It is the week of paradoxes.
At Camp Nou, Barcelona, who usually confiscate the ball, retreated Tuesday night against PSG to bow heavily.
And this Sunday, while many imagined the Monegasques justly inhibited by the feat in Catalonia, we saw a Monegasque formation on the attack from the first moments.
Against Paris, the one who trembles has already lost.
Niko Kovac, ASM coach, understood it perfectly to win at the Park (2-0).
From the kickoff, his men pressed PSG in their camp by not hesitating to play in depth in both corridors.
And the nerve quickly paid off.
On their first shot, Monaco opened the scoring.
Left side, Volland centers for Aguilar, slightly neglected on the right side.
The difference is made.
Kurzawa does not know who to score between Aguilar and Diop.
And the latter opens the scoring closely (0-1, 6th).
It is the fastest goal conceded in L1 this season by Paris.
But Monaco's tactical plan does not come down to the simple slogan “everyone on the attack”.
Niko Kovac also saw, like the entire football planet, that Mbappé had found his fiery legs.
So he also concocted a plan to counter Bondy's prodigy.
It is simple but requires iron discipline and total commitment: to prevent the prodigy from gaining momentum with the ball.
As soon as his partners seek him out, Mbappé feels the breath of at least two Monegasques, Disasi and Fofana, on his neck.
There is no coincidence in the tactics of the Croatian who knows that his team is stronger offensively than defensively, especially by the relative slowness of his central defenders.
So he attacks to defend less.
No sagging after rest
At the break, Ruben Aguilar, the passer, immediately pays tribute to his coach.
“We do what the staff ask us,” he says.
We know that it is important if we want to leave with a satisfactory result.
"Faced with the concern to physically keep pace, he specifies:" We do a lot of races but we have a bench more than competitive.
When the guys are dead, we can replace them!
"
But no relaxation occurs after rest.
On the contrary, by systematically pressing on the second balloons, Monaco forces Paris to do anything in its surface.
Like Herrera, taken by Maripan before the Chilean rolled up a victorious strike (0-2, 51st) which made him the most prolific defender in L1 (5 goals).
PSG have not taken any points against Monaco this year and even conceded in passing their sixth defeat of the season, including the third at home.
And the Monegasques owe it a lot to the nerve of their coach.