Paris Saint-Germain – Manchester City: To Be Or Not To Be (4-2)

Manchester City surrendered a two-goal difference at Parc des Princes, exacerbating their situation in the UEFA Champions League. Luis Enrique’s men rose from the ashes to turn the table ahead, banking four goals to put the cherry on the cake after an outstanding display on a rainy night in Paris.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.


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After a nightmarish, disastrous spell that lasted more than two months, Manchester City’s board called the shots to go through a rebuild in the hope of reinventing the wheel. The Uzbek defender, Abdukodir Khusanov, was the first deal to seal, bringing him home from Lens. The Citizens’ backline is aging; therefore, it is mandatory to empower the squad. Vitor Reis was the second defender to land in Manchester after long negotiations with his former team, Palmeiras. Furthermore, the Citizens are set to add offensive quality Omar Marmoush to their squad after agreeing on a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt.

There is no incoming without outgoing. Kyle Walker, Manchester City captain, seems to be gearing up to leave the team he served for approximately eight seasons. Speculations suggest AC Milan is Kyle Walker’s next direction. Also, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia saw Napoli off to join Luis Enrique’s crew in Paris. 

Paris Saint-Germain is in dire straits in Europe as they accumulated eight points, throwing them down to 25th place. Manchester City’s situation is no better than the Parisian team, as the Citizens are just one point above Luis Enrique’s men. Therefore, they have no room for another setback should they want to advance to the next round.

Ederson started in goal. The backline remained intact for the second game in a row as Matheus Nunes, Manuel Akanji, Rúben Dias, and Joško Gvardiol formed the defense. İlkay Gündoğan made way for Bernardo Silva in midfield to join Mateo Kovačić. Sávio replaced Jeremy Doku on the left, whereas Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland maintained their positions.

Luis Enrique made significant changes to the main eleven that played against Lens. Willian Pacho and Nuno Mendes started again versus Manchester City in the backline. Marquinhos and Achraf Hakimi completed the defense line. João Neves composed a midfield of three alongside Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz. Désiré Doué and Lee Kang-in operated as false nines, whereas Bradley Barcola hugged the touchlines on the left.


Two adept managers tactically battling

Paris Saint-Germain intended to thwart Manchester City in the buildup by adopting an aggressive, man-oriented approach high up the pitch. However, Phil Foden was the key secret, dropping off down the right-inside channel and offering Ederson a temporary free passing option. Nuno Mendes and Willian Pacho’s unsynchronized coordination whilst they stepped up from the backline momentarily freed Foden between the lines and Matheus Nunes on the right side.


2nd minute: Paris Saint-Germain presses man-to-man Manchester City. Nuno Mendes intends to jump over Matheus Nunes and points out to Willian Pacho to step out onto Phil Foden between the lines. Nuno Mendes changes his way when he realizes Ederson’s intention to pick out Phil Foden. Pacho and Mendes’ uncoordinated action allows Foden to come short and square the pass to Nunes on the right.


One minute later, the home team was in a position to capitalize on a high-pressing situation. Mateo Kovačić drifted deep on the left to receive Ederson’s pass. Lee Kang-in’s out-in run closed off the right options, with the center being shut down by João Neves. Lee Kang-in shrank Kovačić’s operational domain, limiting his ability to release a well weighted pass to Nunes behind the second line of the press. Bradley Barcola remaining close between Akanji and Nunes enabled him to collect the ball and look to hurt the visitors immediately. Nonetheless, Manchester City instantly retreated, clogging the central corridor and driving the hosts sideways.

In high buildup, Paris Saint-Germain lined up in a 3-3-4 shape, in which Achraf Hakimi pushed up to the front line. Luis Enrique deployed three cogs in midfield, allowing his team to win the numerical battle. Therefore, Paris Saint-Germain defenders usually found a free player shifting wide between Manchester City’s lines.


5th minute: Paris Saint-Germain constructs in a 3-3-4 shape. Lee Kang-in pins Mateo Kovačić, Bernardo Silva engages with Vitinha, and Kevin De Bryune operates close to João Neves. As a result, Fabian Ruiz remains free between the lines. The latter darts wide behind Phil Foden to receive Nuno Mendes’ pass and push Manchester City’s block backward.


In the first ten minutes, Fabian Ruiz and Nuno Mendes swapped positions as the former dropped into the backline and the latter hugged the touchlines on the left, allowing Bradley Barcola to indent. The Portuguese left back brought in another dimension of creativity through his ability to swiftly combine and work on the overlap, attacking the byline to supply his teammate with crosses.

On the right side, wide rotations and combinations were Paris Saint-Germain’s capital to progress. Manchester City sat in a 4-1-4-1 medium block with Savinho and Phil Foden jumping onto Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes, whereas Erling Haaland pressed Willian Pacho. Behind, Bernardo Silva operated between Fabian Ruiz and João Neves monitoring the distance between the pair based on the ball side. When the play was clustered on the right side, Mateo Kovačić shifted across to keep tabs on Vitinha whilst Kevin De Bruyne stayed ready to pounce should the ball go backward.

Nonetheless, the home team’s fast passing sequences and movements cut through the Citizens. To elaborate, Joško Gvardiol was forced to push on toward Achraf Hakimi. Subsequently, Rúben Dias had to cover behind his teammate and keep an eye on the false nine Désiré Doué who tended to dash wide. Doué stretching the width expanded the distance between Akanji and Dias for Achraf Hakimi to sprint and attack the space behind City’s defense. Dias was forced to commit a foul to deny Hakimi’s attempt to drive forward.

Manchester City’s first big chance came in the 12th minute of the game, as Pep Guardiola’s men were so close to taking advantage of the gap in PSG’s defense whilst they transitioned from a zonal marking to a man-oriented approach. In other words, Hakimi engaged high up the pitch with Gvardiol which drove Marquinhos to shift toward Savinho near the touchlines. That saw Rúben Dias pick out the runner Kevin De Bruyne with a long ball behind PSG’s backline. Savinho’s strike hit Marquinhos to land in De Bruyne’s feet. Donnarumma saved his team from conceding early in the game.


Paris Saint-Germain slightly had the upper hand

Fabian Ruiz’s lateral movements were a headache to Manchester City between the lines. Bernardo Silva’s inability to commit made Manuel Akanji step out of his spot to jump onto Fabian Ruiz. However, that played in the hosts’ favor, as Ruiz and Barcola exploited that small space of time to thread and run behind.


18th minute: Paris Saint-Germain buildup sequence. Bernardo Silva is outnumbered by Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha. Bradley Barcola drops in to receive Mendes’ pass and square it to Fabian Ruiz. Matheus Nunes and Manuel Akanji are late to jump. One-two is enough to release Barcola in space behind the defense.


When pressing, Manchester City maintained an extra man in the backline. That allowed the home team to overload the Citizens in the buildup phase. When the ball went to the left side, the visitors horizontally shifted their block to lock the ball side. However, Nuno Mendes effortlessly found Fabian Ruiz, as Phil Foden couldn’t deal with the numerical superiority generated on the left. As a result, Paris Saint-Germain worked out their way up top through switches of play.

PSG’s front three had the license to interchange positions. Désiré Doué tended to join Barcola on the left to combine and connect passes. In addition, Nuno Mendes advanced, allowing Fabian Ruiz or Vitinha to fill his position in the back. That afforded the Parisian team an extra man between the lines to rely on in switching play to the opposite side.


29th minute: Vitinha operates in Nuno Mendes’ position whilst the latter pushes up in the left-inside channel. Désiré Doué strolling behind Phil Foden opens a passing lane for Ruiz to prod the ball onto Doué. As a consequence, Manuel Akanji and Matheus Nunes get overloaded. Moreover, Mateo Kovačić opts for dropping out to cover zonally instead of sticking to Mendes, who receives the ball and switches it to Hakimi.


The Citizens seemed to have the solution to PSG’s high-press recalling rituals. Bernardo Silva stepped between Akanji and Dias, Matheus Nunes held the width up top, drawing Barcola’s attention, and Phil Foden came deep down the right-inside channel. Foden movement triggered Nuno Mendes, who hesitated to vacate his spot or stand still in defense. Both options held its repercussions. Nuno Mendes’ indecision enabled Foden to have space to function and pick out free players ahead. Meanwhile, in the left-inside channel, Kevin De Bruyne created separation with Vitinha to receive and set Matheus Nunes free in space.


39th minute: Manchester City buildup sequence. Paris Saint-Germain applies a man-oriented press. Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić diagonally swap positions to open a vertical passing lane for Ederson to find Haaland. Vitinha cuts the pass off; however, he slips over. The ball falls into Bernardo Silva’s feet, and Manchester City goes in a self-made transition. Phil Foden moves inside and slides a through ball to Savinho at the edge of the box. Once again, Donnarumma stands as a solid barrier.


The last minute of the first half saw the referee denying Paris Saint-Germain’s opening goal due to offside. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the disallowed goal came from an overload situation on the left side. As aforementioned, Nuno Mendes tended to join the crew up top. He advanced next to Désiré Doué and Lee Kang-in outnumbering Matheus Nunes and Manuel Akanji. Bernardo Silva couldn’t commit as he took charge of Fabian Ruiz, and Mateo Kovačić slowly tracked back. João Neves out wide, slid a pass into Nuno Mendes down the left-inside channel. The latter combined with Lee Kang-in and surged behind Akanji to cut the ball back to Barcola. The twenty-two-year-old laid it off to Hakimi coming from behind to lash the ball home.


Manchester City’s lead at Parc des Princes

Luis Enrique took Lee Kang-in off and brought Ousmane Dembélé. On the other dugout, Pep Guardiola changed Rúben Dias and Savinho introducing Rico Lewis and Jack Grealish. The home team’s midfielders kept darting behind Phil Foden to create passing lanes. An inside one-two combination between Vitinha and Nuno Mendes unleashed the latter through the visitors’ block to progress and switch play to Désiré Doué on the right.

Amid Paris Saint-Germain’s events control, the Citizens emerged out of nowhere to open up the scoresheet. Phil Foden fed the underlapping Manuel Akanji who found himself in a one-versus-one situation against Nuno Mendes. The Swiss defenders, attacking the byline, got rid of his marker and cut the ball back to Bernardo Silva at the edge of the six-yard box. Donarmuna saved the shot, but Jack Grealish gobbled up the rebound.

Three minutes later, Manchester City doubled up the score. Ederson launched a long pass toward Phil Foden on the right flank. Nuno Mendes proactively stepped up, but he miscontrolled the ball. Matheus Nunes collected it, swam in the space between the hosts’ lines, and picked out Grealish behind Marquinhos. João Neves misinterpreted Grealish’s cross. As a result, it went to Haaland’s feet, firing City into a 2-0 lead.


Pulsating Remontada

Finally, Fabian Ruiz strolling behind out wide Phil Foden reaped the reward. In the second half, Manuel Akanji was tasked with following whoever was free from PSG’s midfielders. Before seconds of the hosts’ opening goal, Akanji stepped out late. As a result, Fabian Ruiz was able to feed Barcola near the touchlines. The French winger swept aside Matheus Nunes and burst forward to attack Akanji’s evacuated zone. Meanwhile, in the middle of the box, Ousmane Dembélé stopped his run to receive Barcola’s square pass, winning a functional space as Gvardiol and Rico Lewis kept pushing backward. Dembélé halved the deficit, reviving his team’s hope of turning the table ahead.

João Neves pulled out a governing, commanding performance on and off the ball. PSG’s second goal came from Neves regaining the ball from Mateo Kovačić and setting his team free to pounce. Neves combined on a one-two sequence before working the ball out to the left into Doué whose curled strike hit the woodwork. Camping near the back post, Bradley Barcola bounced the ball off the post to level the score.

Gonçalo Ramos and Warren Zaïre-Emery came on to replace Désiré Doué and Fabian Ruiz. Manchester City looked to press in a man-to-man fashion. As a reaction, Donnarumma opted to chip the ball over to Gonçalo Ramos, who headed it down to Zaïre-Emery. The latter, unpressurized carried it forward and spotted Dembélé near the back post. However, Dembélé blasted it over.

Pep Guardiola’s men appeared off-course as Paris Saint-Germain intensified their press. Ederson’s long chips to Haaland unusually were inaccurate, allowing Nuno Mendes to seize the opportunity and race through Manchester City’s block.


70th minute: Paris Saint-Germain’s man-oriented press disrupts Manchester City’s buildup sequence. Ederson attempted to feed Phil Foden with a line-breaking pass. However, Vitinha proactively intercepts the ball’s path and picks out Dembélé behind Rico Lewis. The Citizens retreating doesn’t stop Dembélé from nutmegging Bernardo Silva and lashing the ball into the woodwork.


Paris Saint-Germain targeted the back post zone to ship the ball as Manchester City looked clueless in defending the far post area. From a free kick on the right, Vitinha sent an out swinging ball toward João Neves who ghosted into space to head the ball home.

The home team built momentum as time elapsed, looking more aggressive in the counter-press, winning aerial and ground duels, and gaining a foothold in the ground. That especially came through João Neves who accumulated 16 duels and 7 tackles, bossing the events of the game.

Gonçalo Ramos exacerbated Manchester City’s situation when Joško Gvardiol played him onside to curve the ball home with the final kick of the game.


Takeaways

In the postgame interview, Pep Guardiola claimed that Paris Saint-Germain bossed the clash in terms of speed, duels, and every aspect of the game. He stated that the Citizens couldn’t adapt to his former fellow’s team giving away control of the match. It is worth mentioning that Manchester City lost possession 36 times in their defensive third, the highest rate in a game this season.

Manchester City will camp in the eliminatory spots in the coming seven days until next Wednesday when they have no room for error should they want to remain in the UEFA Champions League.

Luis Enrique had the upper hand on Pep Guardiola, establishing a well-rounded team that was able to dismantle Manchester City into pieces, furthering their misery. Paris Saint-Germain will face VfB Stuttgart in Germany. The win is a must to advance to the next rounds.



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A football Writer focusing mainly on Tactical Analysis. Most Importantly Philosophy Lover. Founder of The Inside Channel. [ View all posts ]

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