Olympique Lyonnais Women hosted Paris Saint-Germain Women at the Groupama Stadium for the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals. They were able to snatch a crucial win to have the advantage over their opponent before going to Paris to play the second leg on Sunday, April 28. Olympique Lyonnais were capable of achieving a considerable “remontada” in this first leg as they were about to lose the match following PSG’s advantage but were capable of equalising and scoring the winning goal thanks to all of Diani, Dumornay, and Majri, who all scored goals in about 6 minutes.
This highlights Olympique Lyonnais’ strong character as a team and their experience in dealing with complicated situations, which also raises eyebrows regarding PSG’s lack of concentration and defensive issues in the last minutes of the match. It is true that PSG should also be credited for scoring first at the Groupama Stadium and making things complicated for Olympique Lyonnais thanks to Katoto’s two goals. Yet, we cannot ignore that PSG could have done better to conserve their two-goal advantage by defending better and avoiding conceding late goals.
And at the same time, Olympique Lyonnais can be blamed for conceding two goals on either side of half-time despite playing at home. Therefore, some tactical errors will need to be fixed from both sides ahead of this semi-final’s second leg, which will define who will be playing in the final at the Estadio de San Mamés.
To give a bit of context to where the two teams come from and to their UWCL journey so far, we can argue that PSG had a bit more complicated group stage. They had to battle with teams like Ajax, Roma, and Bayern Munich for a knockout phase ticket. They were able to top their group with three wins, one draw, and two losses before meeting BK Häcken in the quarter-finals and succeeding in passing to the semi-finals.
On the other hand, Olympique Lyonnais topped group B with 14 points, four wins, and two draws in a group that included SK Brann, SK Slavia Prague, and St. Pölten before excluding Benfica in the quarter-finals to face their domestic rival in the UWCL semi-finals.
In this tactical analysis article, we will analyse what happened in the first leg and shed some light on both teams’ mistakes in terms of tactics. The analysis will also explore and suggest alternative solutions to use in the second leg in order to win.
Line-ups
Olympique Lyonnais started the game according to the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Christiane Endler as a goalkeeper, Ellie Carpenter as a right-back, Griedge Mbock and Wendie Renard as centre-backs, and Selma Bacha as a left-back. The midfield was composed of both central midfielders Lindsey Horan and Damaris Egurrola, with Melchie Dumornay playing as an advanced playmaker, Kadidiatou Diani, and Delphine Cascarino on the wings. At the same time, Vicki Becho was the team’s striker.
It is not expected that Sonia Bompastor will make significant changes during the second leg as she often prefers to use the 4-2-3-1. The only possible changes will be using Amel Majri or Daniëlle van de Donk from the start. Both players showed that they can bring different addition to the team’s attacking performance and to midfield’s balance.
On the other hand, Jocelyn Prêcheur used the 4-3-3 formation in the first leg, with Constance Picaud as a goalkeeper, Jade Le Guilly as a right-back, Eva Gaetano and Elisa De Almeida as centre-backs, and Sakina Karchaoui as a left-back. The midfield was formed of Grace Geyoro, Jackie Groenen, and Korbin Albert, while the attacking three were Sandy Baltimore and Marie-Antoinette Katoto on the wings and Tabitha Chawinga as a striker.
Given that PSG will have the obligation to score at least one goal and avoid conceding goals in order to preserve their qualification chances, Prêcheur will have to be prudent regarding the way he approaches this second leg, as the team will have to remain compact at the back and aim at scoring using counter-attacks or set-pieces. Perhaps the most secure and promising way to start this match is to begin it using the 4-4-2 formation to guarantee more defensive balance and, at the same time, use both wings and both strikers in quick counter-attacks. Players like Lieke Martens can also represent key weapons in this match, as she can make the difference if she plays from the start or even during the second half.
Olympique Lyonnais mistakes and suggested solutions
Olympique Lyonnais played a fairly solid game from an attacking perspective, even though they were not able to score during the 80 minutes. Nevertheless, they shot 21 times, 7 of them on target, and had more possession of the ball, 54.24% against 45.76% for PSG. It is true that Olympique Lyonnais’ possession phases were sometimes passive and without concrete plans, yet this possession helped them build their attacks with ease and, more importantly, tire their opponent by obliging them to run for the ball.
When Olympique Lyonnais fails to find attacking solutions due to PSG’s well-timed defensive efforts, they often resort to shots from a distance because they have players capable of scoring from outside the box. Intensifying this type of shot during the second leg can be a possible solution to frighten PSG and oblige them to defend with more numbers.
Also, alternating the times of shooting can be impactful as well; this means that Olympique Lyonnais can become more dangerous if they opt for shots from outside the box in a surprising way without circulating the ball for so long before resorting to that option. This surprise element can be crucial in such games as such surprising long shots won’t be predictable for PSG’s goalkeeper or defence.
From a defensive aspect, however, Olympique Lyonnais will need to be very attentive in this match as it will be more complicated to defend against a team that needs a goal while they play at their own stadium. Repeating the defensive errors committed during the first leg will be negatively crucial for Olympique Lyonnais as they should make their defensive performance way more. Solid in this second leg if they really want theo qualify for the final.
Crucial mistakes like letting someone like Baltimore win in a duel with her direct marker inside the box and failing to clear a cross that was a few centimetres from Carpenter cannot be reproduced in the second leg. Otherwise, Olympique Lyonnais will suffer a lot in this match. Applying tight marking to both wingers will be necessary for this match, not letting one or both of them be unmarked inside the box, given that both wingers are very dangerous with and without the ball.
It is true, however, that PSG’s second goal was scored thanks to a little bit of luck and not really due to bad organisation from Olympique Lyonnais’ defence. Nevertheless, the team should not leave something to chance and have to react quickly when things go as unexpected. In this goal action, Renard was going to mark Katoto when she saw her trying to provide a passing option for her teammate. But when she saw Chawinga aiming for the shot, she stopped running and waited, and that’s what helped Katoto win some precious seconds and be able to shoot on goal after she got the ball deviated from Olympique Lyonnais’ defence.
PSG’s comeback plan and what to avoid
In order to succeed in their comeback and qualification, PSG will have to be much more balanced throughout the match and avoid drops of concentration to not lose everything. At the same time, they will need to reach Olympique Lyonnais’ goal by any means to have more chances to equalise early, defend with more numbers, and rely more on counterattacks.
Training on such a plan is necessary in addition to predicting all scenarios and coping with any possible one. In other words, PSG will need to expect the worst possible scenario and prepare for how to overcome it. The worst scenario is to concede an early goal or two from Olympique Lyonnais. In this case, PSG will have to risk playing with a high defensive bloc and try to dictate the game, have more possession and threaten Olympique Lyonnais in various ways until they score.
For this same scenario, it is also possible to rely fully on counterattacks despite being behind in score and do what is necessary to exploit each and every possible counterattack. At the same time, missing “easy” opportunities should not be an option for PSG, as missing one or two chances can cost them a lot.
From a defensive perspective, PSG will need to pay a lot more attention to their left flank, as most dangerous opportunities came from that side. This first-goal action was started from that side as well, and Carpenter was easily able to provide a dangerous pass towards the box without concrete resistance or disturbance from her marker. Moreover, two Olympique Lyonnais players were unmarked inside the box and received the ball without disturbance before Diani was able to shoot the ball between all defenders and score.
PSG will also have to pay much more attention to defending set-pieces as Olympique Lyonnais’ second goal was scored due to PSG‘s lack of organisation inside the box and inability to get to the ball first. This inability to get the ball first can always create problems for the defending team as the box will always be filled with players in these cases, which makes it complicated for the goalkeeper to react quickly to shooting attempts. This being said, PSG defenders could have prevented Dumornay from shooting in this action but were not quick enough in their reaction.
In addition, depending on the right flank was not good enough as well since Carpenter was poor defensively in this match and was not able to cope with the fresh Majri, who played only in the second half. PSG’s head coach needed to react to such changes during the match and had to either instruct a midfielder to drop towards the wing to help cover for Carpenter or substitute her with a readier defender to keep up with Majri’s pace, especially during the last minutes of the game when they played started to look tired.
During this third goal action, Carpenter could have done more to disturb Majri and prevent her from shooting or oblige her to get away from the box, even though Majri’s feint was excellent and well-timed. Also, she should have attempted to deviate from the shot with a sliding tackle when she saw Majri intending to shoot.
Conclusion
PSG still has chances to equalise and qualify for the final if they fix their concentration and defensive issues and become more crucial in an attack. At the same time, Olympique Lyonnais will use all their European experience to protect their lead, play intelligently to not concede goals, and try to punish PSG if they advance and leave spaces behind. It will be very complicated to predict the winner of this semi-final, even though it is believed that Olympique Lyonnais have a slight advantage.
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