On Tuesday, PSG hammered Real Madrid 4-0 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League with 26-year-old France international Aminata Diallo starting in the defensive midfield role.
Thirty-one-year-old France international Kheira Hamraoui — Diallo’s direct competition for the spot — had started PSG’s first two UWCL games, but Hamraoui had been ruled out of the match due to injuries sustained following an assault by two masked individuals last week that left her requiring stitches.
In a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday morning, Diallo was then arrested in connection with the attack.
According to sources, following a club dinner in Paris on Nov. 4, Diallo, Hamraoui and two other teammates were driving home together but when the car stopped, two masked men dragged Hamraoui out of the car before targeting her legs with iron bars in an assault that lasted two minutes. The attackers then fled the scene.
Hamraoui needed stitches on her leg injuries and couldn’t play on Tuesday, but the three-time Champions League winner didn’t sustain any career-threatening injuries. Diallo was also reportedly "detained" by the attackers but did not suffer any injuries.
“Paris Saint-Germain takes note of the police custody this morning of Aminata Diallo by the Versailles DRPJ as part of the procedure opened following an assault on Thursday last night against club players,” reads a PSG club statement. “Paris Saint-Germain strongly condemns the violence committed.
"Since Thursday evening November 4, the club has taken all the necessary measures to guarantee the health, well-being and safety of its players. Paris Saint-Germain is working with the Versailles SRPJ to shed light on the facts. The club is attentive to the progress of the procedure and will study the follow-up to be given to it.”
Hamraoui played for PSG between 2012 and 2016 before departing for Lyon, at which time Diallo arrived at PSG from Guingamp. Hamraoui then left Lyon for Barcelona in 2018, where she helped the club capture its first UWCL title last season. Hamraoui only arrived back in Paris on July 15 on a two-year deal, where she immediately began competing with Diallo for the starting role.
Diallo herself spent time on loan in the NWSL during the 2020 season, making appearances for the Utah Royals in the Challenge Cup.
According to the Daily Mail, Diallo has started three of PSG’s seven league matches while Hamraoui has featured in the starting 11 in six of seven. They’ve been used together twice from the start in Division 1 Feminine, but manager Didier Ollé-Nicolle preferred Hamraoui against both Breidablik and Zhytlobud-1 in the UWCL.
Hamraoui hasn’t played for France since 2019, but she had earned a recall for a pair of 2023 World Cup qualifiers in October before a calf injury ruled her out. Diallo was then called up in her place but didn’t make it off the bench.
PSG plays one of its biggest games of the season on Sunday, a top-of-the-table clash with Lyon at Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
