Olympique Lyonnais – Paris Saint-Germain: PSG Storm Past OL And Towards The Title (2-4)

In a match that acted as an example of the interconnectivity of the four phases of the game, a well-balanced PSG side scored four goals before the hour mark despite Garcia’s thought-out defensive plan. In the end, some tactical corrections by the French coach and loss of concentration by the guests almost brought OL back into the game.
Tactical analysis and match report by Thanos Chelas. 

For their biggest match of the season yet, Olympique Lyonnais hosted the French champions with the bitter taste of missed opportunity in their mouths. Last week’s draw against Stade de Reims took place in a weekend where PSG lost surprisingly to Nantes and the title contenders Lille and drew with Monaco. With championship leaders Lille losing against Nîmes a few hours before this match however, another opportunity came to the fore. 

Moments of lost concentration and a subsequent loss at home to Nantes last week meant that PSG arrived at Groupama Stadium for their first out of two consecutive finals of the season. As Lille will be their guests on the 3rd of April, Pochettino’s players knew that two wins out of two could take their opponents out of title contention, pushing them towards yet another Ligue 1 trophy.  

Rudi Garcia’s ever present attacking trio, in his fluid 4-3-3 formation, was once again in the first eleven as Maxence Caqueret replaced the injured Houssem Aouar in midfield and left Bruno Guimarães at the bench. On defense, Mattia De Sciglio was preferred to Léo Dubois on the right as Maxwel Cornet took on a much more offensive role on the left.

Mauricio Pochettino . . .