There is a cliché in sports that peak performance is achieved with players “in the zone.” It is a state of tranquility; playing on instinct where action after action flows perfectly.
Paris Saint-Germain’s elimination of Barcelona to reach the Champions League semi-finals for only the third time since the Qatari takeover in 2011 – and the first time since 2020-21 – didn’t look like it .
It was never going to be peaceful, not with the demons of 2017 (La Remontada) to exorcise. PSG made a comeback of their own – the first time, at the sixth attempt, they overturned a Champions League knockout tie after losing the first leg. Luis Enrique became the first former Barcelona manager to knock the Catalans out of the Champions League last 16.
He used the same trio – Kylian Mbappe, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele – who finished the first leg and won the second leg of the round of 16 against Real Sociedad, but in a different configuration. Rather than Mbappe and Barcola as separate attackers and Dembele as the number 10, he placed Mbappe as the number 9, Barcola on the left and Dembele on the right wing. Three dribblers. A courageous concession of control from Luis Enrique; a high risk, high reward strategy.
The risk was that allowing Mbappe to go wherever he wants means PSG often lack presence in the box. The advantage is that when his combinations with his teammates go wide and he chooses the right moment to dribble against a full-back, PSG opens up the defenses.
At worst, PSG looks more like a group of individuals than a team, always dependent on dribbling. They and Barca entered the match as the most dribbling teams in this season’s Champions League (regardless of total or 90 minutes).
In the first leg, which Barcelona won 3-2, PSG completed just 39 percent (11 of 28) of their dribbles – their lowest score in the Champions League round of 16 since their 33 percent against Barcelona in 2017. Combined, Mbappe and Dembele completed two from 14 attempts. PSG’s goals were about runners beyond the ball, not dribbling.
In this context, doubling the dribbles seemed risky. Barcelona had a lead to defend and could therefore sit back. Their 4-4-2 mid-block was stubborn for PSG in the first leg (although they scored twice) and PSG’s first three dribblers risked turnovers which Barça could turn into counter-attacks.
PSG completed 22 dribbles in the first half (12 successful), their most in a Champions League match since the start of 2018-19 – more impressive considering the period includes seasons with Neymar and Lionel Messi at the club.
Here is an example of Mbappé as a defensible number 9 as he always likes to drift to the left. This forces Barcola inside, where Barça has bodies and is compact. Mbappé must dribble outside. Lamine Yamal follows him well and Jules Koundé comes out blocking the center.
PSG have four bodies in the box, but no penetration through Barça’s four defenders. Fabian Ruiz makes a brutal run, but Barcola and Dembele have to do more to attack the front and back posts.
The two moments that changed the game on Tuesday night were the result of PSG’s wingers using their bodies intelligently to commit fouls: Ronald Araujo’s Barcola, as PSG quickly turned a loose ball into a counter-attack behind the right back positioned aggressively. ) Koundé. Barcola took Araujo’s line as he ran, causing the last man to foul. Barça was down to 10.
Then, on the hour mark, just six minutes after PSG had gone 2-1 up on the night to equalize (4-4), Dembele won a penalty in the most Dembele way possible. His heavy touch without pressure from Warren Zaire-Emery’s square pass, against a deep Barça defense, was enough for Joao Cancelo to try to pounce. Dembele responded quicker, placed his body between the defender and the ball and committed the foul just inside the box.
Mbappe scored the penalty and PSG didn’t look back.
PSG’s biggest strength in the second half, however, was that their attackers did not act on instinct and dribble, but chose their moments and knew when to pass. “We tried to attack in every way possible and imaginable,” Luis Enrique said. “Playing with a numerical advantage is often difficult because we tend to accumulate players in front of the ball, and we lose our structure and positioning, which makes things complicated. But I think the team played at a very high level.
PSG continued with their 3-3-4 build structure, where right back Achraf Hakimi played high to support Dembele. On the left, full-back Nuno Mendes moved to provide cover, so number 8 Ruiz was the off-ball runner to disrupt Barca’s backline and give Barcola options to combine.
Here’s what it looked like 20 minutes into the second half as PSG scored twice in a row. Notably, they only attempted five dribbles between the 46th and 69th minutes, circulating the ball superbly to draw in and drain Barca’s defensive block. PSG completed 12 dribbles after the 70th minute, when Barca began to push forward and allow space to break.
Only a quarter of PSG’s touches in the attacking half took place in the central vertical third. Barca were blocking this area, as you would expect with a player disadvantage, but PSG being combinatory on the outside allowed them to use bait and switch attacks.
This also reduced turnovers from repeated dribbling attempts.
Before the match, when Achraf Hakimi was asked about Luis Enrique’s style, he responded with the usual response about control, possession and domination, but added that he wanted PSG “not to rush our attacks, makes sure we create space and that we all have triangles.” in the field “.
Not rushing was essential. There was a moment in the first half, shortly after the red card, where Dembélé fell on the halfway line, received from Marquinhos and turned to run towards the defence. He ignored Hakimi outside of him and tried to pass Cancelo, who tackled him. He attacked the defender on the outside, Cancelo’s weak side, but it smacked of desperation and the PSG of years gone by in the Champions League round of 16.
Between PSG’s first and second goals, they came out of their own area after Robert Lewandowski headed straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma. He rolled it towards Dembele, who dribbled forward and tried to play a through ball to Mbappe. Barça recovered it and Luis Enrique furiously gesticulated for his players to calm down.
Ligue 1 provides plenty of low-block testing for PSG but, for all their dominance, they have only played against 10 men once this season (at Lens; they won 2-0 but were already leading 1-0 when the red card was shown). It took them time to adapt.
In reality, PSG won the match thanks to their wingers who were playmakers and threats, not dribblers. Barcola’s trademark cutbacks were their main route to goal in the first half. Here is an example.
Dembele drops Cancelo to receive from Hakimi, who is positioned in front of Raphina. Barca were more aggressive with their wingers defensively than in the first leg, often forcing them to put pressure on PSG’s central defenders, who the French side could get around if they moved the ball quickly enough.
Dembele turns and hits Barcola, who has extra space as Ruiz has taken Kounde with a run inside from the right back. Note Mbappe’s positioning (yellow dot), usually at the feet, leaving Barcelona’s central defenders unchallenged.
Ruiz makes a penetrating run this time, pulling the centre-backs deeper, allowing Mbappe to arrive late. Barcola is one-on-one against Koundé, who is careful not to give him too much space to dribble in one direction or the other. But the PSG striker does not hesitate to play the withdrawal from which Mbappe forces a good low save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It was this kind of gesture that brought PSG back into the draw.
This time, Marquinhos went straight to Barcola, with Barça down to 10 men.
Once again, Barcola rushes to cross by opening with his left foot. He cuts Koundé in passing, partly because he crosses so quickly that the defender has no time to react. Dembélé is alive and smashes the back post for a winger-to-winger goal.
The two matches in this confrontation were PSG’s two best one-on-one matches in the opponent’s box since the start of the 2018-19 season. As successful as this season has been under Luis Enrique, it’s a reminder that this team’s biggest wins came when they weren’t playing the passing style of Luis Enrique’s Barcelona.
Their strongest starting XI is a team of dribblers. His 2014-15 Champions League-winning Barcelona boasted Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – one of the most dribbling trios of all time. They won the tournament that year with over 400 dribble attempts, Liverpool in 2021-22 (304), the only team to have completed over 300 since.
Only Borussia Dortmund stands between PSG and the Champions League final, a team PSG beat at home and drew against in the group stage, even though they finished second in the group. Luis Enrique, for all his love of passing, is three wins away from coaching another team of dribbling attackers to a Champions League trophy.
(Top photo: Christian Liewig – Corbis/Getty Images)