Return of Ligue 1 this weekend after an international break for the national selections. Paris Saint-Germain aimed to score points at home this Saturday afternoon, against Racing Club de Strasbourg, on the 9th day of the French championship, before opening the doors to its Parc des Princes Wednesday evening at AC Milan in the Champions League. And for this duel against Patrick Vieira’s players, the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique made some surprise changes in his system by aligning, in a modular 3-4-1-2, Carlos Soler in the new position of right piston. Also note the returns to the starting lineup of the Korean Kang-in Lee and the Spaniard Fabian Ruiz. A way to offer playing time to certain elements but also to give some breathing room to executives like Manuel Ugarte and Achraf Hakimi.
Risk-taking by Luis Enrique which nevertheless bore fruit this Saturday, while the native of Gijon was questioned for some very surprising decisions against Newcastle in C1: “It’s always difficult when you’re leading 2-0 at the break. We insisted on having good possession and creating as many chances as possible. I have to say it’s an important performance and I’m happy with it. We play in this system (3-3-4) when we play forward but we can play differently. We try to move forward as quickly as possible. This is our philosophy. The players and the team try to improve with each match.explained the Spanish coach to our colleagues at Prime Videothus analyzing this curious system which surprised more than one when the Parisian starting lineup was announced.
3-4-1-2 with Soler piston!
While his name was mentioned in rumors of departure for the next winter transfer window earlier in the week, Carlos Soler had the opportunity to respond on the field, this Saturday against Strasbourg, and he did not miss it to seize the opportunity. Author of a goal and an assist, Soler shone with his efficiency: “There was fear following the Nice match. We had to do much better. The team was able to react well and managed the end of the match well and we were able to bring in several players. In this new role, I had to find new benchmarks. The team’s way of attacking allowed me to have a more offensive role. Ultimately, I adapted well to this new role”explained the former Valencia player at the microphone of Prime Video after his team’s victory. He who was elected man of the match by the FM editorial team, posted a solid line of 85 balls played, 4 won with 67 successful passes out of the 71 attempted.
Same observation for the former Napoli player, Fabián Ruiz. He had not started with Paris since the goalless score against Clermont on September 30. He too has received some criticism since the start of the season. But he responded today by even scoring a goal (77th), his fourth with the capital club: “Yes, I think I felt very good, I am happy with the goal, but above all with the victory. It’s always nice to score, and even more so on our pitch. And then, I have to take advantage of it when I have minutes, I try to do my best. And now I’m going to continue working.”, for his part clarified the Spanish community. A soccer season is a story of opportunities to be seized. There is no doubt that in a big club like PSG, we must not miss out when a player is offered a chance to shine. And the two Spaniards from PSG understood this perfectly, a few days before the clash against the Rossoneri in the Champions League.
