Paris Saint-Germain’s penalty hero suffers a broken hand

“I can’t explain it, it’s unbelievable. The player himself doesn’t know how it happened,” said coach Luis Enrique. From his point of view, it is most likely that Safonov was injured in the penalty shootout and continued playing with the break.

Safonow is PSG’s backup goalkeeper behind regular goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, who is struggling to get back into the mix due to an ankle injury. At the Intercontinental Cup last Wednesday, the Russian national goalkeeper saved four balls from the spot. As a result, the Champions League winner won the trophy with a 2-1 penalty shootout after the score had been 1-1 after regular time and extra time.

Safonov was self-promoting

With his brilliant exploits in the final in Al-Rajjan (Qatar), Safonov had done a lot of self-promotion. The fight for number 1 in goal for the French series champions seems more open than ever after the 24-year-old Chevalier displaced long-time regular and world goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian moved to Manchester City.

Chevalier is back after his ankle injury and Safonow represented him excellently. Coach Enrique also has a luxury problem in this position. Safonov “showed not only his professionalism, but also his personality,” said the Spaniard. PSG paid an estimated 20 million euros in the summer of 2024 for the then professional from Russian club FK Krasnodar.

The club announced that Safonow’s situation should be reassessed medically in three to four weeks. In this Saturday’s cup game at Vendée Fontenay Foot, Chevalier is expected to be between the posts again for PSG.