For Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League round of 16 has brought heartbreak in five of the last seven years.
They theoretically have one foot in the quarter-finals after a round-of-16 first-leg win over Real Sociedad. Despite winning 2-0 at the Parc de Princes, their struggles against the high press are a concern for the return leg and possible future knockout matches.
“We’ve been on a learning process for the last few months, and we feel ready,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique pre-match. “The Champions League is a different kind of competition.”
They did not look ready. Luis Enrique was up against his kryptonite: a homegrown La Real side which perennially exceeds expectations. In the group stages, they conceded the fewest shots on target and goals, kept the most clean sheets and made the most high turnovers.
That said, it is only La Real’s second-ever time in the Champions League knockout stage. You would not know it from the problems they pressed PSG into, making 13 final-third regains. Only Real Madrid (18 in the round-of-16 second leg in 2021-22) have made more in a European game against PSG in the past five seasons.
While Ligue 1, tactically and for quality, is rarely ideal preparation for PSG in Europe, their recent matches were against Lille and Brest. Similar to La Real, those sides press aggressively from a 4-2-3-1.
PSG set a negative tone with two turnovers from throw-ins inside the first 90 seconds. First, winger Bradley Barcola hooked a pass into midfield and Marquinhos lost the aerial duel. Then Fabian Ruiz missed the ball when he tried to hit an upfield pass from Achraf Hakimi’s throw-in.
Their struggles continued in settled possession; their 4-3-3, with one defensive midfielder and two No 8s, was ideal to be pressed.
However, La Real played flexible wingers, sometimes positioned wide to press the full-back, but either would move centrally for a full-court press. Down the right, winger Takefusa Kubo went next to No 9 Andre Silva, mirroring PSG’s centre-backs. This required right central midfielder Brais Mendez to press the left-back.
Here we see the initial set-up with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on the ball. Their central midfielders are in yellow and the front three are in blue.
Kubo presses centre-back Danilo Pereira, with particular aggression as he is a right-footer playing on the left. Mendez jumps on the pass to Lucas Beraldo. On the far side, left winger Ander Barrenetxea tucks onto Warren Zaire-Emery, PSG’s central midfielder furthest from the ball. Martin Zubimendi locks onto Vitinha and Mikel Merino stays close to Ruiz.
Beraldo’s only out is to slide a pass down the line for Vitinha. Zubimendi closes him down and forces a hopeful channel ball. La Real recover possession.
Here is the same press, on the other side, in PSG’s final build-up of the first half. Barrenetxea forces Hakimi to play long, and once more the visitors get the ball back.
La Real pressed slightly differently down the left. Instead of left central-midfielder Zubimendi committing to the full-back, he stayed tight to Zaire-Emery and left-back Javi Galan made the jump. This denied Zaire-Emery space and maintained the structure should Hakimi make a surging underlap.
Here, Galan gets out to Hakimi and tackles him for a PSG throw…
That press was repeated right at the start of the second half, with Galan blocking Hakimi’s pass and making a final-third recovery. The move only broke down because Silva handballed Barrenetxea’s pass into the box.
Luis Enrique called the first half “a nightmare”; PSG only had four shots. They have played 26 home Champions League games since the start of 2018-19, and only once have they had fewer first-half attempts — one, against Bayern Munich on the same date last year. Their first-half pass accuracy was 83 per cent, and just 65 per cent for passes completed into La Real’s half, both record lows under Luis Enrique.
Kylian Mbappe, playing as a No 9, looked frustrated, having been denied space and service. La Real held a good defensive line, with them 24 yards from top to bottom in the grab below. When Marquinhos tries to go over the defence for Mbappe, goalkeeper Alex Remiro sweeps up.
And here, when Mbappe drops deep just to get on the ball…
Change has been the primary consistent under Luis Enrique, still trying to find balance and a settled XI. The switch to a 4-2-4 away to Newcastle United has yet to be repeated, but PSG have tried playing Zaire-Emery at right-back and rolling him into midfield, similar to Arsenal or Manchester City.
PSG’s best game against the press this season was at home to AC Milan, in the 3-0 group stage win. Mbappe played off the left and Randal Kolo Muani No 9 that night. Against La Real, Mbappe offered little outlet for passes to stick from the back line, and he made few impactful runs to stretch the defence. In hindsight, Goncalo Ramos might have been a better profile to bring the wingers into play.
Luis Enrique’s side scored both their big chances. Tellingly, the opener, scored by Mbappe, came from a corner. PSG had more success against the press in the second half, mainly through more aggressive switches, missing out players to escape out wide, and because La Real became fatigued and made substitutions.
Their second goal came from playing through the press, but owed to Ousmane Dembele’s quality more than anything else — he got Robin Le Normand booked in the first half in similar circumstances, receiving with his back-to-goal, facing up and weaving through the defence.
This time, he receives Hakimi’s line pass and dribbles backwards, able to get away from Galan and face forward.
PSG go from winger to winger via Ruiz, who releases Barcola. Still, it took individual brilliance for him to recover a heavy first touch and beat Hamari Traore one-v-one before nutmegging Remiro.
PSG have collapsed from better positions than this in recent history (against Manchester United in 2018-19, Madrid in 2021-22, and Barcelona in 2016-17). The caveat, though, is that sustainability matters less and individual quality more in knockout rounds.
Mbappe scored for his 10th consecutive home Champions League start to set a competition record. Considering his expected departure, and Luis Enrique being seven months into his tenure, it is a fair criticism that PSG ought to be doing better against high-pressing teams.
The return leg is a real banana skin, but even if they win that, PSG’s build-up needs to improve if they want to lift their first major European trophy since 1996.
