Barcelona, Spain (AP) — Probably Paris Saint-Germain defender Achulaf Hakimi was exactly that when his teammate Nuno Mendes said he was the best left in the world right now.
Mendes certainly looked like one of his best positions on Wednesday. 2-1 victory Through the Catalonia Club of the Champions League.
Hakimi on the back of the right, defending Gonzalo Ramos’ 90 minute winner to defend the champion PSG, had said before the game that Yamal “will play against the best remaining back in the world.”
“He can stop Lamin,” Hakimi said of Mendes, who was named Man of the Match.
Yamal got off to a promising start on Wednesday, winning the crowd with a great run just minutes of the match at Montjuic Stadium. But he couldn’t do anything more after that.
“I’m very happy to see the young players thriving in this game. I learn, play well and impress the fans,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “We consistently play very high levels of rivals. The most important thing to me is our DNA, our attitude – as a team and as a club – that’s what I saw today.”
The 18-year-old Yamal got his first start at Barcelona since August after an injury to the pubic region while playing with the Spanish national team during an international break in September. He left the Catalan club bench on Sunday in a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad in the Spanish league.
After Ferran Torres advanced with the hosts on the 19th, it was Mendes running down the left.
Yamal finished the match where he was shown a yellow card for a foul by Lucas Hernandez.
PSG is the first team to win three straight road games against Barcelona in major European tournaments. Barcelona were looking to win six consecutive matches in every tournament.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
