Both teams set up in similar shapes but it was the electrifying front three of Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani who stole the show in Paris. Ancelotti and Emery deployed very similar systems however it was the energy from Paris’ front three that was most devastating. Ancelotti has since been given the boot from Bayern, however, the 6 changes he made from the weekend paid little dividend and it was his teams lack of intensity that prevented them scoring. Paris’ front three with some help from Dani Alves were the difference on the night.

2-5-3 the new 4-3-3

Paris started the game on the front foot and deployed a formation 4-3-3 without the ball and a 2-5-3 in possession, with Marquinhos and Thiago Silva as the centre back pairing. The three central midfielders were Thiago Motta, his protégé Adrien Rabiot, and the younger Marco Verratti. Alves and Kurzawa provided width for Paris whilst Neymar, Cavani, and Mbappe were playing as Paris’ main attackers. Bayern set up in a similar system and this can be seen below from the Whoscored.com graph. On the left is Paris and the right is Bayern. As seen below, Paris were more solid in this shape mainly because of the proximity of their midfield three with their fullbacks .

Paris’ three central midfielders did not look to make forward runs off the ball. Motta, and Rabiot were used to start attacks and prevent counter attacks. Verratti was given the most freedom of the three, but he seldom strayed far from Motta and Rabiot. Below is the clearest example Paris’ shape with the ball in the first half. This shape enabled Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe a lot of attacking freedom. The goal came early in the game through some individual quality and Paris’ attacking shape.

Rabiot, Neymar and Kurzawa were overloading on the side of Kimmich and Tolisso and Bayern struggled to cope. Bayern decided to defend with Mueller playing very close to Lewandowski. This forced Tolisso to defend against Rabiot and Kurzawa. He looked unsure of what to do in some instances; however, it was not his fault. Below is an image of the first example of this that led to the goal. In the first ten minutes of the game when Paris looked most threatening, this pattern was causing Bayern consistent problems.

Bayern eventually settled into the game and became the dominant team. Bayern were creating chances, but they lacked intensity in the final third. Bayern set up similarly to Paris with a midfield bank of three that were used to start attacks and prevent counter attacks. In Bayern’s case, Vidal was the central midfielder given the most freedom to move into forward positions. Bayern were trying to get Kimmich on the ball in wide areas. He was looking to play Mueller in the space between Kurzawa and Thiago Silva. Rodriguez and Alaba were not linking well and Bayern were over reliant on Kimmich for their attacks.

Bayern looked very confident going forward but their attacks lacked intensity. Bayern were comfortable playing the ball behind Paris to Mueller or Lewandowski and they were also very competent in holding the ball up. They did not do a lot wrong in the game and were unlucky to be behind.

Then the hammer blow;

Paris scored their second on the half hour mark and it was completely against the run of play. Bayern had a promising attack through Mueller who got in behind Paris’ back four, he then supplied Lewandowski who hit a tame effort at Areola. Paris got the ball to Dani Alves who managed to play in Mbappe, who laid the ball off for Cavani, who scored a great goal. Paris’ clinical nature in front of goal was juxtaposed to Bayern’s wastefulness just moments earlier.

Bayern produced an equally threatening attack thirty seconds before but they did not score. I attribute this to Paris being a more exciting club right now. Lewandowski is a world-class number 9, but even he has recently complained about Bayern not taking part in the money game that’s going on in today’s transfers. Right now Paris are playing with energy and enthusiasm whereas Bayern on this occasion were not.

Russian Roulette

Bayern made two changes at half time bringing on Rudy and Coman for Rodriguez and Tulisso. Bayern’s more notable change was the introduction of Coman, a more natural wide player than Rodriguez. Bayern began to dominate the game again and they looked to create scoring opportunities in wide areas in an attempt to avoid Paris’ midfield three. Bayern looked to get the ball wide to Coman with Alaba overlapping. Similarly, if Coman or Alaba decided to recycle the ball Bayern would get the ball to Kimmich who would cross for Mueller or Lewandowski in the box. Bayern effectively tried harder to emphasize Paris’ lack of width in defence.

This can be seen most evidently in the two images below.

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The second half became very open because Paris’ front three were staying very high and acting as a very dangerous counter attacking threat. As Bayern attacked Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe stayed high relying on turnovers and quick distribution to counter. Just ike the second goal in the first half, the turnover and supply came from Dani Alves for the third goal. The below image shows an example of the dangerous gaps that Bayern were leaving in order to chase the game.

Dani Alves and Kylian Mbappe

Dani Alves and Kylian Mbappe were the key players for Paris. Their passing and movement created all three goals. Although Alves was not playing the short, sharp link passes we have seen him do so well with Messi and Dybala in the past, Alves showed a greater passing range to feed Mbappe who created two of Paris’ goals. Mbappe is not the type of player who usually connects well with Dani Alves, but they proved to be able adapt and provide the key moments in this game.

Conclusion

Paris ran out three nil winners but the score line did somewhat flatter them. Bayern dominated for a lot of the game but failed to produce the intensity to really trouble Paris’ goal. Paris, however, were all about speed and intensity in the final third. They were clinical in front of goal and they looked like a serious threat with a good balance of youth and experience in their team.

MOTM – Kylian Mbappe, although Javi Martinez gets a notable mention for his threat from set pieces and his block in the second half.