Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi says the club’s determination to remain winners is being reinforced by their coach after a 4-2 victory over Barcelona in the third round of the Champions League group stage on October 20.
Hakimi spoke to CBS Sports after Paris Saint-Germain produced an increasingly impressive performance to beat one of the world’s leading teams. He said the result reflected both the squad’s ambition and its desire to demonstrate its quality in every match.
“These kinds of games are very difficult,” Hakimi said. “We faced one of the best teams in the world, I think. I don’t believe they had lost a game before. But we have a very good team, and we want to prove it every time. We are ambitious, and we showed that again today.”
The Morocco international was asked whether the match had carried greater significance than the three points at stake, given the status of the opposition and Paris Saint-Germain’s position as defending champions.
He acknowledged that the season remained at an early stage and that the Champions League had only just begun. However, he said matches against Barcelona provided an opportunity for Paris Saint-Germain to underline their standing among Europe’s leading clubs.
“Against a team like this, you want to show them that we are the defending champions,” Hakimi said. “We want to keep winning, and we are ambitious. Of course, we also want to prove to them that we are one of the best teams in the world, and perhaps currently the best.”
The match offered attacking quality and sustained defensive work, with Hakimi explaining that the demands of producing such an entertaining contest extended well beyond creating chances.
He said both the players and supporters had enjoyed the game, but added that matches of this intensity required the team to perform at a high level in every area of the pitch.
“It was a very exciting game for the supporters and fans, and for us as well,” he said. “We enjoy playing these kinds of matches. We strive to score goals and we must defend well. Such games require you to perform at a high level both defensively and offensively. So we are really happy to play such matches.”
Hakimi was also asked about the difficulty of continuing to win once success has already been achieved, recalling Johan Cruyff’s observation that maintaining a winning run can be harder than starting one.
The defender said Paris Saint-Germain had set themselves the target of winning again, while their coach continued to demand the same mentality from the squad on a daily basis.
“We are ambitious,” Hakimi said. “We have a big goal this year, which is to win again and keep winningthat’s our objective. The coach also pushes us every day to maintain our winning mentality. We want to do our best, just like we are doing now. I hope we can keep winning.”
