Hakimi equals Salah as Africa's best assist provider in Champions League history

Achraf Hakimi chose the season’s most anticipated clash to end his drought: the Moroccan international provided his first assist of the 2024-2025 campaign in PSG’s 4-2 victory over FC Barcelona on Tuesday evening at Parc des Princes, setting up Fabián Ruiz for the 4-2 goal in the 86th minute. This achievement simultaneously ties him with Mohamed Salah for second place among Africa’s best assist providers in the competition’s history, with 19 assists.

The match was full of twists and turns. After PSG’s opening goal, Lamine Yamal equalized for both teams (79th, 2-2) before Vitinha restored PSG’s advantage with a strike from outside the box (81st). It was in this final sequence that the right-back made his decisive contribution, moments after Lucas Hernandez’s header (72nd) which had also featured in the match’s flow.

The assist for Fabián Ruiz ends a run of ten matches without a direct contribution for Hakimi this season, having been one of the major architects of PSG’s European campaign in the previous season (3 goals and 9 assists in 32 matches across all competitions in 2024-2025, a season begun with an injury before the Africa Cup of Nations in late December).

At 27 years old, PSG’s vice-captain and Morocco’s captain now finds himself level with Salah and ahead of Samuel Eto’o (20 assists) in this historic ranking. Riyad Mahrez, credited with 16 assists in the Champions League, had already been surpassed. With his age and level of play, Hakimi has a comfortable margin to establish himself alone at the top of this ranking in the seasons to come.