ATLANTA VS PSG .

 atlanta played PSG in the first Q/F of the ucl . this is the first knockout tournament . the game can be summed up in one sentence that the team playing better football lost to the team who had better individual players . although atlanta lost the game but gasperini's stock had rosen quite well . gasperini's team showed the way ball needs to be played and the style that led to their rise was the reason for their downfall but all and all they believed in their system and they stuck to that note for the full 90 min gasperini's only mistake that the some subtle changes that he needed were not done by him . when the game was in the last quarter at that time he needed to just change the gears because the way they were operating was going to cause them problems but then it was a good match . 

atlanta started the game with their usual 3-4-1-2 formation while psg started with 4-3-3 formation but sarabia kept on dropping leaving neymar and icardi upfront . in my last post i had talked the space between the lines and the understanding between the players . atlanta displayed that perfectly . the differene between their lines was not more that 12-15 yards . the players seem to know their roles and they even played better in one on one situation coming out on top in that one . atlanta play a very compact game which allows them  to press whenever they loose the ball but because of which they have to play a high line just so that they can apply a proper press to the opposition . now this can work both ways you can recover the ball and deny opposition the space but at the same time when the opposition can somehow beat the press or there are players like neymar who can dribble past players with ease it gives them spaces beyond the last line to exploit . 

the game was nothing but full atlanta team against neymar . psg's who offense depended on neymar getting the ball and then taking on the whole atlanta team . touchel was asked the other day by somebody as to why psg not scoring enough goals . i think the answer lies in the fact that the who offense depends on neymar and how well he can do against the opposition . i think touchel wants to recreate what  gaurdiola created for messi at barcelona  . the difference is the understanding by the players and the player himself . the education that gaurdiola gave messi in that time had helped messi to be the player he today is .  also the understanding of the situation and what he should do and the spaces that he can operate and the way other team mates would position themselves around him made that team special . here touchel has a player neymar who has messi's dribbling qualities but touchel hasnt been able to teach him the proper decision making process as to what the team should do and how they should help neymar operate better as well teaching neymar to how he should operate in various formations and situations . neymar was doing things alone but he and the other team mates didnt seem to be on the same page . in the first half he just tore atlanta apart by his dribbling skills but lack of finishing skill kept psg blank . 

atlanta just played their game . they played compact game . the reason that i said  they should had taken a different to the game in the second half was that .in the second half psg changed the approach with neymar coming deep and trying to release mbappe and others beyond the last line. in the first half itself neymar had shown that he can beat them in the foot race . so mbappe is a notch better than neymar in the foot race . when mbappe came atlanta had changed their approach and had gone conservative by substituting gomez for a defensive midfielder but they kept on playing a high line and trying to congest psg . instead they should had dropped deep let neymar and mbappe come on them and then try to contain them instead of trying to win ball off them . i had already written as to how deal with such good dribblers in my earlier posts . you have to be patient . against good players and if you make a mistake then they will punish you . 

why i laud about gasperini was that in the second half after taking the lead the italian in gasperini got awaken and he went conservative . but this approach was backfiring because zapata was all on his own upfornt  and he didnt had any support and psg kept winning the ball back easily off him . so he again changed the approach and brought muriel in support of zapata and changed to two upfront . this did change some things and they could keep and move the ball better . his tactical acumen is good and had a good brain for the game . while on the other hand i dont think touchel will be in his job for long .his tactical acumen is stupid and i dont think he has a good game sense . how can he keep his mouth shut and chew gum when he should be instructing his players as to what they need to improvise .