This match analysis was first featured on our dedicated Serie A site, serieaanalysis.com.
In a week filled with controversial leaks, Group C’s drama continued after Liverpool unexpectedly lost against Red Star Belgrade 2-0, putting themselves in a difficult situation and making the game between Napoli and PSG less of a tie-breaker. Although the French side is yet to lose a game in Ligue 1, their performances have been rather underwhelming and the Champions League displays have highlighted their troubles as to finding the right alchemies on the field. Their home fixture against the Neapolitans ended in a fortunate draw given the circumstances, however, the second half showings (or rather, up to their 1-1 goal), following Tuchel’s switch to a back three, beckoned progress. The Parisians were able to counter-press effectively and keep a high line which, thanks to the added man on the backline, allowed the defenders to step out more aggressively to make up for the midfield’s lacklustre cover.
The away side thus opted for the riskier, but at the same time, arguably best eleven for the occasion.
Instead, Ancelotti fielded his custom set of players for these big Champions League matches.
PSG’s build-up issues
During build-up, however, PSG’s issues persisted, in spite of their numerical superiority in a 3-1 (+1 with Draxler dropping onto the second line from a higher positioning in the left half-space) against Napoli front two. Tuchel’s side’s position shape resembled a 3-5-1-1/3-4-2-1, as Di Maria’s role in possession remained rather unknown, mainly due to little involvement in the team’s actions due to PSG’s heavy left-side orientation.
Even though the build-up lacked progressiveness and the circulation was mainly U-shaped, “Les Parisiens” were gradually able to gain space and bring the ball up due to the large distances Napoli’s first line had to cover to press the wide centre-backs from their central starting position. Ancelotti’s side settled into a 4-4-2-0 mid-block wherein Insigne used his cover-shadow to prevent passes into Verratti, whilst Mertens did the same with Draxler, marking the German when he dropped deep to aid. Draxler’s dropping movements were in most cases, redundant, though, and didn’t create any advantages; they meant that PSG had one less player behind the opposition’s lines and unnecessarily committed five players against two.
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