Have Paris Saint Germain finally got it right?

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Have Paris Saint Germain finally got it right?
Photo by Tim L. Productions / Unsplash

Paris Saint Germain have made big waves in European football recently, and their victory on penalties against Liverpool in the Champions League has sent out a message that the French club are much more of a serious threat than in prior seasons. The Parisians were arguably the better team for most of their round of 16 tie against Liverpool, especially in the 1st leg so their progression in the tournament is not undeserved. But those who don't watch much French football would not have been aware of how much different this PSG team plays compared to previous iterations which included megastars like Messi, Neymar Jr., and Mbappé.

There are a few critical aspects to this transformation of PSG, and one of the more surprising ones is the spectacular form of Ousmane Dembélé. The French international had been fairly inconsistent, injury prone and had attitude problems, especially during his stint at FC Barcelona. But this season something has changed. He is having his best ever goalscoring season, with 29 goals in all competitions and is PSG's talisman in the Champions League. With the absence of Kylian Mbappé, Dembélé has taken the mantle to be his team's go-to guy and is certainly thriving in this new free role, where he can pick up the ball anywhere and cause danger to the opposition. The role of Luis Enrique in helping Dembélé find this form is also important. There have been a couple of instances this season where it was perceived that the two had had arguments, especially when he was excluded against Arsenal in the Champions League earlier in their campaign. Enrique needed to instil the idea of every player fulfilling their obligations and Dembélé took the lesson and has performed fantastically ever since.

Another critical aspect has been finding the perfect balance in midfield this season. Out of all of PSG's midfielder's, Vitinha has been the most impressive so far. Despite being diminutive in size, Vitinha is an all-action midfielder who covers every blade of grass and possesses all the technical ability in the world. His greatest gift may be his ability to evade pressure easily and drag opposition players into positions they don't want to be in, which ultimately creates space for the likes of Dembélé or Kvaratskhelia to receive the ball and face the opposition's defence quickly. Thierry Henry was full of praise for the Portuguese midfielder on CBS Sports' coverage of the game against Liverpool saying that the midfielder "plays a different sport". The way Vitinha dictates the games is irreplaceable for PSG and they will be hoping to have the midfielder for the rest of their Champions League campaign.

PSG will face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and will be quietly confident of getting past the English side, especially if they continue to perform at their current level. They are also unbeaten in Ligue 1 and are almost certainly going to win the league once again, so perhaps they will be able to put much of their focus on progressing through the Champions League, in a bid to spring a surprising victory.

Read more