Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier surprised many on Ligue 1 matchday 18. After three straight matches where he rolled with a 4-3-1-2 setup, Galtier decided to have his team play under a 3-4-2-1 formation against Angers, as Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos led PSG’s backline in the contest.
Galtier has not shied away from making notable tactical changes for matches this season. This time around, his call to have PSG play in a three-at-the-back setup was due to what he saw from his squad over the collective training sessions on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the Ligue 1 match.
“The last two sessions, Monday and Tuesday, we worked on our game plan both offensively and defensively,” Galtier said during his post-match press conference. “I quickly realized yesterday that what I wanted to put in place was not going to be possible.
“We worked a lot with the staff yesterday in order to find the best option against Angers considering our state of form. I talked about it quickly with my managers and the rest of the team to tell them that we were going to play in a different way than the one we had prepared. … I put the team back into a system where they had been performing very well for weeks and in big games early in the season. It was the story of one game, but it’s also important for my players as well as me and my staff to have that ability, that ability to change systems depending on how the game is going.”
Although PSG comfortably maintained possession for much of the match, it only tallied nine total shots in the contest. In the end, goals from Hugo Ekitike and Lionel Messi were all that PSG needed to secure its 15th win of the Ligue 1 season.
PSG has now recorded 47 points through 18 league matches played this season.
