If Paris Saint-Germain saved the furniture at the Parc des Princes against Newcastle on Tuesday evening, the Parisians will nevertheless have to play without Ousmane Dembélé against Dortmund during the next day of the Champions League. A hard blow for Luis Enrique.
Scorer against AS Monaco in the league on Friday and the most dangerous and serious offensive player in the Parisian attack against Newcastle on Tuesday evening in the Champions League, Ousmane Dembélé will unfortunately not be able to be present on December 13, against his former team Borussia Dortmund. Indeed, the former FC Barcelona player will not set foot on the lawn of Signal Iduna Park for the 6th and final day of Group F. Paris Saint-Germain will therefore have to cope without one of its offensive executives who started, week after week, to gain confidence and consistency in his performances, as evidenced by his first goal in Parisian colors in Ligue 1 against the Monegasques. Against the Magpies at the Parc des Princes, Dembélé received a yellow card, synonymous with suspension for the next C1 match due to an accumulation of warnings.
“I wanted to recruit him when he was at Rennes but he didn't want to come to Barça because there was a lot of competition. He's a different, unique player. He always asks for the ball, he is never afraid to do things, accepts criticism. It's a chance to have a player like him. He is different from Barça because here he does not only play on the side but also in the center. He generates so much for the team that assists or goals don't matter. “He’s the most unbalanced player in the world ,” Luis Enrique explained at length at a press conference on Monday before the match against Newcastle. But against Borussia Dortmund on December 13, the Spanish coach will not be able to count on his beloved protégé whom he has never stopped defending since his signing with the Rouge et Bleu.
Which device with which players?
The first question to ask concerns the formation that Luis Enrique will choose between a classic 4-3-3 by digitally replacing Dembélé, an ultra offensive 4-2-4 playing on the imbalance or a 4-4-2 a little stretched with high wingers. It's now an open secret: the Spanish coach has never been afraid to test, experiment and try very different tactical schemes - with varying degrees of success. He also said on this subject: “It’s not an easy answer. To be able to explain myself, I need time. The tactical design makes sense but no team in the world plays 4-2-4, 3-5-2 because it changes depending on where the ball is. For us, at the start of the construction, we play in 4-3-3, when we approach the transmission phase at the halfway line, we are in 3-4-3 and when we arrive at the conclusion phase, it is another provision. Our position changes depending on our position, with or without the ball it's the same thing. It also depends on where our opponent is ,” he explained at a press conference in Poissy on Monday.
Then, once the system has been chosen and installed, Luis Enrique will have to ask himself which players will need to be aligned around Kylian Mbappé. Several options are possible, starting with Randal Kolo Muani or Gonçalo Ramos positioned in a classic role of number 9. To continue the fundamental offensive work on the flanks and to come to the aid of Achraf Hakimi, the native of Gijon will have to make a difficult choice between the international Espoir, Bradley Barcola, who also made a remarkable entry failing to be decisive against Newcastle with numerous missed opportunities, or the South Korean, Kang-in Lee in difficulty this evening but who scored a lot of points in the hierarchy during the month of November, posting nice statistics of 2 goals and 1 assist in 9 appearances in all competitions. The other possibility is to establish Gonçalo Ramos as number 9 and reposition Randal Kolo Muani on a wing. Several combinations are therefore possible and the Parisian staff will have to quickly think about it and above all hope that no physical problem is added to this plan... Because Dormund-Paris will take on the smell of a decisive final for PSG for qualification in 1/ 8th finals of the Champions League.