Chelsea vs. PSG: Tactical Review of Champions League Game

Paris Saint-Germain shocked the world by beating Chelsea over two legs in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. A 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge sealed their passage into the quarter-finals on away goals despite having Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off early on.

Formations and XIs

Chelsea played their regular 4-2-3-1 with Oscar as a No. 10 (as he often is at home), Cesc Fabregas partnering Nemanja Matic in holding midfield and Ramires on the right side over Willian. Gary Cahill pipped Kurt Zouma to a role in central defence again.

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PSG played a 4-3-3. Marquinhos got the nod at right-back ahead of Gregory van der Wiel, Thiago Motta came into holding midfield and Edinson Cavani started along with Ibrahimovic and Javier Pastore. A very attacking move.

1. Targeting PSG's Right

There's no doubt Chelsea opted to try and take advantage of Marquinhos coming in at right-back, throwing their major attacking threats at him early on to see if he'd break.

Diego Costa began making early, penetrative diagonal runs into the channel, splitting Thiago Silva and Marquinhos, and Eden Hazard then found room to step in off the line and square up against the defenders. Cesar Azpilicueta was also surprisingly adventurous, edging forward and hitting the byline a few times early on in an attempt to cross and create chances.

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But Marquinhos is an excellent player, and despite naturally being a centre-back, he has played at right-back enough to hold his own whatever the task. Try as the Blues might, space and opportunity remained limited in that area. Only one of Fabregas' passes out to Costa found its mark.

2. Down to 10

It's impossible to view this match through a lens the referee didn't muddy with his horrendous performance; there were questionable decisions from start to finish, with penalty appeals and red cards the most prominent among them.

Ibrahimovic was sent off after 30 minutes for leaving the ground and lunging at Oscar, though the Brazilian's tackle was hardly textbook. It left PSG searching for an away goal in a country in which they hadn't scored in their last five attempts—and they were now without their talismanic striker.

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However, the red card may have actually helped their cause; Zlatan had been typically anonymous in a big game, and the argument to suggest that PSG play better without him—as a team—earned further credence here.

They settled into a 4-4-1, with Pastore flattening out at right-midfield and Blaise Matuidi straddling a hybrid centre-midfield/left-midfield role. Laurent Blanc still wanted three in the middle but asked the Frenchman to burst out and cover the left should Chelsea try to work the overload.

It made for a very methodical, careful game, as Chelsea, in possession of an away goal, did nothing to force the matter and leave themselves open on the counter, and PSG, biding their time, did nothing to force an early goal in their own favour.

3. Impressively Restrained

The default for many clubs in PSG's position here would be to sit deep and counter at pace, but Blanc opted for a different strategy that eventually bore fruit.

They remained patient and calm, twice battling back from a goal down to eventually win the tie. They did so by staying compact, squeezing the field of play and moving up and down as a unit.

Far from a case of lump the ball and run after it, committing only two or three to low-percentage attacks, PSG continued to play football through Pastore, and the Argentinian did a great job as a conduit, pushing the ball through and between the lines to team-mates. Much of the passing was short and accurate rather than long and hopeful.

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The team moved forward together in a considered fashion, then dropped back again to defend. They tried for higher-percentage chances—hitting the byline for a low cross to Cavani or releasing a runner at the right time—but mostly played for corners, where they felt they had a workable advantage in the air.

After some rough first-half deliveries, PSG improved tenfold and scored two goals from similar situations. Thibaut Courtois caught every cross in the first half but could do nothing to stop David Luiz's bullet off the underside of the bar and Thiago Silva's magnificent, looping headed effort from 12 yards.

There was no panic or desperation in PSG's play; they fell behind two times but never looked as though they were 15 minutes from exiting the competition. They played to their strengths, engineered favourable situations and took just enough chances to progress.

Quickfire Conclusions

• There were several questionable calls in the game that could have changed the complexion of play, and in truth, the referee missed a clear penalty on Diego Costa in the box. The lid came off early and was never placed back on.
• In the quarter-final last year, Blanc was the definition of panic, throwing Marquinhos on in holding midfield late on to try and protect a slight lead. This year, by contrast, he was the model of cool and collected, and his tactics were superb.
• Pastore enjoys playing against Chelsea, it seems.
• The Blues were slow and monotonous, offered zero penetration and played with the handbrake on. There was no need to open up and go for it, but this was bizarre.

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