Heat Maps: A Quick Look at Kimpembe’s and Verratti’s Performance

In their 4-0 win over Olympique de Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain had outstanding performances individually. However, when looking at the heat maps which are courtesy of SofaScore, there are two that stand out. Amid Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappé scoring two goals, Presnel Kimpembe and Marco Verratti, were all over the field and either creating scoring chances or playing solid defense.

Let’s begin with Kimpembe, who, before the match against Marseille, was talking the talk. Playing up the rivalry by saying, “I will never set foot in Marseille,” so there were some eyes on the Frenchman.

The Heat Maps and Stats

The 24-year-old backed his talk but helping PSG pitch a clean sheet against their hated rival. Looking at the heat map, Kimpembe was all over the left side of the pitch.

Furthermore, he was arguably PSG’s best defender, statistically speaking, which allowed for Thiago Silva to have an easy-going type of night.

These are some numbers that can help explain why Kimpembe was able to have a solid performance against Marseille. In 90 minutes, Kimpembe had 121 touches; that’s the most from anyone on the backline, which lead to 101 accurate passes completed and 91.8% pass completion.

On the defensive side, Kimpembe led the squad with six clearances. Cleaning up any scoring chances Marseille was trying to create. Also, the French international prevented attackers from getting by him as he won four out of his five duels

Meanwhile, Verratti was in command of the midfield, and like Kimpembe, his dominance came from the left side. As per usual having a significant amount of the time with the ball at his feet, Verratti was able to generate a significant amount of offense from the midfield.

In 90 minutes, the 26-year-old had 117 touches to his credit, but it’s what he did with those touches that were impressive. Verratti was moving the ball, completing 91.4% of his passes, which included two key passes and one big chance created. All this led to Verratti lopping up a pass to set-up a header for Icardi’s second goal.

Final Thought

Although Mbappé and Icardi garnered the praise from most of the supporters and media, and rightfully so, the two scored two goals each in the first half. However, when looking at the heat maps and statistics, it’s hard to ignore the impact that Kimpembe and Verratti had.