In the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain pinned their attacking performance on superstar Kylian Mbappé, who created chances on the left side of the game without a single shot on target in three times, and there were no bright spots on the field, and the team lost 2-3 at home. Here are three reasons why Mbappe played so poorly this time. A good place to watch football, 24-hour live broadcast + replay: live broadcast and replay of sports events are free to watch| Link3
First of all, in Barcelona's four-man defence, Jules Koundé and Ronald Araújo on the right were in good harmony and played well, combining to suppress Mbappe's performance. In particular, Barcelona's left-back Balde was injured, and Cancelo made a long-term cameo on the left, so Jules Kounde, who was the best right-back in La Liga last season, will have to play this position again this season, and he has performed well in recent months. The chemistry he cultivated with Ronald Araujo was on full display at home in Paris.
Barcelona changed formations between 4-3-3 and 4-3-1-2 when attacking, and Mbappe, who specializes in half-space on the left, couldn't get too much sweetness between the two of them. In addition, Paris pulled Marco Asensio (Marco Asensio) into the starting line-up this game, moving between the wing and the midfield position, but Asensio's mediocre performance attracted Barcelona captain Roberto to the half-space from time to time, increasing the pressure on Mbappe.
Secondly, the outstanding performance of Lamine Yamal on the right wing of Barcelona threatened the Paris left-back Nuno Mendes, making Nuno Mendes not press too many times and depriving Mbappe of support. In this game, Paris entered the game faster than Barcelona, but the success of Lamine Yamal's play led to Barcelona's state, making Nuno Mendes more and more restrained by Lamine Yamal, for fear of a hole on the left side.
Nuno Mendes' only crucial pass of the game came in the fifth minute when Mbappe fired a shot wide of the far post from the top of the box, and Nuno Mendes didn't have much attacking performance after that.
The third reason is the suspension of Achraf Hakimi. The Moroccan right-back picked up his fifth yellow card in the second leg of the round of 16 and was suspended for one match. To this end, Luis Enrique used two formations in both halves to compensate for the lack of attack on the right flank. In the first half, captain Marquinhos played at right-back, and the Brazilian centre-back will pull in the middle to form a backfield trio when attacking, and if even Nuno Mendes is not bold enough to press in this situation, Mbappe will be even more lonely.
With a goal down in the second half, Paris boss Luis Enrique brought on winger Bradley Balcola as a right wing-back, and the team switched directly to a three-centre-back, while Ousmane Dembele moved closer to the middle of the pitch to strengthen the bond between him and Mbappe.
However, the right side did not improve much in attack because of the turn to Bradley Barcola, and there was no way to pull Barcelona's defence through the up-and-down run without the ball. Mbappe is on the left, still facing the solid link between Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.