Photo credit: Sports Vision
There have been a lot of changes in the Paris squad this season, with well-known players such as Diallo joining Leipzig, Herrera moving to Bilbao, Wijnaldum moving to Roma, Draxler being loaned out by Benfica, and Paredes being signed by Juventus, all of which are on loan contracts. Meanwhile, Paris have brought in strong players such as Vitinha, Mikiele, Fabian Ruiz and Soler, with a new coach in Gatti, who led Nice to fifth place in Ligue 1 last year.
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Juventus were without a number of key players for the game, including new signing Pogba, Di Maria, who moved from Paris, as well as the injured Chiesa and goalkeeper Szczesny. the team played away from home without their two main wingers, main back and main goalkeeper.
The match started with great energy from Paris, with Coach Gatti arranging a new formation and tactics that were very different from last season. For this match, Paris adopted a 343 formation with the two wingbacks Mendes and Hakimi pushed forward, the midfield was controlled by the duo of Verratti and Vitinha, and the front line remained Messi, Neymar and Mbappe.
This tactic immediately put pressure on Juventus in the opening stages, who lined up in a 352 formation that relied heavily on three center backs and two wingbacks. The midfield consisted of Rabiot, Paredes and youngster Miretti, while the forward line relied on the impact of Vlahovic and winger Milik. However, Paris' possession quickly overwhelmed Juventus.
Photo credit: Sports Vision
Paris' tactics are quite ingenious, and it looks like the 343 formation focuses on the wings, but it doesn't. During the game, we noticed a lot of vertical passes from Paris, which were not directly through the defense, but by pulling Juventus back vertically. Messi moved nimbly through the center, working back and forth with Verratti and Vitinha at the back. Juventus knew Messi's ability to break through and didn't dare to take strong action against him, which led to constant back-and-forth passes between Messi and the back four, creating gaps at the top of the box. At this point, the two wingbacks, Mendes and Hakimi, were able to seize the opportunity to attack from the wings.
Photo credit: Sports Vision
The biggest problem Juventus faced in the game was the lack of tight midfield staring, with a lack of effective synergy between Miretti, Paredes and Rabiot. With only 5 minutes to go, Neymar easily picked up a pass and Mbappe burst through the defense from the left and hit the far corner of the net with a first time overhead kick. This was the exact position Rabiot was playing at the back, with newcomer Bremer in the back center of the defense. Paredes didn't get on the ball in time for Neymar's pass, Rabiot was slow to try and block Neymar, and Bremer didn't even realize that Mbappe was charging in for the pass. Bremer only turned when Neymar picked the ball, but it was too late to stop it.
Paris' vertical passing game was very effective, with not a single direct pass in the central area, but rather a constant back-and-forth passing game to tire out the Juventus backs. This kind of back-and-forth movement of the backs is not common and is very difficult to implement, as the central area is dense and can be easily broken up for counter-attacks when there is a lack of skill. That's why Coach Gatti used two highly skilled players to support the midfield.
For the diminished Messi, it's relatively easy for him to play in this position as a passing brain, with Neymar and Mbappe close to him, he can easily pass into any gaping hole, or if not, back to the back or to Hakimi. If he can't, he can also pass straight back to the back four, or to Hakimi on the wing. in fact, they keep passing like this, and when the opponents have an easy kick, Messi will surely fall down for a set piece, and this is definitely a position where they can attack the goal directly.
Photo credit: Sports Vision
Juventus was kept under pressure and the midfield was in disarray. In the 22nd minute, Verratti took the ball from the right and passed it directly to Mbappe at the top of the arc, who played a two-on-one with Hakimi charging in from the right, and when Hakimi bounced the ball back, Mbappe flicked a shot straight into the air from 12 yards out.
Mbappe is in pretty good shape, and now he's the director of Mbappe. The tactics centered around him seemed to work very well in this game, Juventus missed Hakimi on the wing and the center of the field didn't have any midfielder on Mbappe. the goal was actually as good as a practice shot with no defense.
