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Tactical analysis of PSG vs Manchester United: A thread
Lineups:
PSG lined up in 4-3-3 trying to set up in 2-5-3 sending both fullbacks high, Neymar was usually between the lines with Mbappe on the left and Di Maria right
PSG lined up in 4-3-3 trying to set up in 2-5-3 sending both fullbacks high, Neymar was usually between the lines with Mbappe on the left and Di Maria right
Manutd shaped up in a 5-2-1-2/3-4-1-2, sitting low and trying to hit PSG on the counter
Ole setup united very smartly, Rashford and Martial were tasked on the PSG CBs, Bruno kept hold of Danilo. AWB and Telles took care of Kurzawa and Florenzi while Mc-Fred kept Herrera and Gana busy
United's wingbacks were tasked with pressing PSG's fullbacks on the receive blocking progressing into the middle third of the field. The lack of quality in PSG's midfield couldn't deal with Mctominay and Fred's tight marking
Telles on the left triggering the press on Florenzi
Numerous times did PSG's fullbacks lose the ball due to Telles and AWB's high press
Kurzawa had a very poor game too where he frequently struggled to deal with United's press
PSG's back 2 + Navas when trying to find the midfielders through Martial/Rashford/Bruno oftenly met with Fred and Mctominay on Herrera and Gueye
Danilo Periera couldn't do much with the ball due to bruno's tightness mainly and was forced backwards on many occasions. PSG's midfield lacked quality to play quick passages of play to throw fred and Mctominay out of the game and put neymar in high areas of the field
When PSG were high on the field with territory, neymar struggled to create anything due to united's tight lowblock. Mctominay's athleticism also prevented neymar chances to run through the middle of the field
Di Maria and Mbappe oftently tried dropping deep to give an extra man in the midfield but Ole tasked Shaw and Tuanzebe to follow them
To keep themselves compact and defensively sound/locked the wingbacks of manutd were told to drop back as soon as PSG went long to complete a back 5
However going long didn't help PSG as they had no strong forwards who could hold the ball well, this shows how ole won the tactical battle. Setting up in a way that PSG can't break and forcing them to go long where they certainly lost the ball every time.
Here we can see navas giving up on buildup again and tries to go long ending up losing possession and a possible goal scoring chance
PSG's only threat from the 1st half was utilizing united's narrow defending and highline; picking out runs from mainly Di Maria. However shaw and mostly Tuanzebe did brilliantly reading the danger and recovered well. De Gea played the sweeper keeper many times too
Everything was working well for united, however they didn't plan to keep possession at the back against a high PSG press and rightly went long
In the second half Tuchel sacrificed one of his midfield player and brought on Moise Kean aiming to commit more numbers forward. PSG were then setup in a 4-2-4 usually turning into a 4-2-3-1 with neymar dropping between the lines. One of the wingers also kept width up high..
…Keeping one of the wingbacks busy. Neymar dropping deep gave PSG more quality into midfield and now they had 3 bodies up front too instead of 2 (1st half)
PSG sometimes over committed too giving united dangerous situations to counter attack. Rashford was found in these positions 3 to 4 times in the second half but didn’t utilize them to the fullest extent
PSG got their goal however Ole noticed that PSG now had a number less in midfield as PSG also defended in a 4-2-4 when they should've in a 4-4-2. Pogba was brought on to give united more territory against a numerically weak PSG without the ball and it worked perfectly well
Since then it was a walk in the park for united as Mbappe, Neymar, Kean and Di Maria didn't help PSG defensively
Herrera going high here leaving space behind up and Bruno cleverly follows in, neymar stable in his position. A narrow midfield 4 of a 4-4-2 would've prevented PSG from being ridiculed
The drawbacks of defending with 6/7 players against the likes of Martial/Pogba/Bruno can be seen here. Look at how easily Bruno Fernandes manipulates space (
Neymar despite not tracking deep didn’t offer much offensively on the other side as well, Fred took care of him quite easily and Neymar’s continuous loss of possession gave united loads of opportunities to counter
The amount of space Wan Bissaka has here is hilarious, PSG once again caught defending with 6 players, Mbappe/Neymar should’ve closed him down. This let PSG down immensely as united could have comfortably scored 4 to 5 this game.
Another example of the crazy space Wan Bissaka has, if you give any team this much leniency then they’re bound to hurt you, United punished PSG rightly
Would end this thread with the last 20 second sequence before united’s goal. Mctominay finds Bruno into acres of space. Neymar should realistically be in position but he’s late to react and track back. United score after 20 seconds, easy.
