PARIS -- Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique and his players have work to do in next week's UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg after the Spanish tactician made a raft of tactical changes which did not entirely work out on Wednesday. Although a 3-2 loss at Parc des Princes is not yet fatal to the French giants' hopes of reaching the semifinals, it is definitely now harder than it needed to be after allowing Raphinha a pair of preventable goals either side of Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha's efforts and Andreas Christensen's headed winner.
For the first 17 minutes of the second half, it looked as if Luis Enrique's changes were going to pay off after one slight correction to reverse the decision to start Marco Asensio. Bradley Barcola's introduction aiding a 134-second blitz on the Barca goal which saw PSG turn the game on its head. The problematic defensive combination of Lucas Beraldo with Lucas Hernandez and then Marquinhos did not work in either half and ultimately undid that spellbinding period of home dominance in Paris early in the second 45.
Arguably the most baffling decision of all, though, was to name Warren Zaire-Emery as a substitute instead of starting him. Although it was perhaps rooted in form-based logic, it also made the midfield trio of Vitinha, Lee Kang-in and Fabian Ruiz essentially an experimental one, which is not a recipe for success in a UCL quarterfinal. The fact that the France international was sent on for the Korean after an hour suggested that Luis Enrique eventually saw the need for his midfield lynchpin which once again reset the balance in a key position.
Dembele out wide instead of through the middle -- as has often been the case in some bigger games -- was an eyebrow raiser even if it did not prevent the French star from equalizing in spectacular style and later hitting the post at 2-2. The former Barca man was key in much of what Les Parisiens tried and was more regularly involved than Kylian Mbappe, but issues elsewhere on the field meant that Dembele was not the difference maker that he might have been had he been in a more influential central role from the start rather than only once Paris fell behind.
8-10 - In the 1st half, Paris took the first seven shots of the match, before Barcelona took 10 of the next 11. Changeover. #PSGBAR pic.twitter.com/frxLzzC0gF
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) April 10, 2024
This was perhaps down to Luis Enrique's gamble to deploy Asensio as a false nine which left the hosts with no real focal point in attack as evidenced by no major shots at goal from central positions. Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani were both unused substitutes until very late on in the Portugal international's case although a lack of cutting edge was evident from early. Asensio and Dembele bunched out wide and Mbappe did not move central enough at times to fill the void left by the Spaniard as he sought his more natural wide berth with the result intermittent attacking fluency.
"It was not the result that we wanted," admitted Luis Enrique. "We had a very good game against a very good opponent. We made the game a little complicated by conceding the first goal. They did not give the ball away and they played very well. We turned the game around in the second half and we had two chances to go 3-1 up, but then they scored a third goal. Everything is still open. We are going to go to Barcelona with lots of desire and ambition. For us, it will be a final and I have confidence in my team."
Strangely, the decision forced upon Luis Enrique -- Marquinhos rolling back the years to remind us of his versatility at right back -- was the one which worked the best and even that was reversed after just one half. Owing to a terrible showing from Lucas Beraldo alongside Lucas Hernandez in central defense, the France international switched with the captain to no avail at half time. Achraf Hakimi would not have transformed this back line into something more sound, but there would have been less chopping and changing which ultimately undid PSG twice from open play and it was little surprise that left back Nuno Mendes was the only defender who looked sure of his positioning.
Overall, like against Newcastle United early in the group stage as well as Milan away -- PSG's most recent defeat back in November before this one -- Luis Enrique made big decisions which did not pay off. This time it really could cost the Ligue 1 leaders because they must now go to Catalonia and win by more than one goal to advance to the semifinals, which had looked within reach ahead of the game. Whether the Spanish tactician's first leg setup would have been better suited for the second leg will only be answered by how Les Parisiens line up and perform next week.
