PSG exquisite passing and space occupation annihilate an overly static Barcelona side
Tuesday night was the return of Champions League football with FC Barcelona heading to the Parcs des Princes to face PSG, the french side who haven’t lost at home this season and were looking to continue their run to increase their chances of a spot in the quarter finals.
Barcelona fielded a 4–4–2 formation with Andre Gomes on the right side and Messi behind Suarez, meanwhile PSG played out in their normal set up. Assigning Andre Gomes to the right side might have been to deny Kurzawa’s runs upfront, however this affected Barcelona’s midfield heavily offensively and defensively, PSG often had a free space in midfield which was occupied by Di Maria and Draxler’s inside runs or Matuidi progressing in the space between Gomes and Busquets. Matuidi’s runs resulted in a huge threat early on with Ter Stegen denying him a clear chance, however this area wasn’t exploited further on. Enrique’s decision helped PSG’s off ball setup as Cavani fronted — fronting is the act of standing in front of the player to cut him out while also being able to press the other players in front of you — Busquets blocking him as a passing option, and Veratti was assigned to closely mark Iniesta, this affected Barca’s build up heavily as Ter Stegen and the CB’s main passing outlets were blocked.
On the other hand, PSG’s Marco Veratti and Adrien Rabiot were in total control of the midfield with their interceptions and line splitting passes, Barcelona’s players may have topped the passing lists but most of them were sideways or long balls to Neymar which was Barcelona’s only outlet. The thing that helped Veratti and Rabiot significantly was their peers’ movement between Barca’s defence and midfield, often positioning on Iniesta and Busquets’ blind side. Also, a key factor in the win was the speed of PSG’s attacks, being a threat to the opposition with the minimum number of direct passes. An inside run from Draxler resulted in a dangerous free kick through which Di Maria scored the opener, after the goal PSG’ positioned in a deeper compact block which Barcelona couldn’t penetrate.
Barca’s players were static when in possession in contrast to the electric PSG side, which resulted in less chances so Messi had to drop into midfield to support the build, but PSG players were always present to press him in numbers, him losing the ball in midfield resulted in PSG’s second goal to end the half leading 2–0.
The second half was more of the same, with Enrique and the players failing to react. PSG’s pick of the bunch was their third goal with Rabiot bypassing the press, Kurzawa inside run into the space and Di Maria’s peach of a shoot, the first leg was certainly over and only the tie stood now for Barcelona. With no protection in midfeld, a simple 1 on 1 dribble freed Meunier who ran through the midfield unchallenged to square up Cavani who slotted it home and end Barca’s hope.
PSG’s performance was exquisite in terms of the speed of the attacking transition and finding space in midfield, even a normal Barcelona performance — they were dire — would have had a tough time. The second leg is an enormous task for Barcelona that if they didn’t pass would see them exit the round of 16 for the first time since 2006/07, meanwhile PSG would increase their chances of advancing further than the QFs with one of the big teams out.
