Number of characters|1757 characters
Recommended reading time | 7 minutes
It was like a suspense created by Paris Saint-Germain himself, and then killed the suspense in the most wonderful and brisk way.
Ahead of a 3-0 win away at Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain faces the worst start to the New Year of the Qatari era. They lost away to Lens, Rennes and Monaco in the league and were eliminated by Marseille in the French Cup, almost any strong team on the road will lose. Before this round, Marseille, who finished second in the league, had come close to Paris by just five points. At the same time, Paris lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, and there was a lot of criticism from management, coaching staff and players, as if announcing in advance that it was a failed season.
Ligue 1 is out of suspense again?
What is uncertain is whether PSG's previous poor form in the league was due to mistakes by management or coaching staff, or fatigue among the stars after the World Cup, or intentional. After the arrival of the Qatari, Paris Saint-Germain seemed to have deliberately retained suspense in many seasons in order to avoid killing the league suspense too single-handedly, and even had the bizarre performance of Shubo Moting "saving the opponent" on the goal line.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Paris Saint-Germain, who could no longer continue to toss, suddenly exerted his strength, simply turning the pursuer Marseille behind him into a sparring partner, turning the opponent's home stadium into his own performance stage, and the league suspense instantly disappeared. The 3-0 victory made commentators shout, such as Sky Italia commentator: "It's too illegal, too illegal, too illegal!" But that's why we watch football, and if you're watching something else right now, you're going to pick the wrong channel tonight. ”
In the history of French football, "OM" vs "PSG", that is, Olympique in Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain, a contest between teams from two major cities in France, was not originally a French national derby. Paris Saint-Germain is a club that only appeared in the 70s. It was not until 1986, when Paris Saint-Germain won the first Ligue 1 title in the club's history, and Tapi bought Marseille at the same time, that the two sides began to go hostile, and Paris accused Tapi of manipulating the result. In the early 90s, when Canal+ TV bought Paris, they accepted the concept of creating a "French derby" with Marseille from the perspective of ratings, highlighting the rivalry between the two teams and the twin cities, which gradually made the derby concept gradually accepted by fans.
The strongest voice of the season in Paris
Marseille coach Tudol said before the match that for other teams in Ligue 1, finishing second is just as valuable as winning the title, and the title is decided by Paris alone. This observation is very in place, there is no problem with Marseille's tactical arrangement in this game, and even through active pressing and pressing almost took the lead after the opening, but in the face of the lustful Mbappe and the lustful Messi, any one is unbearable for Marseille, not to mention that Mbappe and Messi are two together, and the 3 goals are all assisted by each other.
Paris Saint-Germain without Neymar, less the Brazilians' threads, their 352 formation simply abandoned positional warfare and dominated by counterattacks. Verratti and Vitinha are responsible for launching the attack, Nuno Mendes provides the impetus and necessary sprint relay on the left side, and Messi and Mbappe are responsible for the choice of the line of charge and the attack on the goal.
The biggest feature of this style of play is fast, Mbappe is fast, Messi's brain is fast, 3 goals from initiation to completion of the shot, can not find any mud. The 2-0 goal, the Paris midfield outflanking force did not conform to the usual football technical and tactical logic, but the tacit understanding between Messi and Mbappe has become better and better, and Mbappe's cross just coincides perfectly with Messi's anti-offside insertion time. There was also the amazing 3-0 goal, whether it was Messi's pick pass or Mbappe's start-up insertion, it was too late for the opposing player to make normal interference and blocking.
Marseille also had some chances, including a counter-attack that led to a serious Achilles tendon injury in Kimpembe in the first half, which was almost perfect in terms of tactical design, but was unfortunately sabotaged by Mendes at high speed, and Sanchez missed the goal in the second half. However, Paris Saint-Germain's fast attack was too sharp, and then Mbappe and Messi each missed the opportunity to extend the scoreline, and Marseille was completely content to concede more goals late in the game, don't drink 1-7 at home like Lille did in the first half of the season.
Kylian Mbappe and Messi also had a record night (700th of Messi's club career, 200th of his Paris career) with their respective goals, although the numbers are no longer so symbolic for superstars of their level. From a technical and tactical point of view, this game was unanimously considered by the French media to be the best performance of the season for Paris, and you can also see the general idea of Paris away to Bayern Munich: three defenders, two wings to strengthen the attack, defensive counterattack, take advantage of Messi's genius and Mbappe's speed.
Author: Wang Qinbo
This article was originally published in the Sports Plus app
The image comes from the Internet