Liverpool
Liverpool face Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal at Anfield on Tuesday.
Last week, Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat to PSG in the first leg took place at Parc des Princes.
L’Equipe were critical of Arne Slot’s tactics and Reds trio Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Milos Kerkez’s displays against PSG.
The Premier League side have a tough ask to overcome a 2-0 deficit and seal a berth in the last four of the competition.
Ahead of this big clash, Bafodé Diakhaby’s move from the Ligue 1 side to Liverpool gets a mention in France.
Why coach left PSG for Liverpool
L’Equipe have a report on Bafodé Diakhaby, titled ‘hidden transfer’ between Liverpool and the Paris club.
He ended his playing career with Paris FC in 2015 and worked two years with them as the youth coach and a scout.
The 37-year-old left Paris FC for PSG in 2017 and was part of their academy. At the start of this year, he left the Ligue 1 winners to join Liverpool’s academy.
At the Merseyside club, he’s coaching their U12s to U16s, a hybrid role for the first six months.
The newspaper state there’s been a lot of discussions internally over his exit from PSG. Some see his departure as a ‘turning point’ in the way the French club’s academy is managed.
Diakhaby loves his former club but didn’t agree with the new vision for the academy. As a result of this, his relationship with youth team director Yohan Cabaye deteriorated.
At that time, Liverpool showed interest and the coach took advantage of this to move to England with his family. The Frenchman took this step to experience something new.
PSG, for their part, wanted to keep him, and therefore, didn’t accept his move to Anfield easily.
Players trained under Liverpool youth coach
During his time at PSG, Bafodé Diakhaby worked with many youngsters, multiple of whom have enjoyed success.
Some of those are Warren Zaïre-Emery, Senny Mayulu, Ibrahim Mbaye, Quentin Ndjantou, Ethan Mbappé, Tanguy Kouassi, Édouard Michut and Timothée Pembélé.