FC Barcelona conquered Europe and their domestic competitions last season and deserve the praise they have received. However, the margins are small in football, and if things had turned out differently in their Champion's League semifinal with PSG, there might have been a different narrative surrounding both clubs. PSG had a fantastic season where they won the D1 Arkema for the first time in their history. In their Champion's League quarterfinal matches against Lyon, they were far superior. And for long periods of their semifinal fixtures against Barcelona, they were also the better team. I thought they were too good to be dismissed, and I looked at the different pieces of the team that contributed to their historic season.
The center back partnership of Irene Paredes and Paulina Dudek was the backbone of PSG and they complimented each other very well. There were a couple aspects of Dudek's game that stood out to me. The first is that she does not have a lot of pace, but it is impressive how she continuously positions herself so that it is almost never an issue. The second is her ability to pick out a long range pass. She has the ability to put a cross field ball to her opposite winger on her foot. She also made some great penetrating passes against Barcelona which can be seen below.
Ashley Lawrence is one of, if not the best, right backs in the world. She acts as an important ball progressor for PSG. Lawrence has a tendency to take touches and dribble inside. This tendency creates a progression pattern where she attracts opposition players in the middle which allows her to find a teammate out wide. Her movement inside gives her a better angle of finding her wide teammates. Opposing teams could cut off her forward passes easier if she remained in the same vertical line as her teammate. This can be seen in the photos below.
Her movement inside also allows PSG to make rotations within the midfield which loses opposition marks and allows Lawrence to further advance the play with her ball carrying ability. In the photo below, PSG midfielder Grace Geyoro was in a wide position with the ball. This allowed Lawrence to receive the ball in the space Geyoro vacated.
Lawrence also makes offensive runs in the final third. Keeping in line with her tendency to be central, she often utilizes the underlap which can be seen below.
In the quarterfinal ties against Lyon, PSG used runs from the midfield to contribute numbers to the attack that would not be picked up by Lyon's backline. Sara Däbritz, one of PSG's box to box players, was tasked with making these runs. Whenever she received the passes she did a good job of creating chances by either crossing or shooting.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto was (and is) PSG's best and most dangerous player. It's important for a center forward to be able to hold up play or link play with their back to goal, and Katoto does this brilliantly. In the first photo below, is an example of Katoto receiving pressure behind from Lyon center back Wendie Renard. Katoto was able to fend off the pressure, turn, and advance forward. In the video, she again is checking to the ball with pressure on her back. She is able to find a teammate with a first time pass and she continues her run.
Video taken from the Women's Football Replay YouTube channel.
Katoto has more aspects to her game than just playing as a true number 9. In the 2020 Coupe de France, she was deployed in the number 10 role where she was just as effective. In their second Champion's League quarterfinal leg against Lyon, Katoto was positioned in a wide position which can be seen below.
Being placed in a wide position allowed Katoto to be isolated with Lyon's left back when PSG switched play from the right side. Attempting and winning take ons is another thing that makes her so dangerous. The photo below is an example of the type of situations that PSG were hoping to create with her wide positioning.
Over the four knockout stage games with Lyon and Barcelona, Katoto got herself in a situation where she was either 1v1 with the opposition goalkeeper or had a clear shot on goal with only the goalkeeper in her way. These instances can be seen in the following photos.
It is hard to believe that Katoto did not score on any of these chances. The keeper saved twice, she hit the post once, and she missed the target once. It would be easy to draw the conclusion that Katoto, for all she does well, must not be a good finisher. However, it is important to remember that finishing can vary greatly chance to chance and from player to player. Even the best players in the men's game have very low chance conversion rates. The table below shows the ratio of shots to goals from 2012/13-2019 with a minimum of 100 goals scored.
Table taken from @1DavidWall on Twitter and the data is from Opta.
Keeping in mind that scoring goals is a low percentage action, it is important to look at the movements, positioning and chances that a player creates. Katoto passes that test with flying colors. She might not have finished those chances, but the fact that she repeatedly put herself in that position against the best teams in the world is an encouraging sign for future chances. Unfortunately for PSG and Katoto, PSG might have advanced to the Champion's League Final had she scored those chances. But that's football and its small margins.
PSG's structure and shape was very organized. They played a 4-4-2 defensive set up and they covered space and pressed with intent and intensity. The photos below show PSG players staying tight to their marks, reading the play, and regaining possession.
PSG were also quick to counterpress whenever they lost the ball. This can be seen below, where they lost the ball in their attacking third, but they quickly swarmed Lyon midfielder Amandine Henry on the sideline and regained possession.
Whenever PSG pressed, they did it as a collective unit and it was purposeful. In the video below, they press Lyon as they try to play out of the back. PSG forces them into their defensive corner and force Lyon to clear the ball out of play.
Video taken from the Women's Football Replay YouTube channel.
Often times the teams who lift the trophies at the end of the season are the ones who are remembered while the others fade out of memory. Every team has ambitions of winning some sort of silverware, but it's not all there is.
I think about Ajax's 2018/19 and Monaco's 16/17 Champions League seasons on the men's side. Neither won, but the football they played was sensational. I think that PSG falls into this category. They had a fantastic season and played great football even if they don't have the European silverware to show for it.
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