Even badly embarked after the opening scoring of Kylian Mbapp, Manchester City never trembled to overthrow Paris Saint-Germain (2-1), Wednesday in the Champions League. A match that showed the abysmal gap between the two teams, claiming the final victory.
Pep Guardiola to donn le leon Mauricio Pochettino.
It’s no secret Pep Guardiola is an excellent communicator. Always the first to round the corners, to praise his opponents, the Catalan does not say it, but confirms year after year that he has no equal among the greatest coaches in the world for almost 15 years.
Manchester City’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) on Wednesday in the Champions League once again confirmed this relentless reality.
Paris did not see the light of day
Without Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden or Jack Grealish, Guardiola made Guardiola. That is to say that he has once again dared, tempted, to seek to be the one who does and never suffers. Kylian Mbapp, Neymar, Lionel Messi? This is not a problem for the Spanish manager. Despite the ability of the Parisians to shine against, the former technician of FC Barcelona did not hesitate to ask his players to pick up his opponents very high with constant pressing to hamper the first raise. A tactic that has greatly hampered PSG. Proof of this is that the visitors had to play so low that they failed to get a corner, playing three poor balls in the opposing box (against 23 for City) after 45 minutes. Even more impressive, the reigning English champion pushed Paris to make 15 defensive clearances during the match. The Citizens? No !
Beyond the mastery of time and space, it is Guardiola’s ability to harangue his troops that challenges. On a slow motion in the first period, everyone could see the mimicry of the 50-year-old coach, who asked his players to put much more impact in the duels. Behavior that contrasts with that of Mauricio Pochettino, without reaction and soft on the edge of the sidelines … Regardless of their status, their CV, Manchester City players do not count their efforts and always stay on the move. In this match, the Skyblues ran 111.7 kilometers, 6.4 kilometers more than the Parisians (105.3). A very clear difference at this level of competition. In terms of high-intensity races, the gap is even more glaring with 167 for the English against 114 for the French. That is 47% more for locals!
Guardiola quickly rectified his mistake
And even when he is wrong, Guardiola is quick to react. The presence at the kickoff of Oleksandr Zinchenko, usual left side, in the midfield, surprised more than one. A losing poker move that was rectified a few moments after Mbapp’s opening score. Indeed, the Iberian technician quickly launched Gabriel Jesus, author of the second goal, to allow his team to have a fulcrum in attack and bring down Bernardo Silva, whose impact in the midfield and his ability to swap in attack, as on the goal of victory, were essential to make Paris fold. Thanks to his daring and active coaching, his ability to question himself in order to hurt the opponent, Guardiola has once again shown that he is not just a trainer like the others.
What did you think of the Manchester City game? Do not hesitate to react and discuss in the area add a comment …
.
