Ana Vitória at PSG 2023/24: Adding Brazilian flair to the Parisian midfield – scout report

Ana Vitória is a Brazilian international player, aged 23, who has just moved from Benfica to PSG Women. This transfer represents a lot for the Brazilian since it is her first big move after she started her career with Mixto in 2015 and then played for Corinthians before flying to Europe.

Her European journey started in Portugal with Benfica, where she played from 2019 to 2023 and was one of the team’s most impactful players. Actually, Vitória achieved a higher step in her career by joining a big team like PSG, and this upgrade will undoubtedly include advantages but also challenges.

Despite playing at a prestigious club with outstanding teammates, one of the challenges that she could encounter Vitória would be her ability to adapt to her new environment, culture, and especially to her rivals in the team. Knowing that she will probably play as a midfielder or as a winger, Vitória will undoubtedly have a lot of competition within the team and will have to be at her best at the start of the season to confirm a regular spot for herself.

In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will focus on identifying Vitória’s most remarkable strengths and weaknesses and exploring her role at Benfica. At the same time, the analysis will include a study of the Brazilian’s possible position at PSG and her roles within the team’s tactics.

Strengths and weaknesses

Vitória can play in various midfield and even attacking positions, and this already represents an advantage for teams having the services of the Brazilian since not all midfielders can be as tactically flexible or can interpret different positions with almost the same efficiency. Vitória proved on several occasions that she could cope with such various missions both at Benfica and with the Brazilian national team.

Vitória has got the passing accuracy and vision needed to be an instrumental midfielder in terms of playmaking while combining this talent with excellent physical abilities and an excellent pace which allows head coaches to use her as a winger so often, knowing that she would guarantee at the same time a continuous attacking contribution and a solid defensive resistance on wings.

She has an average of 81% in terms of passing accuracy, with 76.7% of accuracy for passes to the final third, which is an impressive number. This statistic highlights Vitória’s great passing technique and especially her excellent decision-making when making assists or providing key passes. And this represents one of her many strengths.

The following picture shows one of Vitória’s best assists and showcases her outstanding creativity in the final third. A back-heel assist was executed while being tightly marked and moving towards her team’s own half. Yet, these circumstances didn’t prevent Vitória from performing what turned out to be a rewarding idea by breaking Twente’s defensive line with that back-heel pass and allowing her teammate to be in a one vs one situation with the goalkeeper.

Given her technique and creativity in the final third, Vitória can be added to the seemingly endless list of entertaining Brazilian football players. The only thing that would need some improvement from Vitória would be her dribbling usage: when to dribble more and when it will be required to play more straightforwardly and pass the ball faster.

Vitória’s dribbling success rate of 65.7% represents a good average for a midfielder. Nevertheless, acquiring more awareness of when to dribble more and when to avoid dribbling and opt for passes would help Vitória be more crucial and fundamental. Also, taking the initiative a bit more when playing on the wing while being in one vs one duel and having to dribble would help Vitória be more dangerous as a winger.