Enrique turned on magic after Mbappe left, activate Dembele and signing are key

After Paris swept Inter Milan 5-0 to win the championship in the Champions League final, this time the Club World Cup stage had 5 clean sheets of opponents in 6 games, scoring 10 goals in 3 knockout rounds and conceding 0 goals.

Paris was not that strong at first, and Enrique's team lost to Atletico Madrid, Bayern and Arsenal in the Champions League round. However, after Dembele served as the fake nine and bought Kvaratshelia in the winter window, Paris was reborn, and at the same time, it successfully revenges three opponents that have defeated themselves this season and move towards the glory of the seven-champion champion.

01. Enrique gave up the center and relied on pseudo-nine: improve the offensive and defensive conversion speed

a. He was once hung on the line in the Champions League: he had no points to get the upper hand, and Paris could not break the bus

After Mbappe left, Enrique immediately found a way to play Ligue 1. As a replacement for Mbappe, Barkola brought a speed advantage on the left side, sharply tearing the opponent's defense line, allowing Paris to win easily.

However, when coming to the Champions League, once the opponent focuses on defense or strengthens strength confrontation, it will be difficult for Paris Saint-Germain, which lacks strength points in the whole team, to win. The 1-2 victory at home and the 1-1 draw with Eindhoven are excellent examples. In the battle with Atletico Madrid, Paris led 22-4 with a ball possession rate of 71%. It was expected to score 2.12-0.67 and was 3.2 times the opponent's goal, but was defeated by Atletico Madrid at the last moment.

Although Enrique had given up on the center at that time and asked Asensio to fight the fake nine. However, Asensio's shooting efficiency was very low, which also became a pain point for the Paris team at that time.

This time it was Barcola's cross-triangle, but Asensio actually kicked the ball empty without anyone watching. In the attack after

, Marginhos made a straight pass, and Ashraf stepped forward and faced the goalkeeper, but he was unable to cross Aubrak's ten fingers.

Even in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout stage, Paris once again encountered a "ghostly wall". They almost completely suppressed Liverpool's siege, but they suffered a 0-1 defeat when they shot 28 to 2 and a positive shot of 9 to 1.

For Paris, what they need is who can help the team take a 1-0 lead. Because of Enrique's tactics, the team has strong control in the middle circle. As long as you lead, Paris has a lot of speed points, and counterattacks can go higher and higher, making it difficult for the opponent to turn the tables. But if Paris doesn't score, there will still be loopholes in the defense line.

b. Dembele went to play the pseudo-9: the offense suddenly became clear.

The turning point of Paris Saint-Germain came from Dembele being placed in the pseudo-9 position, which also became the key to the team's complete transformation in 2025. Dembele's data before 2025 (that is, the second half of 2024) is 8 goals and 5 assists.

However, after entering 2025, Dembele handed over a report card with 27 goals and 9 assists (a total of 35 goals and 14 assists this season), not only rushing to the Golden Ball Awards, but also leading Paris into a team of kings.

More importantly, Dembele contributed 8 goals and 6 assists in the Champions League this season, with only 1163 minutes, of which 8 goals and 5 assists came from 2025, becoming the team's first hero and leader in winning the championship.

is like a goal against Manchester City. Paris once fell behind 0-2 at home. Once it lost, it is very likely that it will miss the playoffs of the Champions League knockout stage.

As a result, Dembele, who came on as a substitute, sounded the counterattack horn to get two and four. Balcola started to make a quick breakthrough, and Dembele had to do not do very hard in front of the goal. But he calmly paused, used the rhythm to play with the defender, and then scored a steady shot, making people feel that Dembele was different.

When Dembele was initially asked to play the pseudo-nine, Kvaratskhelia was placed on the right winger and used Balcola on the left. Later, Enrique slowly promoted young player Douai to the right, further enhancing control in the middle circle (Duai is more like a front midfielder), allowing Kvaratshelia to go to the left to serve as a small fulcrum.

Demberle has a large range of movement in the middle. He can retreat at any time to get the ball and organize the attack. After passing the ball, he can run back to the core area to complete the shooting and encirclement.

The key is that Dembele can send high-quality passes on both feet without being restricted by angles, which makes it difficult for the opponent to guard against, and makes it easy for Paris' wings to take off, fully releasing the advantages of Mendes, Ashraf and the winger group.

Dembele's pseudo-90% masterpiece naturally brought Paris away in the Champions League knockout match, defeating Liverpool and Arsenal 1-0 with 2. This is a victory with extremely high value, and it also shows that Dembele's pseudo-9 team is extremely high.

The key is that these 1-0 wins in these two games, Dembele retreated and organized the passes in the middle circle, and then scored by himself. Especially during the advancement, Dembele's passing quality was very high. He attracted central defenders and midfielders, but he could release the team's wing speed advantage, which is very rare.

From the whole process of scoring, Dembele can clearly see from the connection organization during offense and defense conversion to the speeding straight pass pass, and then to running back to Liverpool's penalty area and becoming an arrow, reflecting the essence of the pseudo-nine to the fullest.

02. Say goodbye to Mbappe: Paris's full attack and all defense start with high pressure

a. If Mbappe is in Paris: high pressure

After coming to Real Madrid this season, more and more fans have begun to pay attention to Mbappe's slackness on the defensive end. His high-pressing frequency at the frontcourt was even one-third of that of his teammate Wennie Hughes, and nearly one-half of veteran Lewandows.

In fact, Paris was able to truly implement high-level pressing after Mbappe left and play what Enrique wanted.

You can see from the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season when Paris lost to Dortmund. This time Paris wants to press at a high position, but Mbappe has been walking in the frontcourt. He did not press Dortmund's ball point in time to allow the opponent to easily launch a long pass.

The problem is that after Paris won the first point, he turned around on the spot. As a result, the lazy Mbappe was in an offside position because he did not come back in time, resulting in the opportunity to counterattack disappearing.

Including the fact that Paris was defeated by Dortmund, the opponent's goal was precisely because Mbappe did not participate in the pressing. After Schlottbeck got the ball, Mbappe moved lazily and did not put any real pressure. He was easily removed by the opponent and directly kicked the ball to the backcourt, bringing center Phil Kruger's goal.

At that time, many people would excuse Mbappe, saying that the striker's first responsibility was not pressing and defense. The problem is that under Paris's style of play, when the overall formation tightens and pressures the opponent, the forward will not participate in the pressing, which will easily lead to the opponent's long pass.

In the match between Club World Cup and Paris, Real Madrid's third goal was typical. With Enrique's strikeless style, the goal from the backcourt + speed from the wing will be very important.

Real Madrid pressed Paris' midfielder and forced the opponent to pass the goalkeeper back, but Mbappe would not put pressure on Donnarumma, resulting in the opponent being able to pass the ball easily to Ashraf, giving him a chance to start. If Mbappe runs two steps, Donnarumma will not be able to pass it to Ashraf, and there is no way to talk about the goal.

This is the impact of Mbappe on a team. As long as there is Mbappe in the team, you should give up pressing at a high position and reclaim the formation as much as possible and wait for a counterattack opportunity.

Alonso made a rash move, which led to Paris's goal, which also brought the score to 3-0, and the game suspense disappeared.

b. Dembele's defensive attitude: he can publish a book

in the round of the Club World Cup with Bayern. Enrique let Dembele come on as a substitute when the team is a bit tight. After he appeared, Paris's formation switched between 451 and 442 at one point.

The first thing Dembele needs to do is to keep grabbing Neuer, who frequently goes out of the penalty area and takes the ball to attack. At that time, Neuer's ball holding and long pass could accurately find the winger of his side, giving Bayern a formation, and Paris was under great pressure from the backcourt.

As a result, as soon as Dembele appeared, he almost intercepted the ball and scored an empty goal. On the one hand, Neuer's physical fitness was consumed, and on the other hand, he forced Bayern to give up his radical tactics and dared not let Neuer easily go out of the penalty area to control the ball. The pressure on Paris's defense line was greatly alleviated.

In the Champions League final, Dembele also frantically pressed Inter goalkeeper Sommer, disrupting the opponent's pace of shooting in the backcourt. Dembele was very fast and his pressing was extremely sudden.

At the same time, Dembele can play both feet, and his opponent dare not be too arrogant. All of the above makes Dembele's value as a pseudo-nine participating in high-level pressing become even greater.

The first goal against Real Madrid in the Club World Cup can be said to be the perfect embodiment of Dembele's combination of offense and defense as the pseudo-Nine. This time he first retreated to catch the ball and organized the attack, and then passed the ball to Douai, Dembele ran back to the penalty area.

Even though Asensio intercepted Douai's cross, Dembele started too fast and came to Asensio in an instant to intercept the ball. It's hard to say that Asensio was a serious mistake, but Dembele's speed and his anti-snatch awareness brought opportunities and eventually assisted Ruiz to break the deadlock.

03. After Mbappe left the team, Paris bought a pair of golden boys and K77

a. Say goodbye to Mbappe: Paris exchanged a pair of golden boys

. Compared with last season, the main changes in the lineup came from buying Neves and Douai, the two golden boys, as well as Kvaratshelia (K77) bought in the winter window.

Duai and Neves provide strong center-circle ball control advantages, making Dembele's pseudo-Nine more valuable. In addition, the Paris full-back can also retract in any time and become a part of the central circle, which also allows Enrique's team to have a ball possession rate of up to 70% during strong dialogues.

On the other hand, Kvaratskhelia's enlistment is a small fulcrum in the frontcourt that can provide strength and breakthroughs. Originally, the Paris attack line was too light and lacked the intensity of confrontation, and it was also alleviated by the arrival of Kvaratskhelia.

By comparison, Neves is one of the most underrated players in Paris. First of all, he has good foot skills, can control the ball and transfer the ball, and is also very talented in passing.

What's even more rare is that Neves has strong running ability and good fighting temperament. He can even complete some key steals after running wildly for 90 minutes.

This time facing Bayern, Kane was originally an opportunity to counterattack, but Neves intercepted the ball one-on-one and counterattacked on the spot. Douai was able to score from a long shot, so he had to thank Neves for stepping forward in the wing of the penalty area and then sending back the pass in time.

The same is true this time. Mbappe took the ball in the penalty area. He wanted to spike the ball out, but Neves, who moved quickly, made the ball accurately and broke it.

Neves can run and run. With such a large amount of running, the accuracy of footwork is still very high, and it will not be deformed due to technical movements after running. This is very valuable.

Of course, there is also Douai, and this young man is likely to win the 2025 Golden Boy Award. Although his performance in the game was unstable, Douai scored a surprising shot from time to time.

This genius with a big heart, like Yamal, is also a big surprise for Paris this season.

b. K77 is a small fulcrum: on the way to Paris' rise, another key point is to buy Kvaratshelia. Not only is he a small fulcrum, he can directly receive a long pass to hit the opponent's defense depth, but also Kvaratskhelia can retreat deeply.

With this player, Paris' offense and defense conversion is sharper, and its defense is more stable, and it truly achieves an offense and defense integration. It has to be said that Enrique and Paris are also inseparable from the planning of director Campos..

After defeating Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayern and Real Madrid, Paris's next goal is to win the Club World Cup final with Chelsea and the European Super Cup final with Tottenham.

Then we will also look forward to Paris next season with Barcelona. This may be the only one among the giant teams who has not competed with Paris. I don’t know if Yamal can break Mendes’ defense.

Conclusion:

On the way to become stronger, Enrique's tactical layout, Campos's vision of signings, and Dembele's talent are indispensable. Of course, I also have to thank Mbappe for his departure, which solved the biggest tactical bottlenecks and problems.

However, this team is still quite dependent on Dembele. Without Dembele, the control in the middle circle will decline. How to ensure that Dembele is healthy next season, especially in the Champions League knockout stage, will be the most important task.

(Himu)