By M. Spiro
PSG are so dominant in Ligue 1 these days their opponents are running scared. Matthew Spiro believes the champions could be vulnerable in Sunday’s Classique if Marseille approach the game without fear.
Liverpool and Napoli have demonstrated what can happen when PSG are shown a little less respect. When they are closed down high up the pitch and pushed on to the back foot. On Wednesday night, Carlo Ancelotti’s excellent team hustled PSG’s defence and their midfield – where Marco Verratti and Adrien Rabiot were driven to distraction by the coordinated pressing of Marek Hamsik, Allan, José Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne – refusing to let the capital club settle in to their usual rhythm.
In the first half at least, the supply line to Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani was cut off and PSG lost the swagger they’ve displayed every weekend this season in Ligue 1. It was the same story at Anfield on Matchday 1, as the most potent front three in Europe was reduced to a role of spectator for long periods. Against Napoli, Thomas Tuchel turned the tide somewhat with a half-time change in formation that enabled Thomas Meunier and Angel di Maria to aid the midfield duo, yet overall Napoli’s impressive performance will have given OM boss Rudi Garcia food for thought.
Fear factor
There are several reasons for the marked difference between PSG’s recent performances in Europe and in Ligue 1. One is that the opposition tends to be stronger in the Champions League – that can certainly be argued in the cases of Liverpool and Napoli – but this definitely doesn’t explain everything. France, after all, has excellent teams too. Lyon are capable of winning away to English champions Manchester City and yet they collapsed all too easily at the Parc des Princes, losing 5-0.
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Lyon’s second-half capitulation was symptomatic of a psychological problem affecting all French clubs right now. The scale of PSG’s domination is such that opposition players are approaching the games with a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs: that horrible fear of a hammering. When you go in to a contest with such negative thoughts it is nigh on impossible to escape defeat. Tuchel’s men possess a fearsome aura in France, and to be fair they’ve earned it. Never before had a French side started a season with ten straight wins, and their goal haul of 37 is just mind-boggling.
Blueprint
But Napoli laid down the blueprint this week. Now it’s up to Marseille to set an example for the rest of Ligue 1. The Mediterranean giants firstly need to get the statistics out of their head – not least one they’ll hear over and over in the build-up: OM haven’t won this fixture in any of their last 15 attempts. Then they’ll need to execute the kind of aggressive game plan that will match their vociferous support and knock the visitors out of their stride.
Yes, PSG have more quality on paper. But then they also had more quality than Napoli and Liverpool. Marseille will need to defend and attack as a unit, but like those Champions League teams they also have quality international players. Kevin Strootman and Luiz Gustavo are no lambs in the midfield. Morgan Sanson is more mobile than most of Napoli’s midfielders. Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin can create chances. If Marseille are bold and wholly positive in their approach, they could topple their arch-enemy and at the same time give some ideas to the rest of Ligue 1. For PSG, the challenge will be to ensure their aura of invincibility remains still intact after Sunday’s Vélodrome examination.
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