Club World Cup: A look at Paris Saint-Germain's outstanding tactics at this summer's competition

Goal kick for Paris Saint-Germain. The opponent decides to move up the pitch to try to inhibit the passing from the back. Despite the pressure, Luis Enrique's team almost always manage to evolve by passing from foot to foot to get into attack at speed.

This scenario was common throughout 2024-25. Whether in France or Europe, the Parisians won every title they competed for this season. To cap off their best year on a high note, all that remains is the Club World Cup final.

Chelsea will be the last rival to try to stop a seemingly unbeatable PSG. If Enzo Maresca decides to opt for a high-pressing approach, the Blues need to be aware that the Spanish coach has different ways of responding. In this analysis, Trivela reveals the Parisians' secret.

PSG's style of play has been outstanding this summer

Driven by positional play, Luis Enrique has strengthened his PSG after the departure of Kylian Mbappe thanks to teamwork: everyone, without exception, participates in the offensive build-ups and defensive recomposition.

Another important detail is that the coach is a problem-solver. The Spanish club's Parisians adapt to each opponent's marking style. Whether with one, two, three, or four forwards pressing, Luis Enrique will try to create numerical superiority to play through the goalkeeper.

But having an extra player is not enough. The Parisians move tirelessly around the field to confuse their markers. A defensive midfielder can drop back into the first line, while a full-back can drop inside and occupy his space.

Or the "centre-forward" - who functions more like a false nine - can break away from the defenders to get closer to the centre circle. This is all to escape the opponents' pressing and play from foot to foot.

In short, if the pressure is man-to-man, PSG's constant movement will disrupt the opponent's system. If the opponent closes down the passing lanes by sector, the Parisians will try to close in to create numerical superiority for one-twos.

Is it possible to nullify Luis Enrique's system?

Like any football system, there are loopholes. In the World Cup quarter-finals, for example, Bayern Munich gave PSG a hard time by pushing up their defence and constantly pressing the ball out.

The Bavarians' attack pursued the Parisians' ball-handler and reduced the space to make low passes more difficult. Vincent Kompany's full-backs moved forward to close down Luis Enrique's wingers. Even one of the Germans' defenders marked the French midfield.

As a result, Bayern Munich regained possession in the final third on 10 occasions. PSG, in turn, failed to complete 22% of their passes in defence due to being forced into errors.

The Bavarians' physical effort meant the Parisians had relatively little possession in defence (40% of the time) and in midfield (also 40%). The French attacking efforts against the Germans accounted for just 19%.

How did PSG qualify?

Even with such tactical effort, Bayern Munich failed to convert their ball steals into goals. And pressing so aggressively takes its toll: at some point, the players will tire, because they cannot maintain such an intense pace for the entire 90 minutes.

It is worth noting that PSG managed to escape this unfavourable situation by changing direction. If progress on the ground was not possible, the Spanish coach encouraged his players to play long balls toward the wings to exploit the space behind their opponent.

In a post-match press conference, Luis Enrique admitted that the Bavarians "were the opponents who most closely resembled" his ideology against the Parisians. In this situation, what made the difference was their efficiency in possession.

Each one with their own philosophy

PSG have a well-defined identity. If their opponents believe that pressing the Parisians' ball outplay is not working, another option is to hand the ball over and compact their lines - and that is exactly what Botafogo did.

In the Club World Cup group stage, Renato Paiva did not step up the defence. Glorioso defended well and crowded the midfield to prevent the Parisians from advancing towards goal.

Botafogo's match was perfect, not only because they had an impenetrable defence, but also mounted a deadly counter-attack to win 1-0 - earning praise from the PSG coach.

On the other hand, Real Madrid also decided not to score in the tournament's semi-final, but ended up being thrashed 4-0. The excess space and passive marking proved to be a real boon for the Parisians.

Therefore, Chelsea can either press forward to press the ball out or retreat to wait for PSG to advance. The Blues' choice does not matter. The key is to be impeccable in their strategy - because PSG will be.

This article was originally published on Trivela.

Written by
Matt Law