In The Zone: Paris Saint-Germain's winning breaks at Aston Villa
miércoles, 16 de abril de 2025
Resumen del artículo
UEFA Technical Observer Michael O'Neill analyses the counterattacking thrusts that took Paris to the semi-finals, despite a scare at Villa Park.
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Cuerpo del artículo
Villa Park was witness to a thrilling UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night and for UEFA Technical Observer Michael O'Neill one particular talking point was the quality of the attacking transitions.
In a second leg in which Aston Villa's intensity tested Paris Saint-Germain to the full, it was the visitors' counterattacks that were ultimately decisive as Luis Enrique's team progressed to the last four as 5-4 aggregate winners.
As this analysis brought to you by FedEx will highlight, Unai Emery's gameplan was for his home side to press higher than in the first leg – a risk vs reward scenario which produced both of those eventualities. First, the risk factor which materialised with two early Paris goals; then, the reward as Villa became the first team to score three times against the French champions this term.
'Speed and quality in transition'
The video above features counterattacking goals scored by full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, followed by Villa's opening strike by Youri Tielemans, and O'Neill observed: "The speed the game was played at and the quality of the passes in moments of transition was evident in all three goals."
To begin with Hakimi's goal, O'Neill said: "A lot of players wouldn't make that run, particularly a defender, but he makes up the distance to be there to finish." As for Nuno Mendes' strike, this is not a typical counterattack: as Paris build from the back, Amadou Onana wins the ball for Villa only for the visitors to then win it back themselves before breaking. O'Neill points to the left-back's starting position as the move develops.
"Because he is inverted, when they break the pressure on the right-hand side he is able to be on the edge of the box to finish," he said. "The first two goals are both full-backs and it shows you their attacking intent but also their athleticism and their fluidity. They're so fluid in how they play which allows Hakimi and Mendes to get into those advanced positions."
Picking the right moment to pass
From a coaching viewpoint, O'Neill identified another aspect, observing how in each case there is no immediate through pass after the ball is won back. Rather, for the opening goal, Fabián Ruiz plays the ball out to the left where Nuno Mendes provides the penetrative pass down the wing. Then, for the second, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia lays the ball back for João Neves to pass forward to Hakimi.
Explaining this approach, O'Neill added: "You have to make sure you don't turn it over again too quickly and sometimes the short pass allows the more penetrative pass on the second or third pass."
For Villa's first goal, shown in the third clip above, O'Neill saw something similar. "There is a sideways pass and the next pass from Amadou Onana goes forward and eliminates the whole PSG midfield," said O'Neill. "At this level, the players know that if they can get the first pass away and retain the ball they are going to be in a strong position to play forward and go and exploit the space, whether it takes one pass or two passes."
With Tielemans' strike, Villa gained belief and, as O'Neill noted, they asked plenty of questions in the second half with balls played forward down the middle as well as their set plays. "Villa were able to play in the PSG half a lot more in the second half," he said.
'Different gameplan'
As Emery explained to Amazon Prime afterwards, this had been part of the Birmingham side's plan. "When we played there [in the first leg], we played a very different gameplan because we were avoiding the transition and trying to defend lower than today. But today we took the new gameplan and were pushing more and having a lot of individual duels, pressing them."
As seen above, that pressure paid off with their first goal yet it also had its flipside, as Emery admitted: "We knew the risk we had when we were playing like that, in transition, and they scored two goals."
For the victorious Paris coach Luis Enrique, it summed up the challenge opponents face against his team, given the different ways they can punish them. "We scored two quick goals on two very good counterattacks taking advantage of the spaces," he said. "We are a team who attack very well against a low block but if you leave us space, we attack even better."
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