Champions League Performance Insights: Paris' elite movement
Friday, May 2, 2025
Article summary
UEFA Technical Observer Rafa Benítez explains how positional interchanging and opposite movements underpinned Paris' fine win at Arsenal.
Article top media content
Article body
In winning at Arsenal this week, Paris Saint-Germain offered some compelling lessons in fluidity and movement – particularly the value of players moving in relation to one another.
"They change positions all the time," said UEFA Technical Observer Rafa Benítez in his analysis of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg, and in the following article, UEFA's technical analysis unit will look more closely at that constant interchanging of positions.
As a starting point, Luis Enrique's team displayed the following key principles according to Benítez:
• Interchange of positions in the middle
• High pressing at times; control of possession when leading
• Pace in attack (Ousmane Dembélé) and counterattack (all) plus ability of wingers
• High tempo with and without ball
Paris applied those principles within the structure displayed above, which highlights their three at the back, with right-back Achraf Hakimi stepping inside to create a central overload, plus the width provided, for much of the game, by wingers Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Paris' opposite movements
In this first video, the above-mentioned high press and high tempo are clear, starting with Dembélé racing upfield to press goalkeeper David Raya. Then look at the interplay: on the far side of the pitch, Hakimi draws two Arsenal players with him as Vitinha stays deeper and this is an example of the clever opposite movements with which Paris opened up space.
Meanwhile, as the sequence unfolds, on the near side we see Kvaratskhelia running in behind on the inside and this prompts full-back Nuno Mendes to step up on the left and take over on the wing because, for Paris, having a player holding the width is a fundamental.
To expand on the relational dimension of Paris' game, this video features a move leading to a near miss from Bradley Barcola. Benítez pointed to the role of Hakimi inside and how "João Neves goes forward and Barcola comes back to receive before progressing with the ball. Again, it's opposite movements."
Indeed, watch how the movement of Neves means that Arsenal left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly drops off, so giving more room to Barcola.
For another member of the UEFA Technical Observer Group, Jan Peder Jalland, there is much to admire here – and learn from. "This is very good football with the fluidity and the distances and angles between the players," he said. "Everybody is moving and they're looking at each other and understanding the movements of the other players.
"Normally we might speak about the full-back and winger working together, but with Paris it's the whole team."
The relational aspect is apparent again in this third video which ends with Gonçalo Ramos running behind Arsenal's back line and shooting against the crossbar. It begins with a run in behind by a midfielder, João Neves, and as the action unfolds, Vitinha then make a run behind as João Neves moves in the opposite direction.
On this interchanging, Benítez said: "Vitinha runs in behind, Neves gets close to the ball and attracts the attention of the centre-back, and the run of the striker makes the difference." It is also worth noting how Fabián Ruiz and Hakimi come inside to fill the space vacated by Vitinha. As Benítez added: "The midfielders are always in motion to give solutions to the man on the ball."
As an aside on runs behind, while substitute Ramos was the forward getting in behind in the clip above, Dembélé was the player with the most for Paris on Tuesday with 15 – as shown above. As a measure of Paris's fluidity, midfielder Ruiz is joint-second in the chart with nine, together with Kvaratskhelia, while full-back Hakimi features on the list with three.
Technical ability underpins Paris play
Finally, this fourth video contains both individual and team elements, and to start with structure, we see Paris controlling the game with a lot of players in the centre and the full-backs wide. "The midfielders are supporting the attack, while the attacking players inside are giving options to the midfielders on the ball, and you have the additional threat of the full-backs high and wide," explained Benítez.
For Paris to effect their strategy so well, it helps to have players with outstanding individual qualities and this video also features some of the technical detail of their work on the ball. As an example, look at how Ruiz, when on the ball in the centre-circle, feints a pass to the right before playing the ball forward to João Neves. With that small individual action, he makes Mikel Merino take a small step to the left, thus helping to ease the pressure.
With small details like this, a player can make it harder to read where the pass is going. Jalland, the Norway Under-21 head coach, elaborated: "From an educational point of view, this shows the importance of facing forward and 'faking' passes. You can open your body so it's difficult to read where you are playing. With young players, this is something you could work on individually after training, to put a picture into their head, and then progress gradually with small possession exercises and then games."
Coaching thoughts, by UEFA Technical Observer Jan Peder Jalland
On movement and the impact on the opposition
"When you look at Paris, it's hard to think of many teams with so much fluidity and freedom in their movements. You look at the way the midfielders run in behind, the wingers run in behind, and the striker too, and it means there are so many spaces the opposition have to defend. It's difficult to press as they overload centrally and in Arsenal's case, there were moments they seemed hesitant about pushing up from midfield as there were so many Paris players in the pockets. They have threats in behind the back line and also between the back line and midfield so it's hard to go high on them."
On players' freedom to move
"From a coaching perspective, it would be interesting to know which movements and positions are planned and how much the PSG players decide for themselves. From my experience with the Norwegian FA, this is the biggest question I have with my teams and it is something I discuss with the players sometimes. Some players are given a lot of freedom but it depends on the team and the game intelligence of the player and the position in which they play.
"There'll be times when I say, 'You have the freedom but we want to get into this or that space' but at other times I tell the players the precise movements we should do. Either way, with young players, it helps to let them know clearly which spaces we want to attack. Ultimately, we want to develop thinking players, players who are aware of space, how to create and take advantage of superiority and do this in relation with the players on his team."
More like this