PSG star Achraf Hakimi slammed for ‘nonsense gimmick’ in Champions League final

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi chose not to celebrate his goal against his former club Inter Milan in the opening stages of the Champions League final

Achraf Hakimi’s decision not to celebrate his goal for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final against Inter Milan has backfired. Hakimi opened the scoring for PSG in Munich after just 12 minutes – yet you might not have known it, having watched the right-back’s reaction.

The French side ran away with the game, flying out of the blocks against Inter in Bavaria to hold a 2-0 lead at half-time. They made the perfect start when Desire Doue crossed for an unmarked Hakimi to tap home the opening goal.

Doue had been played onside by Federico Dimarco and made the most of Vitinha’s through ball by sliding the perfect pass into Hakimi. The Morocco international made no mistake, side-footing the ball into an unguarded net to make it 1-0.

But rather than celebrate with a burst of emotion, Hakimi showed restraint, putting his hands into the air to apologise to the Inter fans, who were gathered behind the goal he’d just scored into.

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The 26-year-old spent one season playing for Inter in 2020/21 before moving to PSG. He made 45 appearances for the Italian side, scoring seven goals and contributing 11 assists – and he clearly still holds the club dear in his heart.

However, his muted celebration did not go down well on social media. “Not celebrating in a European Cup final. The game has never been more gone,” one annoyed fan wrote on X.

“Bro it’s the UCl final, drop this nonsense gimmick,” another wrote. A third wrote bluntly: “You just scored in a Champions League final, f***ing celebrate!”

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“Brother just knee slide, stop with the fake respect,” one fan begged. “He’s trying to take a UCL title from them, they’ll hate him regardless,” another reasoned, although he was celebrated by one supporter, who wrote: “Such a classy touch from the lad”.

Having set up the opening goal, Doue got himself on the score sheet to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes as PSG broke with devastating effect. William Pacho kept the ball in play and the French side raced up the other end of the pitch, allowing Doue to smash past a helpless Yann Sommer, thanks to a deflection off Dimarco, who made the cardinal sin of turning his back.

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