How PSG and Bayern's positive tactics resulted in the best game of the Club World Cup

New York Times

8 hours ago

If the starting line-ups contain names such as Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala and Kingsley Coman on one side, with Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the other, there is a high probability of entertainment.
Yet how both teams approach the game factors in whether we see the individual flair or not.
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Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich didn't disappoint the audience on Saturday, with their proactive and positive approaches resulting in a thrilling match where Luis Enrique's side came out victorious.
PSG and Bayern played to the strengths of their forwards, focusing on isolating their wingers to get the best of their dribbling abilities. However, different methods were used to reach that target.
Luis Enrique's team wanted to shift Bayern's block towards one side of the pitch, by overloading that area, before switching the play quickly to put Barcola or Kvaratskhelia in an isolated situation.
In this example, Vitinha and Joao Neves are overloading the right side, which drags Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic towards the touchline, with Bayern's right-back, Konrad Laimer, moving inside to mark Fabian Ruiz.
As Vitinha plays the ball to Fabian, Barcola attacks the space inside the pitch…
… and combines with the Spain midfielder, with Laimer completely out of position.
On the other side, Kvaratskhelia is free and calling for the pass…
… which Fabian plays in the space vacated by Laimer.
Meanwhile, Olise drops to cover for his right-back and intercepts the pass…
… but Kvaratskhelia wins the ball back. Doue then picks up the loose ball, but his shot misses the target.
Laimer's pressing role meant that if PSG could drag him out of position and switch the play in time, Kvaratskhelia would be in a one-versus-one situation against Dayot Upamecano.
Here, PSG are shifting the ball from the left side to the right to move Bayern's block, and Laimer is moving towards Fabian as Kimmich and Pavlovic are keeping an eye on Vitinha and Neves.
With Kimmich and Pavlovic in advanced positions, Achraf Hakimi plays the ball inside the pitch to find Barcola's run behind the midfield duo.
Once PSG penetrate Bayern's block, Laimer's pressing role becomes a liability because as he is marking Fabian in the centre of the pitch, Kvaratskhelia (out of shot) is in acres of space down the wing.
After Barcola receives Hakimi's pass, he dribbles inside…
… and switches the play to put Kvaratskhelia in a one-versus-one situation.
The Georgian dribbles past Upamecano with ease…
… but he is denied by a brilliant save from Manuel Neuer.
In another example, Vitinha, Neves and Fabian are near the left side of the pitch, and Willian Pacho immediately switches the play towards the right wing.
Barcola's immaculate first touch creates an isolated situation against Bayern's left-back, Josip Stanisic, because it allows him to control the ball before Kimmich and Pavlovic can shift across.
The right-winger then dribbles inside the pitch and drags Stanisic out of position, which allows PSG to combine and find Hakimi's third-man run.
The Morocco full-back then plays a low-curling ball across goal…
… but Kvaratskhelia only manages to hit the side-netting.
After the first-half cooling break, Vincent Kompany altered his side's pressing scheme by leaving the role of marking Fabian to Bayern's centre-backs, or Olise when PSG were building the attack on the other side.
By adjusting their pressing, Bayern stifled PSG's possession game and were able to have more time on the ball for the remaining hour.
Bayern's isolation method revolved around putting their full-backs in the half-spaces to create a direct passing lane into their wingers and prevent PSG from doubling up against them.
In this example, Laimer, who moved to left-back after Sacha Boey replaced Stanisic, plays the ball to Coman and attacks the space between Hakimi and Marquinhos.
Laimer's movement occupies Hakimi and creates a one-versus-one scenario for Coman, who dribbles past Neves twice…
… forcing PSG's right-back to change his focus and leave Laimer to Marquinhos.
This sequence of events means that Harry Kane has a bigger space to attack inside the penalty area if Bayern can find him with a cross. This happens when Coman dribbles past Neves again…
… and puts in a left-footed cross that the England striker heads over the bar.
In another example, Boey dashes forward in the right half-space to prevent Fabian from doubling up against Olise.
In the one-v-one, Olise wrong-foots Nuno Mendes and dribbles inside the pitch…
… but his shot is saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Despite Bayern's control in the second half, PSG managed to take the lead through Doue in a transitional moment after Neves won the ball back in midfield.
Later in the game, Ousmane Dembele scored on another transition to make it 2-0 and seal PSG's place in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup.
PSG's goals reflected another part of the game that made it more exciting. Both teams were willing to press high up the pitch, counter-press when they lost possession and hit on the counter whenever there was an opportunity — all of this suited the match's most skilful players.
Tactics doesn't shackle individual talent, rather they empower it to help it flourish.