📊 Inter knew how to hurt PSG, but got swept aside ✍ | OneFootball

In modern football, every detail is studied on video, supported by data, and analyzed with almost manic care. That's why it's surprising - and not a little - that Inter, despite knowing perfectly well what the PSG's most lethal weapon under Luis Enrique was, not only failed to defuse it but actually ended up fueling it.

In European competition, PSG has become the symbol of intensity. No one knows how to attack high and do it consistently like they do: a frightening statistic - detected by The Athletic from the Opta database - that of passes per defensive action (PPDA), which measures how many passes the opponent manages to complete before the Parisians regain possession.

Over the past seven years, the transformation has been radical: from the 20-15 PPDA of the Tuchel, Pochettino, and Galtier eras to the impressive value of less than 10 under Luis Enrique's guidance. In practice, the opponent loses the ball at the ninth/tenth pass: either due to a forced error or the PSG's fierce pressing.

This scenario has repeated itself in all Champions League games, including the final: PSG's attackers and full-backs throw themselves at the opponent's ball carriers with determination, often in pairs, leaving very few options. The result? Either possession is lost immediately, or a long pass is forced, which regularly ends up in the hands of the Parisians.

This suffocating pressing is made possible by the extraordinary spirit of sacrifice of players like Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia, Doué, Hakimi, and others. Their dedication to chasing every ball and closing every passing line creates an environment where opponents struggle to breathe, forced to make hasty and often wrong decisions.

Inter knew this perfectly, yet did nothing to counter it. On the contrary, they ended up playing right into PSG's hands, adopting an approach that facilitated the Parisian pressure and allowed Luis Enrique's men to crush them without difficulty. Then, of course, games are also decided by episodes, and going down by two goals in the first twenty minutes completely threw Inter off balance.

Fabio Capello, speaking to Sky Sport, asked Inzaghi for explanations on this very topic, to which he replied: "We played as we always know how to play, they always arrived first on the second balls in a clean way, in 1vs1 they are the first in Europe...".

Inter collapsed under the weight of what they already knew. No countermeasures, no plan B, just the illusion of being able to withstand the impact of PSG. In vain.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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