Russian goalkeeper of French Paris Saint-Germain Matvey Safonov became the main character of the Intercontinental Cup final. After sitting on the bench for a long time, he finally got his chance and took advantage of it.
On Wednesday PSG beat Brazilian Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final (1:1, 2:1 on penalties). The key to the victory of the Parisians was Safonov’s phenomenal performance in the penalty shootout: he rejected four point shots in a row, which no one in the history of football managed to do. For Safonov, this trophy became the sixth PSG. The Russian appeared in the starting lineup for the second time in the decisive match for the trophy – last season he defended the goal PSG in the final match of the French Cup.
Safonov moved to PSG from Krasnodar in the summer of 2024, his rival for a place in goal was then the 2021 European champion of the Italian national team, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Russian provided worthy competition to his eminent teammate: he played 17 matches in different tournaments and helped win trophies. Donnarumma, at the end of last season, was recognized as the best goalkeeper according to the International Football Federation (FIFA).
At the end of the season, the Italian left Paris and moved to Manchester City. It looked like this PSG I’ll bet on Safonov, but no: Luc Chevalier from Lyon was invited to play the role of the first number. And Safonov firmly settled on the bench. Additionally, the club purchased Ukrainian defender Ilya Zabarny, who added problems to the coaching staff led by Luis Enrique. And if at first the presence of a Ukrainian and a Russian in the same team was widely discussed Averagethen later, when both began to appear on the field, this argument began to fade.
The team’s faith helped
Safonov did not play PSG since May. From the beginning of the season, Chevalier firmly took the place of the main goalkeeper, giving Safonov no chance. However, the goalkeeping coach of the Russian national team, Vitaly Kafanov, decided to support the goalkeeper in this difficult situation: Safonov has been constantly called up to the national team since June. In the national team matches he was not perfect, even making effective errors. But Kafanov did not blame the goalkeeper and noted that he would have been called up to the Russian national team, even if he had not played for PSG. Kafanov believed that sooner or later Safonov would have a chance to gain a foothold in the main team of the Parisians.
Upon arrival in the Russian national team, Safonov himself expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that he did not receive training. However, despite this, he kept the faith Average Rumors about his departure from the club in the winter have been written again and again. But now these conversations will apparently subside.
And Safonov would not have been lucky, but misfortune helped: in one of the matches Chevalier was injured, which allowed the Russian to come off the bench and start playing. The fans were waiting for this event PSGwho managed to be disappointed by Chevalier. Safonov played in the team’s last four games, missing a goal in two of them. At the same time, ahead of the Intercontinental Cup match, Chevalier had already recovered from his injury and was ready to play, but Enrique again entrusted his place in goal to Safonov.
Enrico has no choice
Safonov was the main goalkeeper for Krasnodar and the Russian national team before moving PSG. Therefore, it was unusual for him to be second and wait for an opportunity. However, he admitted that it was impossible to escape from problems in another club, he needed to continue training and prove through work that he was worthy of a place in the main team. And now this moment has come.
Safonov’s performances in the last few games should obviously influence Enrique’s decision on the team’s first goalkeeper. After such a match in the Intercontinental Cup, bringing the Russian back to the bench would be a real crime. The fans won’t understand this either. PSGwho are now very happy with the Russian goalkeeper. Probably, in the next French Cup match against the club from Fontenay, which will be held on December 20, Safonov will not play, since in the initial stages of the tournament the best teams try to use young players or players who rarely make it into the squad. But already in the new year, when the national championship resumes, Safonov should firmly take his place at the “start”.
I play for PSG Safonov does excellent publicity for Russian football, which is especially valuable in the context of exclusion from international tournaments. His example shows other Russian players abroad that you must not give up and keep working even when everything goes against you. If we imagine that now Safonov will suddenly return to the bench, then already in the winter transfer window there will be many clubs who will want to see the Russian on their roster.
