analysis
After an unforgettable 5:4 between PSG and Bayern, the football world is looking forward to the second leg. Until then, Vincent Kompany wants to adjust his defense better without losing quality in attack.
The morning after the 5-4 defeat in the Champions League semi-final between Paris St. Germain and FC Bayern, the European football press outdid itself with superlatives. The game in Paris was a “masterpiece,” an “ode to football,” said the Spanish newspaper “AS.” The usually rather sober English “BBC” even admired “one of the best games you have ever seen”.
There is also a very simple sports metaphor that describes the game well: two heavyweights fought without cover in the Parc des Princes in Paris.
A proud defender
Not without pride, PSG captain Marquinhos appeared in front of the television cameras after the game and said, looking ahead to the second leg, that his team had to go to Munich with the same mentality and personality, “so that we can do as great a job there as we did here.”
If you know that Marquinhos is a central defender whose team had just conceded four goals at home, then you know everything about the attitude of Luis Enrique’s Paris team.
Although the French have probably the best double six in world football with Joao Neves and Vitinha, everything in their game is geared towards passing the ball as directly as possible to their highly gifted attackers.
Because the Munich team also looked directly for their wing tongs from the irresistible dribbler Michael Olise and the unleashed Luis Diaz on Tuesday, hardly a minute went by without a scene in the penalty area.
Bayern’s comeback is the story of the first leg
“I’ve never seen a game with this rhythm before,” marveled Paris coach Luis Enrique. That’s probably how it was with the television directors: Whenever they shot short close-ups of the faces of the protagonists on the pitch after a chance, they ran the risk of missing the next goal.
Maybe they should forego their slow motion altogether in the second leg next week in Munich, but it is almost impossible for the teams to take it easy then.
Enrique expects three Paris goals
Enrique calculated after the game that it would take at least three goals in the second leg to get to the final. He did this under the impression of the little comeback that Bayern had made in the second half.
After the double strike from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé in the 56th and 58th minutes, it briefly looked as if the Parisians had scored the knockout goal on their Munich opponents.
But Bayern only faltered briefly and got back in touch within ten minutes thanks to goals from Dayot Upamecano and Diaz. “We’re very proud of the fact that we got to 5-4,” said Harry Kane after the game.
Whoever defends better wins the second leg
And while viewers all over the world sat in front of their televisions in amazement and couldn’t believe the level of “the transition game, the speed and the intensity in the one-on-one duels” they were witnessing, Kane revealed in a side note what Bayern will be working on until next Wednesday.
Because when he praised the “top level” of the game, he added “especially in the attacking game”, which of course means that he was not satisfied with the defensive work. His coach Vincent Kompany said: “We were vulnerable to counterattacks and we didn’t defend that well enough in the second half.”
The interim 4-2 by Kvaratskhelia provides illustrative material when Désiré Doué pulled substitute Konrad Laimer out of the back four with a run towards the halfway line. Behind him, Achraf Hakimi, who had been forgotten by Diaz, started into the penalty area alone and set up the goal unchallenged.
There was often a problem with the coordination between the wingers Olise and Diaz and the full-backs. In these situations the second leg will be decided. And the preparation for this begins now.
Compensation for boring leagues
In any case, their games against Lorient and Heidenheim will not push Paris and Bayern to their limits this weekend. Both teams have long since outgrown national competition and have won four of the last five championships. But perhaps fast-paced games like Tuesday’s wouldn’t be possible any other way.
Although Qatar’s sports fund has been investing absurd amounts of money in PSG for 15 years, Luis Enrique became the first coach to bring the Champions League to Paris last year. Now he is on the verge of the final for the second year in a row thanks to his breathtaking football. Part of his magic is getting the team in top shape for the crucial games in the spring. The best example of this is Kvaratskhelia, who scored more goals in fewer games in the Champions League than in the league.
For Vincent Kompany it will be even more important to improve his team’s defense without losing the power to turn around the deficit from the first leg.
