Meet the French Champions, Paris Saint Germain. PSG clinched the Ligue 1 on Sunday, April 28, after second place Monaco lost 3-2 to Lyon. They got off to a slow start in the League, but found momentum in October, snatching the first place spot, and never letting go.
Last Summer, PSG had a laundry list of players leave the team. The most significant departures were those of Neymar, Messi, and Marco Verrati. PSG spared little expense however, in bringing in reinforcements. The most notable additions were the following; strikers Gonçalo Ramos, and Randal Kolo Muani, and winger Ousmane Dembélé.
Other notable arrivals include defenders Lucas Hernandez and Milan Škriniar, regulars in PSG’s backline.
PSG also signed a new manager last summer. Former Barcelona and Spain manager Luis Enrique. He has utilized the 4-3-3, as he did with Spain and Barça, to get the most out his attacking talents.
PSG are dynamic in the way they approach the attacking phase. They have the talent to slow the game down, and control possession when the play opponents who sit deep. In these situations, players like Vitinha, and Fabian Ruiz, excel at passing, moving, and finding pockets of space to attack defenses.
When opponents are aggressive and play a high defensive line, PSG are lethal in transition. Speed demons like Mbappé, Dembélé and Kolo Muani excell at attacking the space in behind defenses, to either score themselves or find teammates as the arrive in the box.
In this system, the fullbacks, provide the width, as both Barcola and Dembéle are adept at cutting inside to cause opposing defenders problems. But Barcola and Dembéle are dynamic, often holding the width, while the fullbacks occupy the half spaces, closer to their midfield partners.
It is worth noting that while in the above graphic, Mbappé is in the middle of the front 3, he most often lines up on the left of an attacking trident. This enables him to run at fullbacks one on one, and play one-twos with a fixed number 9, either Ramos of Kolo-Muani. He also has a lot of freedom to play in between the lines, when he is not on the shoulder of the center backs, waiting to dart in behind.
Given that Mbappé started neither of those first two league games, there likely little cause for concern in Paris. PSG tied 0-0 against Lorient, and then 1-1 against Toulouse, before winning 3-1 against Lens. Mbappé started and scored twice against Lens, and then PSG were off and running.
Their only setback came against Nice on match-day 5, were they lost 3-2. PSG bounced back and would go undefeated for the next 27 league games, winning their 12th league title in the process.
This is part 3 of a series on the Champions of Europe’s top five leagues. Links to parts one, two, and four can be found on the corresponding numbers, and down below.
Thank you for reading this edition of European Champions, featuring Paris Saint Germain.
For coverage on Esports, and other sports, be sure to check out our main page.
