The stats behind PSG’s triumph in the Trophee des Champions

PSG were back in competitive action on Sunday night as they saw off FC Nantes 4-0 to win their first trophy of the season.

We’ve looked into the stats to see how they did it and analysed what else we can expect from this PSG side this season. 

 

Christophe Galtier 

New PSG Christophe Galtier has wasted no time in establishing his playing philosophy as he got off to the perfect start. 

Throughout pre-season, we saw PSG experimenting with a 3-4-3 system and that’s what we got to see in this game. 

Throughout Mauricio Pochettino reign, he mostly used a 4-3-3 formation but there’s a case that this new system suits the current playing squad better. 

With Kylian Mbappe suspended, PSG lined up with a front three of Lionel Messi, Pablo Sarabia and Neymar. 

The biggest benefactors from the new system though are Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes who are utilised as wing-backs and are allowed to push further up the pitch. 

With Messi playing as a false-nine, Sarabia and Neymar would often drift into central positions, leaving Hakimi and Mendes to provide the width with overlapping runs down the flanks. 

Last season Hakimi was PSG’s fifth most creative player with 31 key passes and as he is now being pushed further up the pitch, you’d imagine those numbers will continue to rise. 

 

The back three 

Despite PSG having the joint best defensive record in Ligue 1 last season, Galtier has been keen to improve their defensive stability.  

Last season they conceded 10.8 shots against them per 90 and 3.66 shots on target against them. 

Against Nantes, they only conceded eight shots throughout the game and two shots on target, which does highlight a steady improvement so far. 

Last season Sergio Ramos only played 799 minutes of football, although he now seems to be fully fit once again and is a starter under Galtier. 

Ramos scored the third goal of the game and had a very steady game all round as PSG kept a clean sheet in their first competitive game of the season.  

The Spanish defender completed five long balls and had a 91.4% pass accuracy.  

 

Messi and Neymar 

As Mbappe was unavailable for this one, the creative burden full upon Messi and Neymar and they certainly didn’t disappoint. 

Messi rolled back the years as he completed six successful dribbles, for context last season he only averaged around 2.5 per 90. 

The Argentine was utilised in a false nine position which allowed him to drop into pockets of space and link with the midfield. 

In total, Messi had 91 touches which was only bettered by Marco Veratti who had 97 touches throughout the game. 

Messi created two chances for his teammates and could have had more than the one goal he scored. 

His link up play with Neymar was also a joy to watch as the pair rolled back the years in a classic performance.  

Neymar scored two goals and was another one of PSG’s creative hubs throughout the match. 

The Brazilian created two big chances and had three key passes in total. 

In total, Neymar had 83 touches and was heavily involved in the build-up play.  

 

Where does Mbappe fit in? 

As we have now had our first taste of PSG in action this season, the question which comes from this game is where will Mbappe best fit into this Christophe Galtier side? 

Messi was highly efficient in playing the false nine role and so perhaps that means Mbappe will be utilised on the right-hand side as he has been before. 

The Frenchman is comfortable playing off either flank, but he spent the majority of last season playing through the middle. 

Of course, Messi is capable of playing on the right-hand side if Mbappe was to play through the middle, but at this stage of his career Messi seems to be more effective playing as a false nine. 

Time will tell on that one, but PSG did look good in their season opener.