Knowing our: what awaits Matvey Safonov and PSG in the quarterfinals of the Champions League

The first matches of the 1/4 finals of the UEFA Champions League will be held this week. There are eight teams left in the fight for the main European club trophy. There is one among them that will be interesting for Russian football fans to watch. We are talking about Paris Saint-Germain, where the goalkeeper of the Russian national team Matvey Safonov is playing. For more information about PSG's opponent and other upcoming Champions League playoff matches, see Izvestia.

Who will compete to reach the semifinals

At the stage of the 1/4 finals, eight teams are divided into two paths, two pairs in each. The paths will cross only in the finals, so it's already clear who can get together with whom in the semifinals.

In the "upper" bracket, the winner of the PSG–Liverpool pair will get to the strongest in the two-legged confrontation between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. In the "lower" bracket, a similar principle applies: the best of the Spanish pair Barcelona – Atletico will play with the winner of the two-round duel between Portuguese Sporting and London Arsenal. The first quarterfinal matches will be played on April 7-8, and the return matches will be played on April 14-15.

Of course, the special attention of Russian football fans will be focused on the PSG–Liverpool pair, because there will be a representative of the Russian national team, goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.

Our goalkeeper is doing very well in Paris. He deservedly won the competition for a place in the main squad from 24-year-old Frenchman Luc Chevalier, who was bought from Lille last summer for € 40 million. For comparison, PSG took Safonov from Krasnodar in the summer of 2024 for half the price — for € 20 million.

But as gaming practice has shown, money is not the main thing. After the triumph in December 2025, when Safonov kicked four penalties in a row in the post-match series of the final match for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup against Brazilian Flamengo, Matvey became PSG's number one. Even the injury sustained after that match didn't affect it. He recovered and returned to the game, finally putting Chevalier on the bench.

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Matvey made the second "cracker" and remained the only Russian in the main European cup, Nikita missed five, but beat Courtois' achievement.

Currently, 27-year—old Safonov has 17 matches with PSG in all tournaments of the 2025/26 season. He conceded 18 goals in them, and scored zero in seven matches.

"Many people said that Safonov didn't have much playing time, and they recommended that he leave," award—winning Russian coach Yuri Semin told Izvestia. — How can you recommend such things to leave the best team in the world? And PSG is exactly like that, the current winner of the Champions League.

Safonov did not just sit in the reserve, but trained a lot, so he won this place, Semin continued. Luck helped somewhere — in the Intercontinental Cup with Flamengo, where Matvey deflected four penalties. After that, he gained confidence.

— And the coach is not his enemy. Of course, Luis Enrique will put the strongest. Even though Chevalier is French and Safonov is Russian, he's the one who plays better. And he plays well. The most important thing is that he maintains this stability. If saved, it will be played, if not— it will be changed. In such teams, a football player cannot play 100% of the matches. The same Hvicha plays at the highest level and continues to progress. That's why I'm still rooting for PSG," the coach added.

New exploits of our goalkeeper

As for the Champions League, Matvey has the following statistics: six matches, seven goals conceded, two "crackers".

The upcoming matches against Liverpool will be Safonov's third "English test" this Champions League season. Earlier, Matvey played against Newcastle in the general stage on January 28 (1-1) and twice against Chelsea in the 1/8 finals.

In the first game in Paris, Safonov's team won 5-2, creating a good lead before the second leg in London. And it turned out even better there, both for PSG and for Safonov in particular. Matvey did not allow the "aristocrats" to open their gates, making nine saves and receiving a score of ten out of ten from the statistical portal <url>.

"In the Champions League, it's impossible to win on the road without a top goalkeeper, especially at the playoff stage," Luis Enrique said at a press conference after the second leg against Chelsea. — We have Safonov, but we also have Chevalier. I'm lucky to have such good goalkeepers.

We look forward to new feats from our goalkeeper in the matches against Liverpool. The first game will be played on April 8 in France, and the second leg will be played on April 14 in England.