This weekend, some of Europe’s hottest rivals will face off against one another. FC Bayern will host Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga’s ‘Der Klassiker’, Dinamo Zagreb will travel to Hajduk Split in Croatia’s top-flight, and in France, a new chapter will be written in what’s probably the most intensely contested and prestigious rivalry in Ligue 1, as league leaders PSG travel south to take on Marseille in ‘Le Classique’.
There’s not much up for grabs in terms of league position, with Les Parisiens sitting 12 points clear of second-placed Brest and Marseille in the midst of a lacklustre campaign that currently sees them positioned seventh, seven points away from third-placed Lille.
Still, as with any derby game, form can go out the window for 90 minutes when big rivals meet as the opportunity to secure bragging rights and a notable victory over an old foe becomes paramount for players and fans alike.
This tactical analysis piece will provide some analysis of where Marseille must look to hurt PSG in Sunday’s game if they are to stand a chance of getting anything from this game. While Luis Enrique’s side has been the best in France’s top flight this term, they haven’t been infallible, especially in recent weeks when they’ve dropped points against Reims, Monaco and Rennes.
So, what have teams been exploiting against PSG? And where must Les Phoceens focus their preparation efforts to maximise their chances of securing at least a point? Let’s check it out.
Marseille must be organised and focused on defending the space behind their backline
In their recent 0-0 draw with Monaco, Les Monégasques provided some excellent examples of how to defend against PSG in all phases of out-of-possession play.
This included their low block defence, when they notably had to deal with Kylian Mbappé’s threatening runs in behind and the line-splitting passes that the likes of Marco Asensio, as we see in figure 1, constantly aimed to thread through.
Kehrer, like the rest of Monaco’s clean sheet-keeping defence in this fixture, did a fantastic job of keeping Mbappé quiet, denying him opportunities to receive in behind. In this case, Kehrer pulled off an exquisite interception thanks to his intelligent side-on body positioning in combination with his eagle-like focus on the PSG forward’s run — this provides a perfect example of how to defend against these types of runs in behind and cut the through pass out.
