Savvy punters will not risk betting on a sad 0-0 in the Champions League final. The clash between PSG and Bayern on Sunday night is a meeting of high-end attackers and alluring offensive lines. In terms of statistics, Munich and his quartet Lewandoswski-Gnabry-Müller-Perisic reign over Europe with 42 goals scored in the Champions League this season. By themselves, the first two have scored only one less than all PSG players (25 achievements) yet the second attack in the competition. The opposition promises sparks in a match where Paris has strengths thanks to the best defense in Europe (5 goals conceded in 10 games).
The Parisian attack will have spaces ...
Beyond the tactical patterns between Bayern's usual 4-2-3-1 and the probable 4-3-3 of PSG, the two finalists do not rely on the same philosophies. “Bayern is a team that dominates games by landing very high on the pitch. His goal is to play on the high recovery of the ball, details Willy Sagnol, the former Munich defender and Bordeaux coach. PSG for its part has transformed a little and relies on a very important mastery of strong times and weak times. The team play more in spurts with a lot of emphasis on quick attacks. "
From this opposition of styles, Paris could take advantage of the speed of its attackers. "The PSG will have to exploit the spaces that Munich will inevitably leave, forecasts the ex-coach of the French Espoirs and ephemeral assistant coach of Bayern in 2017. On recovery, Paris will have to project very quickly in the 25 m near the goal of Neuer . The ideal is to find Neymar in this sector so that the game picks up speed right away. "
History to take advantage of the attention swings of German central defenders, not always quick to stick to their vis-à-vis. "If Bayern makes the same match against Paris as against Lyon in this sector (3-0), it will be in great difficulty," says Sagnol. The ambition for PSG will be to find Neymar or Di Maria very quickly so that they can turn around, play vertically, thanks in particular to Mbappé's speed. "
... and the defense will pass to the crash test
In Lisbon, the Parisian defense will however pass a real crash test against the Bavarians. Never since the double confrontation against Real Madrid (3-0; 2-2) in the group stage, PSG has faced such an offensive armada. “We know that when it is in difficulty, this team has a tendency to retreat, particularly because of Thiago Silva. If Paris finds itself in its 18m, it will be very difficult to defend in front of its line, warns Willy Sagnol. Lewandowski gets a lot of attention and Gnabry picks up speed very quickly. The Munich game is much more oiled than that of Atalanta (2-1) and Leipzig (3-0). But Bayern has a recurring problem: wanting to dominate is good, but the border with arrogance is very fine. We must not fall on the other side. "
The technician therefore calls for a lot of caution, especially on the part of the Parisian side. “Bayern playing with four attackers, it will inevitably crush the defense of PSG, points the ex-international (58 caps). The side should go up much less than against Leipzig. Already because it is not natural for Kehrer and because Bernat will have a lot to do with Gnabry. But as Paris risks playing a little lower, it is not penalizing to have full-backs who remain behind. "
