For him, it’s a setback at the worst time. While he took advantage of Lucas Chevalier’s injury to string together excellent matches in the PSG cages, culminating in this incredible penalty shootout against Flamengo in the final of the Intercontinental Cup, Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov will have to lay down his gloves for some time, victim in turn of a physical problem.
What is Safonov suffering from?
In its medical press release published Friday shortly before 11 a.m., PSG cites three of its players. Bradley Barcola, who will remain in treatment this Friday on the eve of the last match of the year in the Coupe de France against Fontenay-le-Comte, Kang-in Lee unavailable for several weeks due to a muscle injury in his left thigh which forced him to come out in the first half against Flamengo and therefore Matvey Safonov.
According to the press release, the goalkeeper suffers “from a fracture in his left hand following the match against Flamengo” and will be absent “3 to 4 weeks”, at the end of which a new point will be made. On his Telegram account, the Parisian goalkeeper mentioned the same duration of unavailability.
At a press conference at the start of the afternoon, Luis Enrique, who assured that he had not yet spoken to his goalkeeper since the news, did not give further details on the nature of this injury.
How did this happen?
In front of the microphones, the PSG coach was just as mysterious about the origin of the injury. Until the end of the penalty shootout, the Russian goalkeeper never seemed to suffer or complain of any discomfort on Wednesday against Flamengo. “I can’t explain it… It’s incredible, but the player doesn’t know how it happened,” he says. Before submitting a hypothesis: “We think it was on the third shot on goal, he made a strange movement and he has a fracture. »
It is difficult to see in the images of this shot on goal the gesture which could have caused this injury. If Safonov’s right hand firmly supports the ground to stop Pedro’s attempt, the left does not seem to be the victim of the slightest shock.
If the staff’s theory is correct, this means that Safonov would have finished the session and stopped two new penalties with… a fractured hand. “We think the adrenaline was so strong that he stopped these penalties without any pain,” analyzes Luis Enrique. It’s karma. What the players showed, like Safonov, was to be ready to do anything to help the team. This is the mentality that we expect from players who are at PSG and who can come. »
In a video published this Friday morning by PSG and retracing the Parisian victory in the Intercontinental Cup, the hero of Doha is filmed on the plane cuddling the trophy. A large bandage, which he did not have a few minutes earlier in the locker room, now covers a large part of his left hand and forearm.
How many matches will he miss?
In the best period of his Parisian career after having made four excellent starts and having called into question the number one status of Lucas Chevalier, Matvey Safonov will therefore have to stop for a while. Starting on Saturday with the Coupe de France match, which will conclude the year 2025 for PSG.
As usual, Luis Enrique did not reveal any of his plans for the lineup against Fontenay, even despite this injury. If the Spaniard can count on Chevalier, now recovered from his injury after the virulent tackle received in Monaco, he may also be tempted to play the young Renato Marin, third goalkeeper in the hierarchy, in a logic of turnover in the Coupe de France which he has already opted for in the past.
In his misfortune, Safonov will be able to take advantage of the almost two weeks without a Parisian match to perk up. Despite this, if the initial diagnosis of “3 to 4 weeks” of absence is maintained and the injury does not worsen, he could still miss other matches at the start of 2026: the derby against Paris FC on the 4th, the Champions Trophy against Marseille in Kuwait on the 8th, the reception of Lille in Ligue 1 on the 16th or even the 7th match of the Champions League group stage against Sporting Portugal on the 20th.
So many opportunities for Lucas Chevalier to regain control in the duel between the two PSG goalkeepers.
