Paris Saint-Germain Vs Manchester City Review: The game between PSG and Manchester City ended in a 2-1 win for the visitors. The Premier League outfit made a strong comeback to beat their European rivals on the night.
First Half:
The first half was a battle between the two Giants, with Paris Saint Germain proved to be the better of the two with the Parisians having more of the control and influence despite Manchester City’s dominance in possession. Manchester City struggled exceptionally with creating chances. They struggled exceptionally with breaking down the 4-4-2 formation of PSG. PSG was well organized with Marquinhos, Gueye and Verratti making key interceptions at the right times against a City press which normally would have suffocated any team in the Premier League. Manchester City’s finest chance came from a PSG mistake while playing out from the back with Phil Foden failing with placement. It was easy to save for Navas at the end.
PSG on the other hand had similar issues in the attack. Di Maria was probably the most active of the front three and PSG’s attack went by his influence on the game. Neymar had one high-quality chance on a give and go, however, it was quite similar to that high misplaced shot of Foden. Mbappe couldn’t find any space to run and was constantly marked out of the game by City’s defenders. Kyle Walker and Cancelo deserve a lot of credit in keeping the striker quiet. The best form of attack by PSG came on the corners where Marquinhos and parades both had heading chances, of which one was successfully converted and won was put a little bit wide. Overall, however, PSG’s attack was quite anaemic compared to the display at Bayern.
Second Half:
For the first 20 minutes, PSG was content to play out the City attack. For the most part, they were very passive in their attack and seemed to focus more on defence in dropping Mbappe and Neymar back in defence. KDB’s goal was a gift given up by the sturdy PSG defence. PSG will be very gutted allowing the Man City goal. Mahrez goal on the other hand was a beautiful left-foot curler into the bottom corner which was very much unplayable.
This is one game where PSG superstars for the better part of 70 minutes were left very anaemic and blame has to fall on the shoulders of these two individuals and Pochettino. That is for the setup, lack of aggression, and foremost inability to put Neymar and Mbbape in positions where they can be most successful.
The disconnect between the two playmakers up top and the eight players behind them was fairly evident. Idrissa Gueye’s sending off in the 77th minute hurt the home side’s ambitions. Ander Herrera was a decent substitution. However, a stronger link needs to exist for the Paris team to be utilized to the maximum.
Final Verdict PSG vs Manchester City:
Overall, this game was a true tale of two halves. In the first half, PSG was the team fully in control. City will be thrilled with having the advantage of two away goals. In the end, they were very much deserving. This was because of PSG’s overall inactivity and disappearance of the superstars in a massive game. City being exceptionally active definitely got them more chances and in the end, made for a fair result.
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PSG will require incredible self-reflection, a possible change in formation to make up for such a performance. The loss of Gueye will be a huge loss for the champions of France. Despite that, the link between the two big-time players and the eight players behind will be the key issue needing addressing.
Expect either Neymar to drop deeper or a switch of formations could happen. That should be visible upon the return to that Etihad. On the City front, Pep Guardiola will demand a similar effort. The performance was good. However, Pep would love to get more out of De Bruyne, Mahrez and Silva. It was pretty evident their influence was up and down throughout the whole game. There is a need to change that completely, possibly heading into the second leg.
