Hakimi was right about Nuno Mendes

Nuno Mendes contributed to making Lamine Yamal "turn off the power".

In the early morning of October 2nd in Montjuïc, Paris Saint-Germain left Barcelona with a 2-1 victory, and the focus was not only on Gonçalo Ramos' late goal, but also on Nuno Mendes' excellent performance. The Portuguese left-back proved the confident statement of his teammate Achraf Hakimi: "Lamine Yamal will have to face the best left-back in the world ".

Yamal is completely locked down

Barcelona had high hopes for the return of Lamine Yamal, the 18-year-old star who had just recovered from injury. Early in the match, Yamal had a speedy dribble that left the Montjuïc stadium in awe. But that was almost a rare moment for this young talent to make an impression. For the rest of the match, he was constantly locked down by Nuno Mendes.

Mendes not only defended solidly but also contributed directly to the attack. In the 38th minute, he ran down the left wing, got past Jules Kounde and crossed, opening up an opportunity for Senny Mayulu to equalize. It was a situation that fully demonstrated Mendes' qualities: speed, tenacity in the dispute and the ability to choose the right time to join the attack.

Lamine Yamal had a hard time against Nuno Mendes.

Yamal, who had been Barca's best hope of breaking through the PSG defence, ended the match with a yellow card for a foul on Lucas Hernandez - a testament to his inability to find a way through the corridors that Mendes had blocked.

The numbers tell the story of why Mendes was voted the best player of the match. According to the statistics:

Mendes' passing accuracy rate is close to 90% , far superior to Yamal's around 74%.
Mendes created more attacking chances and had a decisive assist, while Yamal did not leave a significant mark in finishing.
In terms of discipline, Mendes kept his position very well: he did not make any mistakes that directly led to any dangerous opportunities for Barca.

In the context of Barca having 12 shots but only scoring 1 goal, "turning off the signal" of Yamal - the most expected striker - was the key for PSG to stand firm before launching the decisive punch at the end of the match.

The qualities of an all-round defender

Nuno Mendes is only 23 years old but is showing a rare maturity. Locking down Yamal is not only thanks to his speed, but also his ability to read situations and patience. He does not get caught up in the opponent's risky dribbles, but always chooses to cover wisely and wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

This has been proven at the national team level. In the Nations League final against Spain, Mendes once declared: "I completely blocked Yamal". And early this morning, he repeated that on the Champions League stage, proving that this was no coincidence.

Nuno Mendes continues to have good matches.

Before the match, Hakimi confidently said that Yamal would have to face “the best left-back in the world”. Given what happened, it was clear that he was not exaggerating. Mendes performed a near-perfect match: both neutralizing Barca’s most powerful weapon and directly contributing to the victory.

PSG became the first team to win three consecutive away games against Barcelona in European competition. But it wasn’t just a team achievement – it was also a testament to the brilliance of Nuno Mendes. And after a brilliant night in Montjuïc, it’s hard to deny: Hakimi was right.

Source: https://znews.vn/hakimi-da-dung-ve-nuno-mendes-post1590087.html