the outset, to everyone’s surprise, by his coach, the 2025 Ballon d’Or ultimately did not wait long before relapsing. Rarely found by his teammates at the start of the match – a direct consequence of the outrageous domination of the Bavarians – the former Barcelona player certainly thought of equalizing but Maurizio Mariani, after consulting the VAR, finally canceled his goal for an offside position (22nd).
Luis Enrique’s management discussed
In the process, the native of Vernon was forced to give up his place. Still too fair, Dembouz gave way to Kang-In Lee but the Ile-de-France nightmare continued. Dominated in the duels, incapable of competing tactically and overwhelmed on each Munich offensive, the Rouge et Bleu gave in, once again, after a terrible blunder by Marquinhos. Author of a double (4th, 32nd), Luis Diaz transformed himself, a little more, into the executioner of PSG by committing a murderous tackle on Achraf Hakimi (45+4th). In tears and replaced by Senny Mayulu, the Moroccan right-back – certainly seeing the CAN slip away – returned directly to the locker room, just like the Colombian striker from Rekordmeister, logically sanctioned with a red card after checking the VAR.
In the second half, the reigning European champions certainly took advantage of their numerical superiority to regain their usual control but if Joao Neves reduced the gap with an authoritarian volley from the right, PSG ultimately never managed to catch up. Yes, but more than this defeat (1-2) – the first of the season on the European scene – it was the choices made by Luis Enrique this Tuesday evening which quickly animated the debates. How was the Spanish technician, who nevertheless assured never to take risks with his players, able to launch Ousmane Dembélé, who had complained of discomfort in his right hamstring after Nice, from the kick-off? “We have to wait until tomorrow (Wednesday) to see the exams”preferred to answer the 55-year-old coach, ensuring that the injury of his protégé (calf) “has nothing to do with the latest injuries”.
PSG crosses their fingers for Hakimi and Dembélé
“Hakimi is football, it’s a contact sport. It’s complicated for the players”also added the Asturian. Passing through the mixed zone, Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola also showed their concern. “It’s complicated when you lose these kinds of players. They are very important to us, you know, but it’s football. We must hope that they will recover quickly, and that they will come back even stronger”conceded the Georgian. “It’s very annoying. I wasn’t able to meet them. I don’t know if it’s that serious. In any case, I hope that it is not and that we can count on them quickly”added the former Lyonnais for his part.
Seen on the stairs leading to the Parc des Princes car park, crutches under his arms and a protective boot on his left foot, Achraf Hakimi, who celebrated his 27th birthday this Tuesday and who could miss 3 to 5 weeks of competition according to initial information, will now have to cross his fingers, wait for the exams this Wednesday and hope to receive good news, which is less than seven weeks before the start of the CAN scheduled for December 21 in Morocco. An observation applicable to Ousmane Dembélé, who directly joined the locker room after his release. Here again, it remains to be determined whether this calf injury is the direct consequence of a thigh problem that has not been completely resolved… One thing is certain, after Désiré Doué, the massacre continues in the Parisian ranks…
