Quite why Paris Saint-Germain would need a break to face a Lens side that had last played on the same day as them wasn’t immediately clear – they admittedly had three Champions League games in quick succession but a huge squad costing near a billion euros should probably be in a better position than newly-promoted Lens to deal with fatigue.
In the weeks since then though, it’s become clearer that the delay may well have had more to do with a Covid-19 outbreak in PSG’s squad. Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, Mauro Icardi, Marquinhos and Keylor Navas were all missing from Thomas Tuchel’s selection, with the German forced into giving starts to youngsters Marcin Bulka, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Kays Ruiz-Atil in a 4-3-3 shape.
Franck Haise made three changes to the team that lost to Nice, bringing in Simon Banza, Manuel Perez and Issiaga Sylla in place of Florian Sotoca, Yannick Cahuzac and Ismaël Boura in their 3-4-1-2 formation.
With PSG having 78% of possession, the match generally fell into the same pattern of the champions having the ball and trying to break down a defensive home side, albeit never really having any success.
When in possession, PSG would drift away from their nominal 4-3-3 shape. Idrissa Gueye would drop back close to the centre-backs, allowing the full-backs to push forward. Playing on the right side, Layvin Kurzawa was always looking to cut inside onto his stronger left foot and rarely pushed far enough forward to provide width. Juan Bernat found it easier to push higher but Clément Michelin dealt with him well, helped by the greater defensive width a five-man backline provides.
This lack of width was a major problem for PSG, as it wasn’t coming from their forwards either. Ruiz-Atil was dropping off into central positions to pick up the ball between the lines, with Kalimuendo making use of this space to pull towards the left but still very much staying central, while Pablo Sarabia was pushing up to join him through the middle. Lens’ centre-backs were often trying to stick very tight to the PSG forwards, pushing forward and leaving gaps behind them, but PSG’s players rarely exploited these gaps with runs, and when they did Jean-Louis Leca was quick to rush out and collect the ball.
Marco Verratti was staying deep on the left to help move the ball forward, whereas Ander Herrera was pushing forward between the lines, in a position where he couldn’t help construct attacks but also didn’t attack the gaps his teammates created.
While their defence was well-stocked, Lens’ formation left just two men to cover the width of their midfield and Ruiz-Atil occasionally looked able to exploit this by drifting into a space behind Cheick Doucouré or Perez in the left inside channel. The midfielder would either have to move across and open up a gap in between him and his partner for a pass into the PSG forwards or leave Ruiz-Atil alone to receive the ball himself. This was rarely utilised though and, more often than not, PSG’s attacks were just quick one-twos around the crowded box that a Lens player would eventually get a foot to.
Although PSG weren’t helping themselves, Lens were defending solidly. It wasn’t just their back five and holding players, but also Gaël Kakuta, Ignatius Ganago and Banza showing a willingness to drop back and plug a gap in midfield as PSG advanced.
The home side had two main ways of attacking: long balls and pressing, which combined together well for the only goal of the game. The forwards would drop back as PSG advanced, but never too far, staying high enough to ensure Lens had a good counter-attacking set-up. All three forwards are quick and both Banza and Ganago are good at holding up the ball, so they could fight for long balls one-vs-one against Gueye and the two centre-backs whenever a Lens defender chipped one forward. The wing-backs would get up in support too, particularly Sylla, allowing them to outnumber PSG’s defence.
The two formations fit together perfectly to enable Lens’ pressing. The two strikers would press the centre backs, Kakuta would pick up Gueye and if the ball was played wide, Lens would tilt so that the closest wing-back would move forward to close him down while the other tucked inside to cover.
For the goal, Lens hit a long ball forward, which Thilo Kehler nodded back to Bulka, then the attackers pushed up to cut off the short options back out again. The goalkeeper played a sloppy short pass out to Verratti which was seized upon by Ganago to score his first goal in a Lens shirt.
Haise made small changes, switching to a 3-5-2 with the introduction of Cahuzac in place of Kakuta. This added an extra body to the defensive midfield as Lens looked to protect their lead, while substitutes Sotoca and Corentin Jean would generally drop off to block the passes into midfield rather than engaging the centre-backs as Banza and Ganago had done. Haise would soon reverse this change in shape with the addition of Tony Mauricio for Doucouré but it essentially solidified an already sturdy defence that PSG hadn’t looked like breaching.
It was exactly the kind of result Lens wanted as Ligue 1 football and their supporters were welcomed back to the Stade Bollaert, and exactly the kind PSG didn’t need as they wrestle with sickness in their squad ahead of a match against rivals Marseille on Sunday.
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