UEFA Champions League 2018/19: PSG vs Liverpool

It was the big game in this round of the Champions League. Two former BVB coaches fought with their teams for important points in the run for the qualification for the next round. After Liverpool lost against Belgrade on the last matchday. The fight for the two spots in the next round was completely open again. Napoli did their duties and could secure a win against the Serbian team from Belgrade. For PSG this game was more or less and win or go home game. This was the same case for coach Thomas Tuchel who would have had a hard time in Paris if his team would have lost that game. Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool side, on the other hand, wanted to secure their good position in the group.

The game was an intense and tactically interesting duel won which, in the end, was won by the superior team, PSG. Especially, in the first half, the team from Frances capital were the more dangerous and active team. Due to Tuchels intelligent game plan they were able to find a way through Liverpools pressing again and again. The consequence, multiple good chances and two goals scored by Bernat and Neymar.

Liverpool, on the other hand, struggled to create anything in possession due to their structural problems. Usually, they can rely on their good pressing and counter-pressing due to which they often create chances even if their structure in possession is far from optimal. However, Jürgen Klopps side struggled to close PSGs passing options. Even if they won the ball in midfield, Paris were often well-structured and could defend most of the counterattacks.

Tuchel had a plan, to give PSG an edge over Liverpool

Normally, teams who concentrate heavily on possession and positional play have a hard time against Klopps teams due to their aggressive pressing which often breaks the rhythm of the team in possession. Paris St. Germain, for example, struggled to build-up from behind in the first match against Liverpool this season. At Anfield, Liverpool dominated and PSG struggled with the newly implemented principles of positional play.

A few months later, the players accustomed to the principles of Thomas Tuchels philosophy while the German coach seemed to find his preferred line-up. Still, against Liverpool, they played arguably their best match under Thomas Tuchel and were impressive in the way they played through Klopps press.

The main goal of PSG was to overplay the first line of pressure in order to pass the ball to Verratti. Due to the positioning of the other players, the Italian midfielder would be the free man and could, therefore, initiate the attacking play of PSG.

In the build-up, the French champions used a back-three with Marquinhos as the central defender. The Brazilian had a hybrid role because against the ball he defended next to Verratti. Kimpembe and Thiago Silva played as halfbacks. Together with Verratti, they formed a diamond to maximize the amount of space Liverpools strikers had to cover. Because Salah, Firmino and Mané pressed the back-three aggressively and tried to deny passes in the centre.

However, PSG moved the ball well in their first line. Often attracting opponents and then switching to find Verratti behind the lines. The Italian midfielder could often receive the ball and even when Liverpool were able to pressure him, his dribbling skills allowed him to get out of those situations. Most of the time he found enough space to dribble towards Liverpools half. The three central midfielders Klopp selected were Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum. All three struggled to press Verratti. In the beginning, Henderson was often the guy moving out of the line however, this was an advantage for PSG due to Verrattis quickness.

Most of the time Liverpools central midfielders, however, werent able to press Verratti due to the positioning of PSG midfielders and strikers. Neymar and Di María both positioned in the halfspace. Consequently, Milner and Wijnaldum couldnt step up to press Verratti. By moving higher and then dropping deeper occasionally Neymar and Di María supported the build-up but simultaneously created space for their defensive midfielder. The only player left was Henderson who as I already mentioned isnt the player who can press Verratti. Sometimes Mbappé would even drop when Henderson pressed higher using the open space which could get dangerous for Liverpool when they overcame the first line of LFC plus Henderson.