Match date: 9 November 2014

A match up between the two best teams in France. Paris Saint Germain are the current champions and Olympique de Marseille took steps toward improving their club with the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa, the excellent tactician.

PSG were without Ibrahimovic, who was fit enough for the bench, as they setup in a 4-3-3 with Verratti as the holding midfielder in the absence of Thiago Motta. Cavani led the line with Lucas Moura and Lavezzi on either side of him.

Bielsa has changed Marseille’s shape a few times over the season, using three at the back as much as he has four. For this match, he set out his starting XI with four at the back in a 4-2-3-1-esque shape that was without Romao, Ayew, and Morel.

Marseille Press

The away side started the match much better of the two. Bielsa’s teams are known to have high work rate when the opposition has the ball, pressing and hassling the ball carrier while cutting off passing lanes. Marseille did just this in the first half, pressing PSG as a unit as the home side try to play out of the back and did exceptionally well as they forced PSG into giving away possession rather cheaply.

Their best chance came when Sirigu gave possession away to Gignac, who had hit the post early on off a header from a corner, but the forward went for an audacious chip over Sirigu which the Italian easily caught. What was notable was, upon Sirigu’s distribution, Gignac was immediately after the ball carrier. He knew that he missed a chance, but also knew he had to continue to work hard for his team in winning the ball back.

Marseille’s pressing obviously gave PSG problems going forward. They tried to play out of the back, but were largely unsuccessful. This left them attempting to hit long balls up to Cavani and Lavezzi, bypassing the midfield where Marseille had good numbers and try to get Cavani, in particular, on the end of a long ball so that he could hold up the ball and wait for support.

As you can see above, Verratti was successful in all three of his take-ons. These stats don’t necessarily capture his ability to get out of tight spaces, however, which is what he did against Marseille. There were numerous occasions where the Italian midfielder would get by one or two Marseille players, breaking the first line of the press, and then play to one of three forwards or Pastore. Below you can see a perfect example of Verratti in possession of the ball. At this point he had gotten away from four Marseille players inside of his own penalty area, including just splitting Gignac and Payet, who are behind him in the screen capture.

Marseille’s pressing lasted well through the first 45 minutes, but the second half saw their intensity drop off and PSG were able to retain possession much easier and control the match.

PSG Attack Down the Right

Two of PSG’s best players on the night were Lucas and Aurier, both of whom played on the right side, Lucas as a forward, Aurier as the right back. Both also got better and better as the match went on, topped off by Aurier’s assist to Cavani for PSG’s second goal. It was clear, however, that these two were outlets for PSG’s attacks and were certainly more dangerous than Lavezzi and Maxwell, with the latter hardly involved in the match.

Moura’s ability on the ball put the Marseille back line under an enormous amount of pressure; they looked incredibly vulnerable when being dribbled out and when PSG played quick combinations, as Cavani and Lavezzi showed for the opening goal, which was scored by Lucas. There were a number of chances created for PSG that were the result of quick passes in and around the Marseille penalty area, but most were not capitalised on.

Moura’s attacks were supported by Aurier’s overlapping runs as the Ivorian was able to take away defenders with his presence which allowed Moura to have 1v1 opportunities and come inside. Aurier has taken some time to settle at PSG and has had to wait for his chances behind Gregory van der Wiel, but took full advantage of his chance against Marseille, defending well (he had eight successful tackles), supporting Moura, and when he had the ball at his feet; as mentioned before, he put in a great cross for Cavani’s late goal. His presence going forward was greatly helped by Thauvin’s starting position on recovery runs. The Marseille man was the widest player on the left, but found himself every narrow at times as Marseille looked to crowd the middle and so when in transition Aurier was allowed space to run into and Thauvin was forced into making a long recovery run from the inside out.

Marseille Lack Chances

For all of their good possession in the first half, Marseille failed to create a number of good chances and when they did, they were unable to finish. Gignac hit the post off a header from a corner, tried to chip Sirigu, and had another chance go wide, while Alessandrini had a half volley just go wide of the post. Instead, at half time, they found themselves 1-0 down.

Mendy, Gignac, and Imbula were arguably Marseille’s best players going forward in the first half. Mendy had some excellent runs from deep in his left back position, creating the half volley chance for Aessandrini. Although Mendy’s final ball was lacking at times, as was his decision making on the ball, he was always an outlet when Marseille played on the left.

Imbula was certainly Marseille’s best player going forward, which is saying something considering he is a holding midfielder. He was able to get past PSG’s pressing, when the home side did indeed press, on the dribble and then found himself plenty of room to play in. He was clearly the player that Bielsa and Marseille looked to play through inside of their half and the player they trust to get the ball into the opposition’s half as well as the player that they can recycle and switch the ball through. He was unlucky to be sent off late in the game as a result of very poor officiating, but that doesn’t take away from his performance. The way he got away from Pastore, who was mostly man-marking him, was excellent, both when he had the ball and when he was looking to receive from a teammate. His forward passing was quick and efficient, just the way Bielsa likes it.

Conclusion

Bielsa has certainly created a team-over-individual mentality at Marseille, with everyone working hard defensively and it worked for the first half against PSG only for mental letdown from Mendy allowed Lucas to sneak in behind him and score late in the first half. With their lack of chance creation in the first half, when they dominated the match and showed good energy, it was always going to be difficult for Bielsa and Marseille to get back in the match when that energy level ultimately dipped as it did in the second half.

PSG defended well against Marseille, who had scored 27 goals in 12 matches coming into the match. Going forward, they were efficient, taking their chances well. The match also saw the return of Ibrahimovic. Although the Swede certainly didn’t look his best in the match, it will certainly be a boost for Blanc’s side.