Warren Zaïre-Emery faces his toughest test at right back

After the nine-goal thriller in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, much was made about how the two teams’ ability to rest and rotate key players domestically enabled them to go full throttle on the biggest stage at the business end of the season. Bayern, of course, have four fewer games to worry about in the 18-team Bundesliga, while PSG’s dominance in Ligue 1 has helped them keep all but four of their players to under 1,600 league minutes this term.

The oft-cited stat for the Parisians focused on their starting full backs, as Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes have only played 1,375 and 1,256 minutes in Ligue 1 respectively this season. What this misses, though, is the fact that both have contended with different injury issues over the course of the campaign, including in recent months. And while PSG have top-quality depth in attack, they certainly do not have like-for-like replacements in the full back positions. So, they have had to come up with different solutions, and for this they deserve credit.

The left back replacements — Lucas Hernández or Lucas Beraldo — have been able to play a similar role to Mendes where they form a back three in possession, though they can’t provide the same sort of dynamism going forward and instead become more static and solid presences. At right back, though, no defensively sound option exists to replicate the flank-running of Hakimi. Instead, Luis Enrique has had to fall back on a creative solution that he first formulated a couple of years ago.

If one was to pick a single player that embodies the new-look Paris Saint-Germain — no longer a rather randomly assembled collective of superstars but rather a cohesive star-studded unit — it would have to be Warren Zaïre-Emery. He might not have the Ballon d’Or-winning quality of Ousmane Dembélé or a long history in the senior team like record-appearance maker Marquinhos, but he represents everything that the French champions had to change before claiming the European crown.

For one, Zaïre-Emery was a highly-rated talent in the academy who actually managed to break through and stick around in the senior team. PSG have never been short of young talent thanks to their location, but they had a rotten record when it came to facilitating the transition into the senior team. It came back to bite them at certain points as well, most notably in the 2020 Champions League final when Kingsley Coman scored the only goal for Bayern against his boyhood club. Zaïre-Emery is arguably the noteworthy figure who broke this trend, and has since been joined by the likes of Senny Mayulu and Ibrahim Mbaye.

When he became a consistent starter as a 17-year-old in 2023/24, the young midfielder stood out with his exceptional technical ability on the ball. He was always great in tight spaces, but quickly also developed his tactical and positional awareness to receive in good positions and carry forward. Additionally, he offered great defensive work rate to a team that was in need of it.

More importantly, Zaïre-Emery persisted and found a way to adapt when he subsequently faced competition for his spot in the senior team. The arrival of João Neves in the summer of 2024 was the defining moment in this regard as he became a direct competitor, since the experienced Fabián Ruiz and technically exceptional Vitinha were never likely to be displaced. Of course, team rotation ensured that Zaïre-Emery continued to receive a healthy share of game time, but he simultaneously also developed into an option at right back on the occasions when Hakimi was suspended or otherwise not picked. He didn’t exactly set the world alight in the new position, but was solid enough defensively and showed promising signs of progressive passing from deeper.

An ankle injury followed by AFCON duty for Hakimi gave Zaïre-Emery a good two months of consistent minutes at right back earlier this season, in which he grew more comfortable in the position. His physical growth has also helped, as he has developed both the physicality to hold his own in one-on-one situations and duels (despite still being of a relatively shorter stature), and endurance to get up and down for the full 90. In fact, he has been PSG’s most-used player this season with 50 appearances across all competitions, and will cross 4,000 minutes if he makes it to full-time on Wednesday night.

Zaïre-Emery’s stats are a bit difficult to read this season since he has played a significant amount of minutes at full back and in central midfield (sometimes both in the same game), but on the whole, he has been able to effectively combine all the aforementioned qualities and maintain a very good level in the Champions League.

Besides his own adaptability, the team’s flexibility has also played a big part in supporting his success. Zaïre-Emery coming in for Hakimi impacts a lot of their attacking dynamics in particular, since they no longer have an overlapping right back who can bomb forward and free the right winger to drift infield. Instead, the youngster steps into midfield — either alongside Vitinha or even beyond him. So, while PSG lose some fluidity across the front line (as the right winger now has to hold the width more often), they make up for it by adding a body in midfield and introducing more rotations there, with Zaïre-Emery and Neves often interchanging. In this respect, the academy graduate’s ability to create chances both with forward passes from deeper and by playing balls across in the final third proves quite valuable.

When PSG think about setting up without Hakimi, they have the option of turning to Bradley Barcola on the left wing and shift Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to the right if they want direct dribblers and runners to make up for the Moroccan full back’s absence. However, given the Georgian winger’s stellar recent performances off the left, I reckon they will stick to Désiré Doué on the right.

Luis Enrique’s side will certainly miss the dynamic between Doué and Hakimi that yielded rich rewards in the first leg. However, Zaïre-Emery’s movements into midfield might offer a more consistent path to playing through or at least pulling apart Bayern’s player-oriented defensive block through a central overload. In fact, as they take a lead into the away leg, this might even help them avoid getting into too much of a basketball match and retain some spells of slower possession if they so desire.

The big question will most definitely come in defence. While Zaïre-Emery has held his own against most left wingers, he is undoubtedly at risk of being twisted in all directions by Luis Díaz. Worse yet, Bayern may be emboldened to give Alphonso Davies a freer attacking role to apply further pressure on the young Frenchman, so he will need reliable support from his right winger. Ultimately, his fate will likely rest on the team’s ability to avoid leaving him in open one-versus-one situations by keeping a lid on the speed of the game. So, after the fireworks at the Parc des Princes, PSG may well come looking for a quieter night in Munich.

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