At the Parc des Princes,
Christophe Galtier had warned on Monday: “We have three world-class players that any coach would like to have. To be successful, they must be happy. To be happy, they must play in their register. “Said like that, it sometimes seems so simple, the job of PSG coach. And, to see the performance of the troops, twenty-four hours after these remarks, we cannot say that the former coach of Nice was wrong.
Because, after the victory, what do we say, the demonstration against Maccabi Haifa (7-2), Tuesday, and the qualification already acquired for the knockout stages of the Champions League, smiles were everywhere. Even on the face of Christophe Galtier, who, during the meeting, “posed for two minutes and [a] tried to have fun”, before quickly returning to the reality of the field and the “management of the workforce and the management of playing time”.
The ride, on the entire front of the attack, of Mbappé
For the third time in a row, after Marseille and Ajaccio, Christophe Galtier had renewed his system in 4-3-3 to face Maccabi Haifa. Moved in Israel, during the first leg, disputed in 5-2-3, the Parisians have, this time, totally, or almost (we will come back to this), mastered their subject. In particular thanks to the genius of the three monsters in front: Neymar, Messi and Mbappé who, with this new tactical scheme, are enjoying themselves.
Finished the “pivot gang”, the calls only in the axis, the game in handover, for the crackito of Bondy, this new formula grants him a found freedom. We have thus seen him, on many occasions, offer himself on the left side, his favorite side, where he scored his two magnificent goals, with these wounds of which he has the secret (32nd, 64th). We also saw him combine much more with his front pals, including Messi, who returned to his Barcelona level, like his new masterpiece adjusted before the lemons, dear to Mauricio Pochettino.
“We were able to create a lot of movements”
But if the front three are also comfortable, it is also thanks to the undermining work of the Belleville triplet in the middle. In the absence of Marco Verratti, suspended, Renato Sanches, Vitinha and especially Fabian Ruiz have been everywhere. Few lost balls, forward passes, efforts to compensate in defense… It was going everywhere. “Together, as a three, we managed to have good possession and we were able to create a lot of movement, which gave us the possibility of scoring well,” explained the Portuguese midfielder soberly in the mixed zone.
So, Christophe, if you allow us, nothing more should be changed, and leave this 5-2-3, which was beginning to put the populace to sleep, in the closet. “We had to find a system and complementarities so that [le trio offensif] can express themselves more freely, developed Christophe Galtier during the post-match press conference. Their technical quality and their relationship in small spaces, as well as the fact of defending more in density, allow us to have more rapid transitions. »
Some errors in defense, however
Even Marquinhos seems to find his way around this system, after a complicated start to the season for him in a three-man defense: “Personally, I’m more used to it, it’s easier for me, explained the Brazilian at the microphone of Canal +. But in a match you have to have other cards up your sleeve. Maybe in another game a three-way defense might work better. “It could, perhaps, make it possible to better defend on set pieces, where the Parisians were feverish against the Israelis.
Twice, Maccabi Haifa managed to come back to the score, thanks to Abdoulaye Seck (38th and 50th), who took advantage of mistakes in the defense of PSG. The first time following a magnificent free kick where Gianluigi Donnarumma somewhat missed his exit and where Fabian Ruiz released the marking. The second, after a huge mess which the Senegalese defender took advantage of, alone at six meters. But, hey, after such an evening, it’s really just to be choosy.