PSG: Hakimi out for the return leg against Bayern, Chevalier also hurt in the thigh
It wasnt cramp after all. PSG confirmed on Wednesday evening what the footage had already suggested since the night before: Achraf Hakimi has suffered a right thigh injury and will be out for the next few weeks. The Morocco full-back immediately clutched the back of his thigh late on against Bayern, after landing badly on his right leg. The verdict is clear enough: he will not travel to Munich for next Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg at the Allianz Arena.
That is a major blow for Luis Enrique. On Tuesday night, in a Paris side that struggled defensively for long spells, Hakimi had been the one player down the flank who didnt have a bad night. His absence leaves PSG without their best defender at the most important stage of the season. The good news for Paris is that the Spanish coach has been preparing for this kind of scenario for months. Warren Zaire-Emery has been readied to fill in at right-back, which should allow Fabian Ruiz to come back into the starting XI in midfield.
In theory, Hakimi should have enough time to recover before 30 May, the date of the Champions League final PSG could reach if they get through in Bavaria next week. But that remains a big if, and nobody at the club is about to take any chances with a player this valuable at this stage of the competition.
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Chevalier also injured, another setback before the World Cup
PSG’s statement carried a second piece of bad news. Lucas Chevalier, who has spent months on the bench at the Parc des Princes, also suffered a right thigh injury a few hours after the match, during post-match training at the Campus PSG. Training ground injuries are the kind of cruel twist that hurt the head as much as the body.
For Luis Enrique, the loss is clearly less damaging. The goalkeeper had already been out of the coach’s plans for several weeks, with Matvey Safonov having firmly taken over in the Paris pecking order. But the bigger impact could come elsewhere: on Didier Deschamps’s squad list for the World Cup in the United States. Chevalier was being viewed as France’s third-choice keeper, and five months without football followed by a muscle injury make a call-up look increasingly unlikely.
It has been a season to forget for the former Lille goalkeeper. He arrived at PSG with big ambitions, but never managed to force his way into an environment that never really made room for him. This Wednesday’s injury feels like a bitter ending to a campaign that gave him almost no chance to show what he can do.
PSG: a weakened squad, but still alive for the final
Despite those two absences, PSG go into a decisive week with a lead on the scoreboard and their collective momentum intact. Tuesday’s win at the Parc des Princes showed this team can suffer and dig in when the pressure is on. Munich will be a different test altogether, in an Allianz Arena that should be bouncing, but Paris still have plenty to believe in.
Luis Enrique will have to juggle the absences and find the right balance for a return leg that looks set to go right to the wire. The right flank will be under the microscope, as will Zaire-Emery’s ability to handle a defensive role that does not come naturally to him. The Paris staff have been working on these tweaks for days, and the answer will come on Wednesday night in Bavaria.
For Hakimi, the target is simple: be fit for a possible final on 30 May. The Morocco defender will do everything he can to speed up his recovery, and he knows better than most what a night like that means in a career. The rest is down to time and the club doctors.
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