On the eve of hosting FC Barcelona in the Champions League, Luis Enrique acknowledged that Paris Saint-Germain lacks a penalty specialist. Right-back Achraf Hakimi is among the takers recommended by the Paris coach.
In his pre-match press conference, the Paris Saint-Germain head coach delivered the diagnosis himself: “It’s true, we lack a penalty specialist,” reports Goal.com. An admission made on the eve of welcoming FC Barcelona in the Champions League.
PSG have won all three of their matches despite repeated failures from the penalty spot, according to Goal.com. To compensate, Luis Enrique is relying on a group of recommended takers, which includes Achraf Hakimi, according to Morocco World News.
Repeated misses from the spot
Luis Enrique’s assessment is based on a series of misses documented by the sources. Ousmane Dembélé, the PSG forward, missed his penalty against Strasbourg in the 3-1 Ligue 1 win, reports Goal.com. In the Champions League, Ferran Torres failed against Gianluigi Donnarumma against Manchester City, in a match won 4-2, according to OneFootball.
Désiré Doué also missed his attempt against Le Mans, in a 3-1 victory, according to LiveScore. The coach confirmed to the press that his team suffers from a chronic lack of efficiency from the penalty spot after these multiple misses, again according to LiveScore.
The file does not allow these failures to be attributed to a single taker: they are spread across several players.
Achraf Hakimi’s record
Achraf Hakimi converted his decisive penalty in the Champions League final won against Arsenal, according to LiveScore. The right-back also stood out by winning the penalty that Lucas Beraldo converted against Le Mans, reports Nettali.com.
According to Morocco World News, Luis Enrique described a list of recommended players in these terms: “We have a list of three or four recommended players, including Vitinha, Dembélé, Beraldo, Hakimi, Kvaratskhelia, Doué and Nuno Mendes.” Morocco World News states that Hakimi is on this list alongside Vitinha and Beraldo.
Nothing indicates, however, that he will be the designated taker against Barça, nor that he will take PSG’s next penalties.
The 20 October fixture
PSG host FC Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 21:00. The file does not allow us to know who will take a potential penalty that evening: no designated taker is named.