Pressing start, careless middle and outclassed in the end: Tactical analysis of PSG 3-0 AC Milan

AC Milan suffered a 3-0 defeat to PSG in matchday three of their Champions League group stage, which has now made it a very tough challenge to reach the knockout stages.

The Parisians took the lead in the 32nd minute. The impressive Warren Zaire-Emery received and bypassed the Milan midfield in one action and then carried the ball forward before finding Kylian Mbappé 1v1 against a backpedaling Fikayo Tomori. The French forward’s speed of thought and feet were too quick for Milan to defend.

After the half-time restart, PSG had the ball in the back of the net in the 47th minute but it was disallowed by VAR after Manuel Ugarte was adjudged to have fouled Yunus Musah in the build up.

PSG did make it 2-0 in the 53rd minute after two instances of carelessness from Milan. First, a Theo Hernández giveaway led to a PSG corner. Then, from the resulting set piece, the visiting players were slow to react, allowing a PSG shot which fell to Randal Kolo Muani at the far post to convert.

In the 89th minute, after some interplay on their right wing and a dummy from Gonçalo Ramos and Lee Kang-in finish made it 3-0 and a deserved three points for PSG.

In a game considered ‘must not lose’ for either side prior to kick-off, @Tactics_Tweets takes a look at how the game, and ultimately scoreline, unfolded.

Set-ups

Luis Enrique and Stefano Pioli each set-up their team’s to transition in between systems depending on whether with or without the ball.

In possession, Milan were predominantly 4-3-3 with both fullbacks maintaining the width in build-up phases. In central midfield, Rade Krunić was positioned deepest with Tijjani Reijnders on his right and Yunus Musah on his left but both appeared to be instructed to rotate at times to disorient the PSG midfield in attacking sequences. In the forward line, it was the usual attacking trio.

For PSG, in deep possession, they played out from the back using a 4-2-4 which transitioned into variations of a 2-3-5 / 3-2-5 as play progressed up the pitch. Achraf Hakimi had the license to push into the right half space to coordinate attacks on the right wing with Ousmane Dembélé, and Vitinha and Mbappé constantly interchanged positions of the left wing.

Out of possession, both side’s initially formed 4-4-2 formations which used elements of man-marking whilst pressing. Whilst these approaches each had obvious defensive intentions they also appeared ways of keeping their biggest respective attacking threats (and perhaps weakest defensive players) higher up the pitch, in more rest attack roles – these players being of course Mbappé and Leão.

Here’s an example of PSG’s defensive set-up in action with the hosts initially set in their 4-4-2 block.

A pass out wide to Pierre Kalulu at right-back triggered the pressing-scheme with Vitinha tasked with getting out to his designated opponent.

Following a pass down the line which Reijnders drifted out to receive, the Dutch midfielder was forced backwards by the presence of his marker, Zaire-Emery. In the visual below, you can also now begin to see the roles of the PSG backline in their pressing-scheme.

Milan opted to pass back inside and out towards their left-hand side, where now you can see the whole PSG team’s man-marking responsibilities.

Manuel Ugarte jumped to Krunić, Hakimi pushed infield to Musah and this left their backline 1v1, with Marquinhos responsible for covering Leão.

Milan’s out of possession approach required a slight tweak to their usual set-up and pressing-scheme. Ordinarily this season, Pioli has used man-marking in central midfield and then initially allowed an underload in their forward line to (initially) maintain an overload coverage in their backline. Then, when pressing a full-back jumps to support the forward line which requires the backline to go 1v1.

However, as PSG use a 4-2-4 shape in build-up phases, a different solution was needed and this came in the form of Musah jumping to Hakimi.

This meant that the Milan backline initially started in 1v1 match-ups but additional focus was placed upon Mbappé, with Kalulu prepared to leave Vitinha (who started wider left) to support Tomori (shifted over as the right centre-back) with the French superstar.

Below you can see the semblance of Milan’s 4-4-2.

As PSG played out via their right-hand side, towards Hakimi, this was a trigger for Musah to vacate his initial midfield position to jump and engage.

However, the American midfielder was late with his jump which allowed Hakimi time and space to play forward. As you can see below, Dembélé’s movement infield dragged Hernández to follow.

Kolo Muani coordinated his run from in-to-out to receive the line-pass and consequently pulled Malick Thiaw with him. Below you can also see how Kalulu had left Vitinha to maintain a 2v1 with Tomori against Mbappé.

In this specific sequence, Thiaw was booked for a foul on Kolo Muani. Highlighting a downside of this approach when coupled with rash defending. But in the opening twenty minutes there were also plenty of examples of the upsides this pressing-scheme can afford Milan too.

Pressing from the start

Both side’s early intention to press can be demonstrated by their respective Passes Per Defensive Action (PPDA) – a proxy metric of pressing intensity at a team level, used to try and capture the degree to which an opponent is pressuring the opposition when they don’t have the ball. A low PPDA number indicates higher intensity when trying to win the ball back.

According to Wyscout, in the opening fifteen minutes, PSG’s PPDA was 5.0 and Milan’s 7.9, an indicator of how much each team was trying to disrupt the opposition in possession. However, as PSG had the majority of the ball during the period (61%), Milan had more opportunities to execute their out of possession approach.

Below, in the 12th minute, Milan are set in their 4-4-2 high block. As PSG want to progress possession centrally, Milan’s player-orientated approach helped them win a turnover…

…which allowed for a potential counterattack. Whilst the first pass was found into Giroud’s feet, after receiving the lay-off, the oncoming Reijnders overran the ball preventing any attack from happening.

Again, in the 13th minute, a similar scenario occurred. PSG again wanted to progress the ball centrally, but Milan’s midfield were able to snuff out the pass, aided by a retreating Giroud pressing backwards as cover for Pulisic who was caught higher up the pitch.

From this instance, Milan again threatened to counter but Krunić’s attempt to find Leão was easily intercepted.

Next, in the 15th minute, Milan were pressing higher up the pitch. A pass out wide to Hakimi triggered Musah to immediately jump and engage.

The PSG right-back was forced into quickly passing forward with no short option available but as ball-side Milan defenders are each in immediate proximity to the PSG forwards, a turnover is forced. (Again, note below the doubling up on Mbappé).

Following the regain, Milan attempt to counterattack but it again breaks down.

However, PSG’s clearance only managed to find a Milan player and from there Milan were able to initiate another attacking sequence by finding Leão out wide.

Leão did the first part brilliantly, easily taking on his opponent but failed in the second part, over-hitting his cross and PSG reclaiming the ball.

In the 19th minute, Milan’s pressing scheme helped disrupt PSG’s attempted third-man combination. Krunić’s immediate pressure on Ugarte impacted the quality of his pass out wide to Hakimi with the ball going out of play.

Then similarly in the 20th minute, Milan’s high pressure forced the ball back towards Gianluigi Donnarumma whose attempted clipped pass out to Hakimi lacked accuracy, with PSG again conceding a throw-in to the opposition.

As seen in the various examples above, in the opening twenty minutes of the game, Milan’s interchangeable out of possession approach was having an effect on PSG.

When in a set defensive block, the 4-4-2 system with hybrid roles allowed the visitors to block central progression and maintain some level of coverage in their backline. And from this system Milan were also able to trigger their pressing-scheme which disrupted PSG’s build-up, forcing them into either rushed (low quality) forward passes or turnovers and then counterattacking opportunities.

Milan’s out of possession approach was a risk, there is no denying that. The early yellow cards are a byproduct of their pressing-scheme, as they are left in 1v1 situations. But what Milan were most at fault for during this period was an inability to benefit from the affordances their out of possession approach provided them.

And to make matters worse, PSG were also beginning to find ways to exploit Milan’s system. As mentioned previously, Vitinha and Mbappé were interchangeable on the hosts’ left-hand side. But with Milan wanting to ideally maintain coverage (2v1) on Mbappé, Vitinha began to leverage his ‘freedom’.

In the 24th minute, you can see Vitinha in lots of space between the Milan midfield and defence. As Mbappé had pulled out to the left wing to pin Kalulu, Tomori was given a decision as to whether to jump or not.

Tomori eventually decided to jump but in his hesitation, it had allowed Vitinha to receive a pass from the PSG left-back and with Mbappé’s double movement creating separation between him and Kalulu, when he received the ball he was able to help PSG progress up the pitch. From this sequence, PSG won a corner kick.

At the end of the 26th minute, again, Vitinha found space between the lines. As a result, PSG were able to access and progress. In this situation, Kalulu was the player tasked to jump with Mbappé passed onto Tomori.

And in the 32nd minute, Vitinha influence (and freeing of Mbappé) made the difference. The action started below with Vitinha in space, wider on the left wing. In the image below, you can see the midfielder scanning and seeing that Milan were doing their usual 2v1 on Mbappé.

As a result of Vitinha being free, PSG were able to access and pull Kalulu up the pitch. Vitinha passed inside to Zaire-Emery…

…who controlled and bypassed Reijnders in one action to carry the ball forward where Mbappé was now 1v1 against Tomori with space ahead to exploit, and Kalulu having not yet reacted to get back and help support.

This only happened once Mbappé received the ball (notice the difference in Kalulu’s body shape between the image above and below).

But by then it was too late, Mbappé had the ball and Tomori exactly where he wanted them, and fired through the defenders legs to put PSG into a 1-0 lead.

Careless in the middle
As seen in the section above, Milan lacked ‘care’ in their passing and decision making in transitional moments following turnovers. But this carelessness also extended to parts of their open play possession too.

Milan’s overall passing accuracy was 81%, their lowest of 2023/24 across all competitions. Like against Juventus, Milan also continued to be wasteful with their crossing, only successfully completing 3 out 11 attempts. In addition to this, over half of Milan’s pass attempts into the opposition penalty area were unsuccessful (65%).

This lack of accuracy from Milan meant that they were unable to turn any of their counterattacking opportunities or final third play into meaningful attempts on goal.

Milan’s carelessness was also a major factor in PSG’s second goal. After multiple Milan ball losses, the last one being by Hernández, a PSG attack ended in Milan conceding a corner. Then, from the resulting corner kick, the Milan players failed to recognise the danger of a free Dembélé who was able to receive and shoot, forcing a save which was tapped in on the rebound.

With the game at 2-0 and therefore the game state truly changed, PSG were relatively comfortable in seeing out the game.

Outclassed in the end

Overall, PSG’s superior individual talent made the difference in this match. This was not only evident in all of PSG’s goals but also Milan’s most threatening moment of the game in the 50th minute when the score was 1-0.

Following a long forward pass from Mike Maignan – Milan’s main attacking method – Pulisic found himself behind the PSG backline. Unaware of the time he had following a PSG defender slipping, instead of controlling the ball and shooting himself, he chose to pass to Giroud but the acute angle and pace of the pass made it difficult for the French forward and his stretched shot found the wrong side of the side netting.

Piolo’s post-match assessment that “for 60 minutes we put in a great performance, we even played better than PSG at times” was perhaps a stretch, but the Rossoneri were certainly in the game during this period.

Ultimately, however, Milan are now winless from three and sit bottom of Group F. Any hope of qualification will surely require 9 or at least 7 points (and other results to go in their favour) from their three remaining games. Either way, Milan will need improvements in quality both collectively and individually, if they are to have a chance – and for longer periods than just 60 minutes.