How did PSG manipulate Marseille’s midfield en route to winning?

Following their dramatic Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United, PSG’s season will likely be seen as a failure regardless of what happens from here on in. However, with 70 points on the table and 10 games remaining, the Parisians do have the opportunity to break the 100-point mark in Ligue 1.

Their opponents on Sunday, Marseille, are fighting for a spot in next seasons premier European competition. Despite sporadic moments of quality, they left the capital with nothing to show for their efforts. This analysis will dissect how PSG managed to secure all three points.

Lineups

Still without the injured Neymar and Cavani, Thomas Tuchel elected to pair Kylian Mpabbe with Angel Di Maria up front. Both had license to vary their play between dropping off to link up with the midfield, and threatening the space in behind Marseilles defence.

Marco Verratti rotated with Leandro Parades in the pivot role, while Dani Alves occupied the right half-space. Layvin Kurzawa and Thomas Meunier played in advanced wide berths.

Rudi Garcia decided to line-up in a flat 4-4-2, hoping to gain ground on the counter-attack through dribbling wide-men Florian Thauvin and Lucas Ocampos. Former Manchester City and Liverpool forward Mario Balotelli was joined by Valere Germain in attack. With Thauvin moving in-field on occasion, Bouna Sarr was the more attacking of the two full-backs, while Hiroki Sakai generally stayed deeper.

PSG midfield manipulations

With Marseille often setting up out of possession with two lines of four behind the strikers, PSG had to be creative in breaking through the centre. Verratti and Paredes were both marked closely when looking to receive in the midfield, and the Parisians took advantage of their visitors approach in a number of interesting ways.

One method they used to create openings involved the midfielders taking up decoy positions. Having scanned over their shoulders to see where the attackers were, Verratti and Paredes often moved opponents with their movement and positioning in order to create direct passing lines from the first line of attack to the last.

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