Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona delivered a Champions League classic worthy of a final on Wednesday (IST). The 4-2 scoreline would suggest complete dominance by PSG, but there was more to it.
The game got off to a flying start with PSG pressing Barcelona aggressively from the start and playing at a very high tempo throughout, a characteristic of their style of play as evidenced by their performance against Manchester City, where they scored two in the first 16 minutes and were 3-0 at the break. Barcelona were well prepared for this; however, with Flick fielding 19-year-old Xavi Espart at right back, as Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia were both injured. Barcelona are finally beginning to rediscover themselves in Europe after the Messi era, but injuries and forced changes exposed their shortcomings in Paris. The fight was there, but PSG’s depth and cohesion, attributes that have underpinned their recent Champions League triumphs, proved decisive. The French side’s ambition for a third straight title now looks more credible than ever. Joao Cancelo stayed on the left with Pau Cubarsi and Martin in the middle. The cat-and-mouse game really began from that point, with both sides creating a lot of chances on the night but PSG was more in control.
But the intention, from a tactical point of view, is clear. PSG were clearly in the hunt for goals, but Garcia was the man to save them with a very impressive display of his own, with some absolutely ridiculous saves to keep the hosts at bay. It didn’t last long, though. Lamine Yamal had been fairly quiet up until that point, and his error was picked off by Neves, who then passed it to Desire Doue. The final minutes saw PSG show the strong mentality that helped them win the last two UCL titles back-to-back. Vitinha responded to Yamal’s brilliance with a golazo of his own in the 81st minute. The clutch mentality clicked in, and PSG sensed an opportunity to extend their lead and bury the game. Enrique has built a side that scores goals and rotates smartly during league games, helping key players maintain their fitness and intensity for such big games, as they maintained intensity till the final whistle, looking for a goal. Even when things don’t go their way in a passage of play, they still look for goals on the counter, a mentality Real Madrid displayed under Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti.
Luis Enrique’s approach with PSG has been to focus on the UCL, and as such, he’s been quite comfortable resting key players in Ligue 1 matches. Dembele is a case in point, having played just 237 of the 630 possible minutes in the league this season, and Enrique is relying on him for the UCL. They caught Barcelona off guard with a cross from Achraf Hakimi, and Fabian Ruiz made the tap-in count to make it 4-2 and seal the win.
That move didn’t go according to plan against Barcelona, as Dembele picked up an injury in the 18th minute and was substituted.
