This Friday evening, PSG was expected for the 12th day of Ligue 1. The challenge was simple: we had to take the three points to consolidate first place in the standings, but also gain confidence before facing Bayern Munich in the Champions League at the Allianz Arena. Because the capital club no longer has the right to make mistakes in C1 with a 25th place (eliminated for the moment). So Luis Enrique did Luis Enrique again this Friday evening by fielding a new team, undoubtedly to rest a few executives before the C1 shock. In the central hinge, Beraldo and Skriniar started and thus held the house.
But it was on the offensive level that the Spanish technician surprised. He decided to field four attackers for this match and completely change his offensive animation. In addition to the usual trio Dembélé, Asensio, Barcola, Luis Enrique also decided to bet on Désiré Doué. We expected to see the former Rennais in a number 10 role behind the striker, especially after Luis Enrique’s latest statements at a press conference. The other option was also to see him in false number 9 with Asensio in the middle three as he was able to do at times in certain meetings. But the Spanish coach chose neither option, or almost.
Lost attackers
The former Barça coach asked his attackers to constantly swap except for Ousmane Dembélé who stuck to the right. And it didn’t have the desired effect at all. For 90 minutes, the Parisian attackers seemed completely lost, even harmless. In fact, this tactic left the Toulouse area absolutely empty and the numerous Parisian centers never found a buyer. Asensio was almost non-existent just like Doué who had another complicated evening. Barcola was also very below and seemed to suffer from this new tactic. No one really occupied this number 9 role. After the match, Luis Enrique admitted that his team had not really performed. “We weren’t brilliant and we can play better, yes. But is there a team that plays well all season? »he put it into perspective.
However, this match is symbolic. Despite the Parisian victory (3-0), no attacker found the net (Neves, Vitinha and Berlado scorers) and the strikes can be counted on the fingers of one hand (2 shots on target in total for the quartet offensive). Statistics which clearly confirm the overall level of the Parisian attack which is struggling to be truly dangerous and which seems to be in the midst of a crisis of confidence. Problem, we must not tremble against Bayern Munich this Wednesday in C1. “This match will be nothing like the one in Munich. We will arrive with the same level of confidence as Bayern who also won 3-0 this Friday evening. It’s positive to win before the Champions League even if it’s not decisive. The statistics are realistic in Ligue 1, but in the Champions League, we are below our level. This is not logical. The Champions League is short, but we create an exceptional number of situations. Exceptional. (…) The results in the Champions League are not in line with what we deserve. We are not that low in efficiency, I have rewatched all our matches. We can make it happen”warned Luis Enrique at a press conference. We will have to be more inspired for him too, because this Friday evening, his tactics obviously did not work at all.
