Three weeks waiting for the return. It is difficult to try to draw conclusions from the games that PSG have played since the first leg against Madrid. The results, with one victory and two defeats, have not been positive, but surely this must be attributed to the lack of motivation with which Pochettino’s squad faced them. Even the fact of visiting second-placed Nice last Saturday was not an extra incentive for a squad that knows that it will be judged by what happens at the Bernabéu. The Argentine coach lined up a very different team on the Costa Azul from the one that will compete in the Spanish capital today: he kept Kimpembe and Nuno Mendes and also had the absences of Mbappé due to suspension and Achraf and Paredes due to physical problems. Neymar and Messi, yes, were starters, but they suffered to generate scoring chances against the very good defensive block raised by Galtier. The final 1-0 reduced the difference between the two teams to twelve points, a cushion that explains why the Parisians could afford this defeat.
The importance of Mbappé. That the great Parisian figure arrives with discomfort to the decisive duel is, obviously, a matter of great importance. Even in a context of minor importance like the one that has been experienced in these three games, it has been possible to appreciate the difference between a PSG with him and without him. In the only victory of this series, 3-1 against Saint-Étienne, he scored two great goals and signed a prodigious assist. In Nice he was missed, especially for his ability to eliminate rivals while driving starting from outside areas. If they didn’t see him fit at the last minute, Pochettino’s solution would be to repeat Saturday’s attack: Neymar on the left, Di María on the right and Messi as a false centre-forward. With Mbappé recovered, the Argentine ex-Madrid would be the one who would fall.
Filtered passes from Messi. The current Ballon d’Or is being judged harshly in the French press. It is considered that his season does not live up to what his fame and talent foreshadowed. In the first leg against Madrid, in its very influential notes section, L’Équipe gave him a 3 out of 10, punishing him especially for the error in the penalty saved by Courtois. However, that same day he signed two passes into space that left Mbappé and Neymar alone against the Belgian goalkeeper. Two great actions that did not become assists only because his teammates did not end them in goals. In the following league match, a 3-1 loss at Nantes, he gave the Brazilian the only Parisian goal. And against Saint-Étienne he did the same twice with two fantasy passes for Mbappé. That is, even when his physical ability prevents him from being decisive, he still has the quality to find almost impossible gaps to enable others.
Variation in the middle. Although Paredes, like Achraf, is already available, Pochettino could change the midfield compared to the first leg. The Senegalese Gueye would enter for the Argentine, delaying his position Danilo Pereira to position himself as a positional midfielder. Verratti would continue to occupy the most offensive role of the midfield trio. This structure would allow PSG to be a more physical team to try to stifle Madrid’s ball outflow.