How and why Paris Saint-Germain play walking football

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It was fitting Paris Saint-Germain started their Club World Cup only a few miles from Hollywood, with the place being an apt description of Luis Enrique’s side last season.

Here they were in the blazing Californian heat, just 15 days after beating Inter 5-0 in the Champions League final.

With temperatures hitting 30 degrees (86 Fahrenheit), PSG were going to wilt if they tried to play with their usual intensity.

Atletico Madrid had the blueprint, being one of only three teams to win at the Parc des Princes last season (along with Nice and Liverpool) when they pulled out a smash-and-grab 2-1 win.

PSG’s biggest strength is their adaptability. Without talisman Ousmane Dembele at No 9, they were missing not just goals but a key attacking cog which brings the best out of the wingers and flying full-backs.

“We had to adapt,” said Senny Mayulu, who scored the fifth goal in the final in Munich and netted PSG’s third against Atleti as a second-half substitute, before Lee Kang-in’s penalty made it 4-0.

Mayulu was speaking about the weather and roofless stadium but might well have been talking tactics.

PSG built their Champions League campaign on pressing, controlling possession and territory, and devastating counter-attacking. Their opening win over Atleti owed to their quality in playing walking football.

“Of course the conditions were difficult,” PSG midfielder Vitinha said after the match. “Maybe a bit more for Atletico because they didn’t have the ball. It’s harder when you’re always chasing. It’s hot here today at this time. I’m all red. It was really difficult.”

The technician at the base of PSG’s midfield triangle, Vitinha — as he had often in deep Champions League knockout rounds — dropped into the back line at times to let left-back Nuno Mendes push forwards. It gave PSG double threats out wide, with Achraf Hakimi doing the same on the other side.

Vitinha said the conditions were difficult (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Atleti’s out-of-possession approach was to sit in, at times their 4-4-2 block becoming a 6-3-1 when both wingers would become auxiliary full-backs. They had some success in transition, finding crossing positions quickly after PSG turned the ball over and lacked their usual sharpness in counter-pressing.

“The time slot is great for European audiences, but the teams are suffering,” Luis Enrique said in his post-match press conference. “It’s impossible to perform at a very high level for 90 minutes.”

So PSG did their running with the ball: 817 passes, nearly four times what Atleti managed (275), and yet they only attempted 10 crosses. PSG had no offsides and only went long once every 16 passes.

Playing extra safe, taking extra touches and passing even shorter meant distances between players could be kept minimal.

Atletico only made three interceptions (PSG had 12), which was partly Diego Simeone’s game plan, but also proof of just how tortuous PSG are to defend against.

Switch off and suddenly one of the midfielders has split the block with a through ball. Compact the middle too much and they get around you with dribbling wingers on the outside. Double or triple up on the wings and midfielders make third-man runs that pick-lock the defence.

Inter found that out the hard way in the Champions League final when they let PSG dominate possession early on, and by 80 minutes, they had collectively run nearly 8km more than their opponents.

As per SkillCorner, a data company that use broadcast tracking to provide contextual metrics, last season PSG had the third-lowest total distance covered and second-lowest high-speed distance covered (per 30 minutes of possession) of any side in Europe’s top-five leagues.

PSG do most of their defending with the ball. Their opening goal against Atleti came from a possession that lasted for almost an entire minute, starting when they locked on man-for-man and pressed high.

Goncalo Ramos, a much more traditional striker profile than Dembele, forced Jan Oblak to kick long. After Nuno Mendes regained possession, PSG just kept it for a while. They went all the way back to the goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and built-up down the left before working the other side.

Then, they came alive. Marquinhos passed forward to Hakimi, who was high and narrow in the half-space. He played a one-two with Desire Doue — PSG’s right winger, positioned on the touchline — and chased the pass in-behind.

It needed the fast-arriving Joao Neves to counter-press and sustain the attack, before Hakimi found the underlapping Doue, who popped it into Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s feet.

Atleti’s scrambling efforts to get into their own box meant the spare man was Fabian Ruiz on the edge of the area. He fired first-time, through bodies, past Oblak. A similar finish to his deflected effort in the semi-final second-leg at home to Arsenal, but such a different build-up (that one was from a wide free-kick second-phase).

GOAAAAAL! @FabianRP52 puts @PSG_English ahead with a brilliant effort 😤

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Really, PSG defend with possession. Atleti defender Cesar Azpilicueta explained this in an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe pre-match: “They live with the ball. That’s Luis Enrique’s way of seeing football. They force you to stay super focused because they’re looking for the little moment where you leave an opening to hurt you.”

At 1-0, there was a moment where there were 24 yards between Atleti’s front two and their midfield four.

They were trying to press PSG, who were building up in a three with Vitinha on the left, and centre-back Willian Pacho broke the block with a pass into Doue’s feet.

Pacho, with both arms raised, screamed for him to turn and stay on the ball. Doue played wide to Hakimi on the right touchline. PSG cycled back round to the left, then the right again, and Hakimi passed short to Fabian Ruiz.

Immediately, he darted in-behind and the midfielder released him. A switch picked out Kvaratskhelia, and the move ended with Ramos firing straight at Oblak.

It is why, coupled with their fast starts and early goals, PSG do not fatigue late in games — even in the sweltering U.S. heat.

The performance, while not Hollywood, was them adapting. Reporters asked Luis Enrique on ambitions now that they have achieved Champions League glory.

“A different chapter begins in which you have to show that you have the capacity to continue to revive yourself.”

(Top photo: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

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