Skip to main content

Reviewing Dortmund x PSG



Four games down, twelve to go. The Champions League was must see TV this week and it fulfilled even the highest expectations 

As I mentioned in one of my previews earlier this week, the Chanpions League is a totally different competition in the knockout stage. The last two Champions finished second in their group before turning in the second semester. 

Three out of the four winners finished second in their own group, granted they all played at home, it's a small sign nonetheless, after all while I thought it was possible I didn't imagine seeing Liverpool or PSG losing especially in the way that they did it and who saw that 4-1 from Atalanta coming, I picked them go through but I expected a tighter match in the first leg 

Let's get into each specific match and reviews what happened in the first 90 minutes 

Borussia Dortmund 2 x 1 PSG:

In a thrilling contest the German side got the win with a couple of goals from the new wonderkid of the football world, Erling Haalnd. Neymar got the goal for PSG.

There are a lot of interesting things to talk about in this match, but let me start off with this. I picked PSG to go through, but I had zero confidence on that choice. Be honest would it really shock you to see Dortmund advancing? No. What caught me off guard was how the match unfolded.

Borussia dominated Paris for basically the whole match and the result didn't reflect that dominance. They should've won by 2 at least. The scenario for the previous failures from PSG usually followed the same blueprint. The French side played well, build solid and sometimes outstanding results in the first leg only to fall flat at the most crucial time.

Listening to an interview from Marquinhos It was odd but revealing seeing him talking about how maybe this can be a new scenery for PSG. A side that's used to giving up big advantages maybe now that they need a win in the second leg it will turn out differently from them.

This is the classic match where a look at the stats will mislead you into a false notion of what happened during the 90 minutes.



Yes, PSG had more shots, the same amount on target and more possession but for anyone that actually saw the match it's clear that the home side had the upper hand.

Gueye had a really poor performance and if Sancho makes a better decision and passes the ball to Haaland he'd be an even bigger villain. Verratti proved who he is as a player once again. A very good one that you cannot trust in a big spot. It seems to be like he is always getting booked and missing important matches. I know that this might be a little bit exaggerated because any midfielder can accumulate yellow cards but it's how it looks.

What to say about Haaland, the kid looks special, the way he finished that second goal without giving the goalkeeper much time to get set tells you all you need to know about his intelligence and ability to score from all of this different places.

Watching the match and looking at the PSG bench. I saw two of the finest strikers in the world in Cavani and Icardi. The decision to leave them on the bench was understable based on how he wanted to play, but it didn't work. You want to keep Mbappé as close to the goal as possible even in the defensive phase and Neymar is not really known for helping out on the other end and if you put in one of the two number 9s against such a fast opponent that's really dangerous in transition, well it could get ugly.

It will be interesting to see what Tuchel does in the second leg without Meunier and Verratti both suspended. Will he use Kehrer as the right back? Will Icardi or maybe even Cavani play? Will he go with a more technical midfield? Maybe Draxler gets the nod. We'll just have to wait and see.

Stay tuned for the reviews of the other three matches.

As always leave a comment, let me know what you think, what surprised you most? Subscribe to the blog in order to receive daily notifications everytime a new post is out. I'll see you later.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Picks 21-30 Mock Draft 1.0

Picks 21-30 Mock Draft 1.0 #21 Pick Philadelphia Eagles: WR Justin Jefferson School: LSU.   Year: Junior Carson Wentz broke records in 2019 with the amount of yards he got with minimum contribution at the WR spot. Based on his performance at the Combine, Jefferson jumps a few spots and gets himself into the first round. #22 Pick Buffalo Bills: WR Tee Higgins School: Clemson.  Year: Junior This is the Draft if you are looking for receivers and that's the case for the Bills who'll look to surround Allen with as many tools as possible. #23 Pick New England Patriots: QB Jordan Love School: Utah State.   Year: (RS) Junior I believe Eason could go here and I understand that Love isn't the type of QB prospect Belichick usually goes for but baed off what I am hearing in terms of rumors and the lack of weapons Jordan had in his final year. I could see this happening. #24 Pick New Orleans Saints: CB Kristian Fulton School: LSU.  ...

Reviewing Super Bowl LIV

For the rest of your life don't ever let anybody tell you that you couldn't do it because you did it. The famous quote by Bill Parcels after his first Super Bowl victory against the Denver Broncos in 1986, so simple yet it's what comes to my mind after seeing Andy Reid lift that trophy in Miami. He is now an all time great coach with no buts, no he was a great coach but he never won the big one. It's easy and maybe right to assume that with Mahomes he'd eventually win one in Kansas City, but with these things you never know, Reid has been a great coach since when and hadn't won, Dan Marino after losing to the 49ers early in his caeer probably felt the same thing and that's not something you care about right now, you just want to win. Before anything let me congratulate Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Brett Veach and the entire Chiefs' roster for a wonderful season that culminated in a championship last night, well deserved. After the Chiefs' com...

Watford took down Liverpool and it wasn't even close

Liverpool finally lost a match in the Premier League, how did it happen? As I listened to Klopp's interview after the match there was something very interesting that he touched on. When asked how would the team react after losing, he mentioned that the Reds lost matches this year in the Champins League and that the feeling of defeat while rare isn't something that they haven't experienced this season. He isn't really worried about that. To be honest with you there are a lot of teams in this battle against relegation that play an interesting brand of football, clubs like Brighton and Southampton with an interesting philosophy as a whole. Watford's management is the most impatient in the Premier League with little to no believe in continuity, but as much as that can disappoint me as an analyst, the fans of the club aren't really responsible for it and ultimately they are the ones that suffer the most when the club underachieves. While Pearson has done a...