Paris Saint-Germain claimed a 1-0 win in the first stage of the semi-final of the Champions League with Arsenal.
After just four minutes, Ousmane Dembele struck with an excellent first finish to give the French side the advantage of taking back to the Parc des Princes next week.
In the last episode of Tactics Exposed, Sunssport's Dean Scoggins ran the rule about the Emirates collision – and chose five important tactical talk points …
The game went as I expected – I thought PSG was the better side and their plan came out better.
But we should not overlook the missing Thomas Partey factor – he will be great in the second stage.
Both keepers made large saves.
The last ten minutes were the key: if PSG took one of those late chances, we would talk about a real, real tough fight for Arsenal.
The Gunners remained in it, created their own opportunities and it was a great watch.
1. Ou La La
I said in the preview tactics that were exposed to show that one of the midfielders would fall into the defense, Achraf would go out Hakimi, Nuno Mendes pushed out and they pulled the press deep before Dembele fell to collect, turn and go.
They did it four or five times and it was only in the break that Arsenal worked it out.
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After Declan Rice and Mikel Merino have dragged the allowed space for the false No9 in between and receives the ball in areas where he cannot be marked – Dembele was brilliant in the first half.
Someone – William Saliba or Jakub Kiwior – has to go out with Dembele, he cannot get the freedom of emirates in midfield.
Then with the goal Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has the width, but Jurrien Timber remains narrow before he makes it skilled on the edge of the area.
Declan Rice is going to double, Saliba is free, but Merino comes back in the box for the shot – but the Spaniard does not leave the room.
Rice is damned if he does that, damn if he doesn't – Merino is the one who does not do and covers the work of the midfielder.
Dembele's small side step left of him was also genius.
2. Timberrrr!
Timber had a very tough night and made four errors in the first 20 minutes and did not get a yellow card.
The referee was very bad for both teams and did not help the game like a spectacle.
PSG do you force full -backs to insulate with wing players – are you going to be busy or keep you off?
It was not only Timber's fault, because PSG's midfield was a diamond shape and the midfield of Arsenal was not sure who should block the track.
After those mistakes, Bukayo Saka did an excellent job by entering the touchline to help, but that also meant that Saka was not in the position he wants to be when Arsenal resident the ball.
Of the attacks of Arsenal, 44 percent came along the right, but only ten percent of their shots came from that channel.
PSG Hunger Saka in the position he liked to pick up because wood had a hard time.
3. Un Petit Frere
Vitinha was absolutely fantastic.
At every level of football from Grassroots to Elite, you can see when a midfielder performs the game at their pace and at least the first 30 minutes, Vatinha did that.
If he wanted to slow it down, he would. If he wanted to touch Arsenal quickly, scared, they were on the attack.
Vitinha actually had a similar number of touches such as the anonymous Martin Odegaard, but it was the areas he got the ball and acted as the bouncing man.
In the structure of the goal, he got his body on the road to ping the ball back to the defense and that kind of game is incredible.
It was as if PSG had 12 men.
When they are three at the back, with three arsenal men who press, he makes it four for a 4V3.
Then he goes to midfield, Arsenal drops in a 4-4-2 form and he makes it a five in midfield for PSG.
When they attack, five continue with only ahead with only four defenders and he is the one who participates.
He is the overload man in all three areas and was the best player on the field, especially in the first half.
Vitinha joins the game. He is a genius.
He is as Alexis Mac Allister on the Ball and Dominik Szoboszlai van de Bal.
Arsenal has to find out how he can get him in the second stage.
4. Ode oh honey
I am not sure what is going on with Odegaard for the last ten or 12 games – his level has really been dropped off.
He trusts Saka who extends the game to give him space that I have already explained was not the case, but he had a really free night on the biggest evening of the season.
Arsenal has leaders throughout the field, but for me Rice should be a captain.
Odegaard has had the press wrong against PSG, the team is following his trigger and he has been brilliant in it for years and it is how Arsenal can set up in a 4-4-2 possession.
But on Tuesday he continued at the wrong time because Vitinha dragged him into positions that he did not want to be in the spaces opened in midfield – where the goal came from.
Odegaard got stuck in half no.
5. Raya Hope
The rescue of Desire Doue when he became low to the right … Incredible stop.
Gianluigi Donnarumma made two world class saves on the other side, but Raya was crucial for Arsenal.
What he also did was take almost all their free kicks in their own half to half the line – it was almost old school that sent it for a long time.
People can criticize Longball tactics, but it was the right tactic because PSG was vulnerable with the diagonal long ball and the bouncing ball that came from the excellent distribution of Raya.
It forced the opportunities, they could have scored and it also led to corners where we know that Arsenal is dangerous.
Apart from that, Arsenal wore the ball really well and he came out of the positions to feed Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was excellent again, his an-V-One defend and duels are almost everyone I have seen in that position for years.
Hakimi got very little joy in duels against him and where wood could not figure out what to do with Kvaratskhelia, Lewis-Skelly did Miles better with Doue and Hakimi.
That forced Doue to come in, so Lewis-Skelly came in and vice versa and strengthened the number of Arsenal in the middle.
This is 1-0, it is half time and this is not done.