Man of the match. Without a doubt, Luis Diaz was the player in this clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. A meeting during which we saw the good and bad sides of the Colombian, recruited this summer for a check for €75 million. Very quickly, he stood out with a double full of composure against the overwhelmed Ile-de-France residents. But his match changed just before the end of the first half. The former Liverpool player tackled Achraf Hakimi from behind, grabbing his ankle. The Moroccan burst into tears and left the field without being able to set foot on the ground. Luis Diaz, who initially received a yellow card, was finally sent off after consulting the video referee.
Despite the daring protests from the Munich residents, he returned to the locker room. His match ended here. A double and a red card, here is the result of his evening. Luis Diaz, who received a score of 7 from the FM Editorial for his entire performance, went from dream to nightmare. Insulted by Parisian and Moroccan supporters on his account InstagramLuis Diaz remained silent after his team’s 2-1 victory. But the others spoke for him. In the mixed zone, his teammate Josip Stanisic enjoyed a very notable media outing.
The surprising reactions of the Bavarians
“He knows himself that he has to be smarter in this kind of situation. Did he apologize to the team? No, he didn’t. We thanked him (laughs). I’m kidding ! He was happy. Like all of us.” Words that are unlikely to please PSG fans. His captain, Manuel Neuer, also mentioned this fact of the game. “I was told it was not a particularly harsh offense, not one punishable by expulsion. I don’t know if she was excessively harsh, we have to see that.” The Moroccan’s injury was therefore not serious according to the feedback received by the goalkeeper from his teammates and/or the staff.
Neuer then explained that Diaz was ” disappointed “ at halftime and he had “Fingers crossed that the team gets the victory.” The German goalkeeper also admitted to being very annoyed with the match referee, Maurizio Mariani. “It was a bit unnecessary in my opinion. He was simply informing me of his decision. He should have kicked him out, but he didn’t need to take me out of the cages for that.” Joshua Kimmich also returned to this fact of play. “Lucho was a little frustrated in this situation. He was slightly annoyed at having lost the ball. I saw him briefly on the screen. He had slipped next to him, and Hakimi wanted to stand in front of him at that moment, which is why he touched him low. But it’s really impressive.”
The Germans support Luis Diaz
We cannot count on the management of Bayern Munich to sympathize with the Parisian’s injury. Asked about the subject, sports director Max Eberl confided: “Luis Diaz was the first to enter the locker room and high-fived each player. This perfectly illustrates team spirit. He knows he is grateful to the team, but conversely, the team is also grateful to him for scoring two goals. Not a word for Hakimi or PSG. Vincent Kompany, who had contested the expulsion of his player from his technical area, changed his tune after the match.
“It’s a shame that the PSG player had to leave the field due to injury. At first I didn’t think it was that serious. But of course, it happened, and when a player gets injured, I always think about what happened to Jamal Musiala (injured against PSG and Donnarumma, editor’s note). He broke his leg against PSG in the United States. We then ask ourselves: ‘is it comparable?'” But honestly, the most important thing for me is that Hakimi is not injured for too long. I wish him a speedy recovery. The Belgian saves a little the honor of his club, which also has some support in France. In the show The Evening TeamJohan Micoud believes that Luis Diaz did not want to hurt. “It’s a stupid attacking tackle, if Hakimi gets up, there’s no red, he has no intention of hurting him.” But whether his intention was good or bad, he did hurt Hakimi, who could miss between 3 and 5 weeks of competition. New examinations will allow us to see things more clearly during the day.
