Rennes Embarrass PSG at the Parc: Tactics & Player Ratings
Injury-plagued Paris Saint-Germain shut out by Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes.
What started as a pretty slow-paced, open match, ended with Paris Saint-Germain suffering their fourth loss in the Ligue 1 and their second loss to Stade Rennais this season.
PSG lined up with a 3-4-1-2 formation. Gianluigi Donnarumma was in goal, and a make-shift backline of Juan Bernat, Danilo Pereira, and El Chadaille Bitshabu in front of him. Timothée Pembélé and Nuno Mendes pushed forward in the full-back role. In the midfield, Marco Verratti and Fabián Ruiz played behind the more attack-minded Vitinha. Spearheading the attack were PSG’s superstars, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi.
Stade Rennais went with a 5-4-1 formation with Steve Mandanda in goal and Arthur Theate, Christopher Wooh, Warmed Omari, Adrien Truffert, and Djed Spence making up the defense. In the midfield, Benjamin Bourigeaud (captain) and Lesley Ugochukwu played centrally, with Karl Toko Ekambi and Désiré Doué on the wings. Leading the attack was former PSG titi, Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Both teams attack in a very similar fashion. The wing backs pushed up high, trying to link up plays on the wings to open up the midfield, so they can attack centrally with the final ball.
Early on, PSG struggled to build up play as their midfield was almost non-existent to connect the defense and attack when playing out of the back. Either Verratti or Ruiz would drop back into the backline to collect the ball leaving the other midfielder by himself to try to link up between the lines. Mendes and Pembélé would make runs in behind Stade Rennais’ backline, but their efforts would not be rewarded.
Mbappé and Messi struggled to get into the game early on until they started dropping deeper to get involved. Messi would then drop deep, and bring attention to himself, which allowed Mbappé to run past the Rennes defense and have multiple balls played to him over the top.
Rennes attacked in a similar fashion but found more success with their aerial passing. PSG’s back three could not keep up with the pace of Rennes’ attackers. Bourigeaud and Ugochukwu ran the middle of the park freely with little to no resistance for most of the first half.
Bourigeaud caught the PSG backline asleep right before halftime by playing a beautiful ball over the top to Toko Ekambi, who put away his chance with ease.
The second half started more or less the same, and PSG paid the price. Bernat was caught out too high up the field, leaving space behind him for Ugochukwu to make the run and cross it to an unmarked Kalimuendo, who put the ball into the back of the net. After the second goal, Rennes was more than happy to defend and absorb pressure from PSG.
The Parisians became more dangerous and balanced when Renato Sanches and Hugo Ekitiké came on in the 55th minute for Bernat and Ruiz. Still, it was of no use as Mandanda had himself an almost perfect game. Christophe Galtier’s squad had more shots, shots on target, and possession, but the visitors were much more clinical and well-prepared.
Today, I think Galtier got the starting lineup wrong. Bernat shouldn’t have started on the right side of a back three, and I think PSG would have done better with a back four and an extra midfielder to help win the battle. The backline did well for most of the match, considering the absences that PSG had. The midfield trio of Verratti, Ruiz, and Vitinha, however, was underwhelming.
Messi and Mbappé both were disappointing today. Mbappé had a handful of good chances to score and was either denied by Mandanda or by the linesman. Messi, other than a couple of moments, was mostly nonexistent today.
Overall, it was a poor display by PSG in front of the home supporters, who are growing restless with the current state of the club.
Player Ratings
Donnarumma - 6
Bernat - 4
Danilo - 6
Bitshiabu - 6
Pembélé - 5
Verratti - 5
Ruiz - 5
Mendes - 6
Vitinha - 5
Messi - 5
Mbappé - 5
Subs
Zaïre-Emery - 5
Sanches - 5
Ekitiké - 5