This Friday, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) faces Auxerre (8th) at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps for Matchday 19 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season (kick-off at 8 pm, CET). On Wednesday, Le Parisien reported that Ibrahim Mbaye (17-year-old forward) and Achraf Hakimi (27-year-old right-back) will return to training today after finishing the Africa Cup of Nations last Sunday.
“Ibrahim Mbaye and Achraf Hakimi, the runners-up, are returning to the PSG training ground this Wednesday. Mbaye arrived on Tuesday and will be at training at 5 pm. The same goes for Achraf Hakimi. A series of tests will logically be carried out to accurately assess their fitness.”
These returns can only be beneficial, as PSG has been playing with a depleted squad for several matches. It’s not yet certain they’ll play on Friday, at least not as starters, but we can only hope. They’ve had a string of matches, but so has the Parisian squad.
It’s worth noting that many players who participated in the Africa Cup of Nations have been playing for their clubs in recent days. It’s good to see that Paris is taking care of its players, but we can hope that Mbaye and Hakimi are ready. Especially Mbaye, who was a substitute for Senegal throughout the tournament, even though he came on in almost every match. We might know more tomorrow with coach Luis Enrique’s press conference at 1 p.m. (to be followed live on our website before a full transcript is available).
