At Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) as elsewhere, it is more often about attackers than defenders and a tackle rarely claims to make the crowd stand up like a goal. The emergence of Bradley Barcola, the swaying dribbles of Ousmane Dembélé or the soap opera around the future of Kylian Mbappé will always receive more attention than the debates relating to the Parisian rearguard.
The latter regains the spotlight thanks to the occasional errors of its goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and it will be highlighted again, Wednesday 1er May, during PSG’s Champions League semi-final first leg on the pitch at Borussia Dortmund (BVB). The identity of the defenders chosen by Luis Enrique is intriguing. Will the Spanish coach trust Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Milan Skriniar and Lucas Hernandez, who played both group stage matches against BVB (2-0 first leg win, 1-1 draw) 1 on the way back)?
The trend of recent weeks suggests that Marquinhos, Hakimi and Hernandez will instead be accompanied by Nuno Mendes. For only the third time this season, after the Coupe de France semi-final against Rennes on April 3 (1-0) and the European quarter-final return against FC Barcelona on April 16 (4-1), this defense could be aligned. “She’s the one who should have started at the start of the season”wants to believe Alain Roche, winner of the Coupe des Coupes with PSG in 1996. “It’s a totally coherent defense at this level”considers Jérôme Alonzo, former goalkeeper of the capital club.
If it is only now finding its feet, it is because this Parisian defense has had to cope for a long time without the injured Nuno Mendes. Then, in February, it was Marquinhos’ turn to take over in the infirmary. Since his arrival last summer, Luis Enrique has often tinkered at the back. In 47 games, he lined up 25 combinations of four defenders at kickoff. That is more than the three other teams – Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – in the last four of the “big ears cup”.
The Marquinhos-Hernandez hinge reassures
“To win the Champions League, you have to have players who are among the five best in their position in Europe, and I think they are not far from it”, affirms Vincent Guérin. Also winner of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996, the former midfielder is confident in the quartet’s ability to muzzle BVB’s top scorer, Niclas Füllkrug, and his teammates. In the previous round, it was a more experienced striker, Robert Lewandowski, who suffered against Lucas Hernandez – placed back in the center after playing more on the left – and Marquinhos.
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