What Makes Willian Pacho One of the Best Defenders in World Football? | OneFootball

It has been nothing short of a meteoric rise for Willian Pacho.

Over the past six years, he’s gone from making his professional debut for Independiente del Valle and leading them to a first-ever championship under Renato Paiva, to kicking off his European journey in Belgium with Royal Antwerp, to cutting his teeth with German side Eintracht Frankfurt. And today, he’s established himself as an indispensable figure in Luis Enrique’s backline at Paris Saint-Germain.

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One day after turning 24, Pacho came off the bench for the final half-hour in a 3-3 draw vs. Strasbourg, before relegating Lucas Beraldo to the bench and starting alongside summer arrival Illia Zabarnyi in central defense in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League match. Whilst Zabarnyi embarrassed himself with two penalties conceded and an early red card, Pacho stole the show by scoring his first-ever senior goal in his 203rd club appearance and keeping the likes of Christian Kofane, Ernest Poku, and Claudio Echeverri quiet with a composed display at the back, steering the reigning champions to a 7-2 victory vs. Bayer Leverkusen. It was yet another reason why, at just 24 years of age, Willian Pacho belongs in the upper echelon of Europe’s finest center-backs.

Born in Quinindé, Ecuador, Pacho moved to the suburbs of Quito to join Independiente del Valle in 2017, rising through the ranks before eventually making his first-team debut on November 2, 2019, in the season finale, following that up with nine appearances in 2020. However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Renato Paiva on December 25, 2020, that he managed to fully graduate from playing with the U-20s and make the leap into the starting line-up, with Pacho establishing himself as one of the first names on the team sheet and making 30 appearances across all competitions.

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