Champions League Performance Insights: Paris Saint-Germain find a way to win

For Paris Saint-Germain's players, there were times during their UEFA Champions League visit to Anfield on Tuesday that they may have had the sense of walking through a storm.

After all, as in their round of 16 victory over the Reds last season, Luis Enrique's players had to showcase their defensive powers in order to resist spells of fierce Liverpool pressure.

If it was a match decided ultimately by the clinical finishing of Ousmane Dembélé, for the UEFA game insights unit, there were other aspects worth exploring: not only Paris' above-mentioned defensive excellence but the intensity and intelligence behind Liverpool's pressing and how the visitors adjusted with a more direct approach in possession.

Liverpool's pressing game

"The intensity that we played with today was incredible," said Liverpool head coach Arne Slot. Plugging into the energy of the stadium, Liverpool had a game plan to press high, and the video below offers two examples of how they did that.

UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou noted that Liverpool, while operating zonally, went man for man at the top of the pitch. Paris often gain control and hurt their opponents with their rotations, but Liverpool found an effective solution.

Postecoglou explained: "Liverpool's approach was that, 'We'll keep our shape but, within that shape, we'll then go man-for-man once the press is instigated.'" As the clips show, Liverpool adopted a compact block and pressed from there – with the trigger to press coming when the ball was played backwards and the reference points were appropriate.

"The key point is that sometimes when people reference man to man, they put it as, 'They all have a specific player to pick up,' whereas the zonal aspect of this means there wasn't a specific player that Liverpool picked up. There was a specific player in their area that they picked up." Clip two above illustrates the variety in their positioning and movement.

Overall, Liverpool displayed impressive physicality and aggression, and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai led the way for them with 11 ball recoveries, more than any other player in the competition this week.

Paris Saint-Germain go direct

Reflecting on those pressing clips, Postecoglou said: "Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai did a really good job of closing down the midfield space. They denied PSG that central area they like to play in."

Paris looked to respond by playing over the press at times, as we see in the second video.

"The way they tried to overcome that is going a bit more direct," added Postecoglou. "Liverpool's approach really made it difficult for them and if they'd just persisted in trying to play like they normally do, they may have got unstuck."

That approach became more pronounced in the second period. The map below of goalkeeper Matvei Safonov's passing illustrates the point, showing a marked increase in his average distribution distance in the second half. Before the break, six of his 11 passes (54.5%) were received within Paris' defensive third; after half-time, it was none from 21.

Expanding on the benefits of this, Postecoglou said: "It's them bypassing the press, which didn't allow Liverpool to win the ball high up. That had a twofold effect for Paris as they've negated Liverpool's attacking threat because they couldn't win the ball in a high area and they were then in the front third of Liverpool, where they wanted to be."

In the previous round, Postecoglou observed how Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola made significant in-game tweaks against Real Madrid, and here were Luis Enrique and his players adjusting to the circumstances while retaining a clear sense of their identity.

"Yes, there's methodology, philosophy, but it's also about managing the game well," said Postecoglou. "I felt Luis Enrique thought, 'OK, we're going to have to be more direct at times. We're going to have to defend really strongly at times and also take some of the energy out of the stadium and then still have the quality they do have to hurt the opposition.'"

Paris Saint-Germain dig deep

The above reference to defending leads to the third aspect that caught the eye of UEFA's game insights unit. There were echoes of last term, when Paris earned praise for their defensive masterclass at Anfield, as they produced some excellent defending to thwart Liverpool.

"To win these kinds of matches, you have to defend with high intensity," said Luis Enrique. "Today we showed everybody we're ready to play when we have the ball, on the ball, but when we don't have the ball, off the ball, we can do it." Captain Marquinhos played a crucial role, notably with his outstanding block to deny Virgil van Dijk a goal in the first half – featured in clip one above.

"If we'd scored the first, that we had multiple opportunities for, [and with] Anfield already rocking at 0-0, what would have happened at 1-0?" said Slot afterwards, but due to Marquinhos' emergency defending, that question remained purely hypothetical. It was not just the Brazilian either, of course. As displayed below, all of the Paris defenders were called on – and they delivered.

Coaching reflection – Understanding pragmatism

According to UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou, Luis Enrique's past experiences of Anfield prepared him to respond to the challenge of that energy and intensity – and the way he adjusted his side's approach raises an interesting point about preparing to deal with adversity.

"A key thing is to understand that, rather than having a predetermined idea about how things could transpire, you need to understand the game in front of you and the immediate task at hand," said Postecoglou. "For coaches, experience teaches you that.

"The reality of it is, whether it's pragmatism or simply understanding what the actual challenge is on the day, the paramount thing is being successful – particularly in Champions League knockout football because the margins are so fine.

"You can't abandon your foundations, and if you look at Luis Enrique's approach, there were still the elements you always see – the rotations, trying to get their key players on the ball, that ability to break teams open the way they do with their football – but there was also a recognition that there was a different challenge to overcome.

"There's a difference to knockout football in Europe, and the approach you take and recognising that, at certain stages, it's not an abandonment of philosophy, it's an acknowledgement of the challenge that's before you and doing what's required. And that certainly was our approach with Tottenham in the Europa League final last year, and it wasn't saying that everything we've done up till now doesn't matter."