It’s a clichéd narrative in sports that peak performance is achieved with players “in the zone.” It is a state of stillness; play on instinct as action after action goes perfectly.
It didn’t look like Paris Saint-Germain were knocked out by Barcelona to reach the Champions League semi-finals for just the third time since taking over from Qatar in 2011 – and the first time since 2020-21.
It was never going to be quiet, not with the demons of 2017 (La Remontada) being cast out. PSG did it again – for the first time, at the sixth attempt, they have reversed a Champions League final after losing the first leg. Luis Enrique became the first former Barcelona head coach to knock the Catalans out of the Champions League.
He used the same trio – Kylian Mbappe, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele – that completed the first leg and won the second leg of their last 16 tie away to Real Sociedad, but in a different line-up. Rather than Mbappe and Barcola splitting the forwards and Dembele as a number 10, he deployed Mbappe as a 9, with Barcola on the left and Dembele on the right. Three dribblers. Brave concession of control from Luis Enrique; high risk and high reward.
The danger was that allowing Mbappe to go where he wants means PSG often lack box presence. The benefit is that when his relationships with teammates click, and he picks the right moment to dunk against a full-back, PSG’s defense opens up.
At worst, PSG look like a group of individuals more than a team, forever relying on the dribble. They and Barca came into the game as the most driven teams in the Champions League this season (regardless of whether you look at totals or per 90 minutes).
In the first leg, which Barcelona won 3-2, PSG completed just 39 per cent (11 of 28) of their dribbles – their lowest in a Champions League knockout competition since their 33 per cent against Barcelona in 2017. Combined, Mbappe and Dembele completed two of 14 experiments. PSG’s goal was about a runner off the ball, not a dribble.
In that context, doubling the dribble looked risky. Barcelona had the lead to defend and could therefore sit back. Their 4-4-2 central block was stubborn for PSG in the first leg (even though they scored twice) and the heavy threes in PSG’s front three risked turnovers that Barca could convert into counter-attacks.
PSG had 22 dribbles in the first half (12 successful), the most in a Champions League game since the start of 2018-19 — more impressive when you consider that time includes periods with Neymar and Lionel Messi at the club.
Here is an example of Mbappe as no. That forces Barcola in, as Barca have bodies and are tight. Mbappe needs to drink outside. Lamine Yamal watches him closely and Jules Konde goes out and blocks the cross.
PSG have four bodies in the box, but nothing outrageous runs over Barca’s back four. Fabian Ruiz is on pace, but Barcola and Dembele need to do more to attack the front and back posts.
The two moments that turned the game on Tuesday night occurred when PSG’s wingers used their bodies wisely to draw fouls: Ronald Araujo’s Barcola, where PSG quickly turned a loose ball into a counter-attack behind the aggressive (right-back) Konde. Barcola took Araujo’s line as he raced through and fouled the last man. Barca was down to 10.
Then, on the hour, just six minutes after PSG made it 2-1 on the night and leveled the scores (4-4), Dembele won a penalty in the most Dembele fashion. His heavy touch under no pressure from Warren Zaire-Emery’s square pass, against a deep Barca defence, was enough for Joao Cancelo to try and score. Dembele responded quicker, putting his body between the defender and the ball and making the foul just inside the box.
Mbappe scored a penalty and PSG never looked back.
However, PSG’s biggest strength in the second half was that their strikers did not act on instinct and dribbling, but chose their moments and knew when to pass.
“We tried to attack in every possible and possible way,” said Luis Enrique. “Playing with numerical superiority is often difficult because you tend to gather players in front of the ball and you lose structure and positioning, which makes it complicated. But I think the team played at a very high level.”
PSG continued with their 3-3-4 formation, with right-back Achraf Hakimi playing high up in support of Dembele. On the left, full-back Nuno Mendes pulled around to provide cover, so Ruiz no. 8 was a runner off the ball to disrupt Barca’s backline and give Barcola a chance to combine.
This is what it looked like 20 minutes into the second half when PSG scored twice in a row. Remarkably, they attempted just five dribbles between the 46th and 69th minutes, distributing the ball brilliantly to draw and empty Barca’s defensive block. PSG had 12 dribbles after 70 minutes as Barca began to pile forward and leave space to break.
Only one quarter of PSG’s attacking touches came in the vertical third of midfield. Barca were closing down this area, as you’d expect with a player disadvantage, but PSG were synergistic on the outside, allowing them to use bait-and-switch attacks.
It also reduced turnovers compared to repeatedly trying to dribble.
Before the match, when Hakimi was asked about Luis Enrique’s style, he responded with the usual response of control, possession and dominance, but added that he wanted PSG “not to rush our attacks, to make sure we make space and have triangles all over the place. the field”.
It was necessary not to rush. There was a moment in the first half, shortly after the red card, when Dembele dropped to the halfway line, received from Marquinhos and turned to the defense. He ignored Hakimi outside him and tried to go straight past Cancelo, who tackled him. He was attacking the defender on the outside, Cancelo’s weak side, but it was desperation and the PSG of yesteryear in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Between PSG’s first and second goals, they broke out of their own box after Robert Lewandowski headed straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma. He rolled it to Dembele, who dribbled forward and tried to play the through ball to Mbappe. Barca regained it and Luis Enrique angrily motioned for his players to calm down.
Ligue 1 offers plenty of low-blocking tests for PSG but, despite their dominance, they have only played against 10 men once this season (away to Lens; they won 2-0 but were already 1-0 up when the Reds the panel was issued. was shown). It took them time to adapt.
Seriously, PSG won the game with their wingers being playmakers and box threats, not dribblers. Barcola’s trademark cutting was their main route to goal in the first half. Here is one example.
Dembele drops Cancelo to take on Hakimi, who is ahead of Raphina. Barca were more aggressive with their wingers in defense than in the previous game, often deploying them to pressure PSG’s centre-backs, who the French side could bypass if they moved the ball quickly enough.
Dembele turns and crosses to Barcola, who is given extra space because Ruiz has taken Konde away with a run to the inside right-back. Note Mbappe’s positioning (yellow dot), usually to his feet, leaving Barcelona’s central defenders unchallenged.
Ruiz breaks through this time and pulls the centre-back deeper, opening up space for Mbappe to come in late. Barcola is one-on-one with Konde, who is mindful not to give him too much space to dribble either way. But the PSG striker is quick to play the cutback which Mbappe forces a good low save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It was this kind of move that brought PSG back into the tie.
This time Marquinhos went straight to Barcola, with Barca down to 10th.
Once again Barcola is quick to cross and open out onto the left foot. It cuts Konde as it goes through, partly because he crosses so quickly that the defender doesn’t have time to react. Dembele is alive and smashes the back post for a goal between the wingers.
The two games of this tie were PSG’s top two one-v-ones in opposition since the start of 2018-19. As successful as this season is shaping up to be under Luis Enrique, it’s a reminder that the team’s biggest wins have come when they’re not playing the passing style of Luis Enrique’s Barcelona.
His strongest starting team is team dribble. Barcelona, who won the Champions League in 2014-15, boasted Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – one of the most attacking trios of all time. They won the competition that year with over 400 attempted dribbles, with Liverpool in 2021-22 (304) the only team to have over 300 since.
Only Borussia Dortmund stand between PSG and the Champions League final, a team PSG beat at home and drew away in the group stage, even though they finished second in the group. Luis Enrique, for all his love of passing, is three wins away from coaching another team with a dribbling striker to the Champions League trophy.
(Top photo: Christian Liewig – Corbis/Getty Images)
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