When listing rivalries in the global women’s game, some of the ones that immediately come to mind are those of Seattle Reign and Portland Thorns in the NWSL and of Club América Femenil and Guadalajara Femenil in Mexico. However, there aren’t many bigger than the one shared by French domestic giants Lyon Féminin and PSG Féminine, with their biannual league meetings always occasions to behold and matches that fans of both clubs and of the Division 1 Féminine in general always look forward to.
Their latest clash at the weekend, held at Lyon’s main ground of Groupama Stadium, did not disappoint, with it being a low-scoring affair but a memorable game for other reasons as both sides battled hard for success and needed to demonstrate plenty of tactical flexibility and mental strength throughout. With that in mind, this tactical analysis will take a closer look at their respective game plans and highlight what worked and what didn’t in each one, showing the different ways they tried to outthink their opponents and why it ended up in a 1-1 draw.
Lineups
Lyon Féminin made three changes from their 4-1 win at home to Stade de Reims Féminines last weekend, with both forward Vicky Bècho and midfielder Sara Däbritz dropping to the bench and Däbritz’s former Germany teammate Dzsenifer Marozsán missing out altogether. In their place, manager Sonia Bompastor promoted Daniëlle van de Donk and Kadidiatou Diani (who was one of a number of former PSG Féminine players facing their former side) from the bench, whilst van de Donk’s fellow Netherlands international Damaris Egurrola also came in to sit in the holding midfield role, with Lyon switching to a 4-1-4-1 starting formation.
PSG, meanwhile, made four alterations to their starting lineup after drawing at Fleury 91 Féminines last time out, with head coach Jocelyn Prêcheur switching to a back three for this encounter. In came Sakina Karchaoui and Jade Le Guilly to play at wing-back, whilst Sandy Baltimore returned after missing out last weekend to take up a free-roaming role behind the forward line. Malawi forward Tabitha Chawinga was also included, with her partnering Marie-Antoinette Katoto at the top of the field as the quartet of Amalie Vangsgaard, Korbin Albert, Laurina Fazer and Tara Elimbi Gilbert were all named among the substitutes.
Lyon Féminin’s game plan
With them sitting 10 points clear of PSG Féminine at the summit and being yet to drop a league point this season, there was an expectation that Lyon Féminin, whilst not finding it easy, would have enough in this match to edge their arch-rivals and to take another step towards what looks increasingly likely to be a 17th French top-flight title. However, from the early stages of the game, it became clear that they would not be having things all their own way.
The first thing to mention is that it was very clear how they had done their pre-match preparation, with their tactics built around the recognition that PSG’s back three was designed to enable them to play out from the back. As a result, a lot of Lyon’s early play saw them press forward with intent to put their opponents under pressure and to take as much time away as possible whenever they had the ball.
This proved to be very successful for Lyon throughout the match as they did manage to force PSG to lose the ball in cheap circumstances, and this situation was just one time that they capitalised on it and got a shot away at goal.
Here, it is Australia defender Clare Hunt, who joined the club from Western Sydney Wanderers Women last summer, who has been rushed into passing earlier than she would have liked to, with France striker Eugénie Le Sommer moving towards her, and that leads to Baltimore then losing the ball to Egurrola and allowing the home side to launch an attack from this advanced area of the field.
The other thing that Lyon had evidently worked on ahead of this game was maintaining a robust defensive shape, with them setting up in their usual back four structure but putting even more emphasis on not stepping out of line as they tried to ensure that PSG could not break through them too easily.
Whilst all four players worked hard to make this possible, the two central defenders really epitomised this desire not to be beaten, with both Griedge Mbock Bathy and Canada international Vanessa Gilles making several aerial clearances and staying alert whenever the ball entered their airspace.
It helped that both players have similar profiles to each other in that they are good with the ball at their feet and possess exceptional aerial prowess, and there is no doubt that their presence gave Lyon a strong foundation on which to build the rest of their game around. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason that Lyon went in at the break with a clean sheet was largely down to their efforts.
However, it was not all positive for the home side, and one area where they were lacking quality was in their final third play. The analysis has already shown how they won the ball well an advanced areas, but it was at that point that they struggled to test PSG, with different players not connecting with each other and loose passes and poor communication the result of that.
It was something that Bompastor clearly noticed during the first half, given that her first substitutions saw Le Sommer and the ineffective Diani replaced by Bècho and Delphine Cascarino, and there is no doubt when looking at how the game played out that this was a deciding moment in Lyon attacking with more fluidity and securing a point.
To explain, before the introduction of Cascarino and Bècho, Lyon had not been making too many moves infield and had been largely isolated, but the two new players instantly made more inverted runs and gave the team layers inside the final third, with them playing in the half spaces whilst the full-backs made more runs to sit outside them, and that then gave Ada Hegerberg more support in the middle and therefore increased Lyon’s overall threat. In this case, Cascarino is moving forward after evading the tackle attempt of former Manchester United Women midfielder Jackie Groenen and is looking to test PSG by running at their back line. It was this that Lyon weren’t doing as much of before the break.
On this occasion, Cascarino was closed down by the combination of Thiniba Samoura and Karchaoui, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that Lyon made some adjustments in the second half. It was this that helped them to secure a draw late on, as they ensured that, whilst they no longer had a 100% record in the league, they still ended the weekend unbeaten.
PSG Féminine’s flexible shape
PSG Féminine were distraught at having conceded late on to Lyon Féminin, and it is entirely understandable why, when looking at their overall display, it is clear that they were the better side overall and the more deserving of the three points. For that reason, while they will harbour a lot of regrets, they should also take plenty of positives from their performance in this match because there was a lot to like about the way that they approached it.
The first thing that was immediately noticeable was the clarity with which they played around the field, and that began at the back as their defensive line worked together to both narrow up as soon as they lost the ball and to make the pitch as big as possible once they had regained it.
However, what was particularly evident was how they set up when in possession because there were distinct layers to their shape, which made it easier for them to move the ball around and keep progressing forward instead of simply shifting the ball from side to side. Here, Élisa de Almeida is the linchpin at the centre of the line, whilst Hunt and Samoura are slightly ahead of her, and Le Guilly and Karchaoui are even further ahead. It is clear to see how this makes it possible for PSG to make significant territorial gains without needing to push too hard.
This is not to say that everything about them was structured, though, because there was a great deal of flexibility about their formation as the game went on, and this was especially clear in the evolving shape they had in the central third. As mentioned, Baltimore had been given a free-roaming role behind the front two, along with the duo of Groenen and captain Grace Geyoro, who were then positioned behind her. Still, they rarely stayed that way as the game went on due to both Groenen and Geyoro getting forward and operating more as box-to-box players than holding midfielders, as is in both of their natures.
As a result, the dynamic of PSG’s midfield constantly changed. They used this to their advantage, biasing it towards supporting attacks whenever they had the ball and then shifting the focus back to their starting shape as soon as they needed more defensive protection.
The advantage of playing this way is that PSG could use the spatial awareness and ability to pass through lines that Geyoro and Groenen have in different ways, with them able to assist in playing out from the back and feeding the ball into the path of the forward duo when higher up the field, as Geyoro is doing here. Again, this shows how PSG’s key aim in this match was to be constantly forward-thinking, and there is no doubt that having that mentality was what allowed them to essentially control the tempo of the match.
The understanding that the whole team had was shown in other ways, though, such as when one of the back three moved out of line as they tried to find targets around the field. Here, Samoura has left the line with the ball, but Groenen has recognised this and has dropped back a little further to ensure that the defensive security that they needed to have was still present.
These rotations were another constant in PSG’s performance and were another sign of how the whole team was working together to achieve a shared aim and the fact that so much of their play was enacted like clockwork demonstrates once again how they knew what they needed to do and that getting all three points would only be possible if everyone performed their roles to the best of their abilities.
PSG Féminine’s tactical changes
Despite all of this, though, PSG Féminine would have been frustrated by the fact that they had been unable to break Lyon Féminin down during the first half, with Lyon’s aforementioned rigidity at the back keeping them at bay. As a result, they knew that a few tweaks would need to be made if they were to leave Groupama Stadium with a highly commendable win and one that many felt that their efforts merited.
The primary reason that they had not managed to add that final detail to their play was largely because they hadn’t been asking Lyon the right questions, in that the inclusion of Chawinga at the top of the field was designed to stretch the home side, given that the former Inter Femminile loanee is known for her pace when moving up the field. However, in the first half, she had been dropping back too much and sitting in front of the Lyon backline, and so she had not been too difficult for the likes of Mbock Bathy and Gilles to marshal.
After the break, Chawinga played much more on the shoulder of the backline and gave PSG an outlet at the top of the pitch, and that made all the difference as they could now make earlier passes and get the ball into Lyon’s third before the home side had had a chance to set their shape up.
Those who have watched Lyon this season will attest to the fact that, whilst they had won every match in the league so far this season, they have been susceptible to quick offensive moves, with Reims, in particular, highlighting that when they hosted Lyon back in October. It was this that PSG had been trying to do before the break, but the detail had not been there in terms of player positioning. In the second half, Chawinga’s more advanced positioning allowed them to play as Reims did, and it paid off for them as, whilst this attack didn’t lead to a goal, another chance in a similar fashion allowed the away side to open the scoring.
Adopting a more direct passing approach was aided during the second half by the introduction of Vangsgaard shortly after the break, with the Denmark forward coming on in place of Le Guilly and operating as the right-sided wing-back.
However, because she is a forward by nature, it was always likely that she would stay further up the pitch than Le Guilly had and so would control the wing even more, which was what Prêcheur wanted as he needed Baltimore not to make as many horizontal movements and to instead stay in the middle of the field.
It was another thing that worked well for PSG, with it meaning that they could play through Baltimore when making those quick transitions, and both her and replacement Lieke Martens-van Leer (formerly of Barcelona Femení) had a big effect on the game as they looked to ensure that their side could constantly find their forward line as early as possible and could therefore never give Lyon the same amount of time to set up their shape as they had beforehand.
This is not to say that they abandoned their defensive duties though, because they knew that Lyon are a team who only need one chance and they can turn a defeat into a draw or a draw into a win.
This is where the back five shape really came into its own, with PSG able to leave players back whilst also having the likes of Vangsgaard supporting attacks, and the one who really controlled their defensive shape was de Almeida. As this graphic shows, she had an influence all over the pitch, with her both winning balls back higher up the field and helping to play out from the back but also dropping deep to be her side’s last line of defence, with her making several contributions inside her own goal area and offering significant protection to Poland goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek.
Therefore, when looking at why Lyon continued to struggle to break their opponents down and to create meaningful chances even after making their tactical alterations, her performance really has to be highlighted. It was very unfortunate that she was the one to concede the late own goal that handed Lyon a point because her performance did not deserve to be marred by that.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has looked in detail at the Division 1 Féminine match between league leaders Lyon Féminin and their arch-rivals PSG Féminine in the latest instalment of the French women’s game’s “Le Classique”. The analysis has shown how Lyon had some positive aspects to their play and changed things in the second half to be more threatening and has detailed why PSG will have come away with the feeling that they dropped two points rather than gaining one.
For Lyon, they will know that this was not their best performance and that they didn’t have the same fluidity in their play as they have done for much of the season. It might perhaps serve as a reminder that, whilst they are 10 points clear at the top of the table, the season is not done yet, and they do have to keep pushing if they want to attain another league title.
For PSG, though, whilst it will hurt them to have drawn this match, they can take plenty of positives from the way that they played, with the analysis highlighting that there was a lot to like about the way that they approached the match, and they will be a tough team to contend with if they play like this as they fight to secure second place ahead of city rivals Paris FC Féminines, who sit just two points behind them.
Lyon’s next game sees them travel to Montauban Féminine, who currently sit bottom of the second tier, in the Coupe de France Féminine, before they take on Dijon Féminine in the league next weekend. For PSG, they will face third tier side Le Puy Féminine in midweek before hosting Guingamp Féminines on Saturday afternoon.
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