Hakimi has joined the Paris Saint-Germain training camps in refuting all doubts that he will be absent in the French club’s Champions League second leg against Real Madrid. The match will have a special flavor for Achraf Hakimi. The Moroccan right-back will face off against the club that “never really bet on me in the past.”
Hakimi, Mbappe good friendship
In a recent interview on March 7 with the French outlet Le Parisien, Hakimi talked about the good friendship he and Mbappe have developed in recent months. “We are two young men of 23 years who share the same tastes,” the Moroccan right-back said of his relationship with the French international
Although Hakimi only joined PSG last summer, it took the Moroccan just six months to develop a good relationship with Mbappe. Hakimi talked about how they spend time off the pitch and the activities they enjoy together. “We talk about music, video games, we go to restaurants or we just spend time together … We appreciate each other,” he told Le Parisien.
Once, when the two young men wanted to travel by plane but couldn’t, they shared a car, stopping along the way for snacks. Hakimi says the teammates had fun “at the motorway service area, because we are young and we like to enjoy life.”
The PSG right-back further explained that Mbappe is one of “those who help [him] the most, even if it’s a bit difficult.”
Playing with Messi in PSG
While Hakimi will be playing against his ex-club, Real Madrid, on March 9, the Moroccan right-back will be on the same team with the man who was the Spanish champions’ nightmare for much of the past decade, the ex-Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
On his relationship with Messi, Hakimi said they like to discuss things “for the good of the team, match situations so that each understands how the other plays.”
The PSG right-back said that while it took time to develop and “understand each other,” they have progressed and “feel better than at the beginning.”
