Paris Saint-Germain took care of business on Ligue 1 matchday 25, as it clinched a 3-0 away win against Olympique de Marseille. Kylian Mbappe led the way for PSG in the match with two goals scored, while Lionel Messi chipped in with a goal and a pair of assists.
PSG manager Christophe Galtier played his side under a 3-5-2 formation against Marseille, and he called on Marco Verratti, Vitinha, and Fabian Ruiz to anchor the team’s midfield setup in the contest. Vitinha and Ruiz orchestrated arguably the most potent showings of their run at PSG, as they combined for 14 ground duels won and nine successful tackles against Marseille.
In his post-match press conference, Galtier took some time to laud Ruiz and Vitinha for making life easier for both Messi and Mbappe in the fixture.
“And with the absence of Ney, we have densified our midfield,” Galtier said. “As much as it is an interesting system, we need to have midfielders who can recover the ball but also project themselves forward.
“In this sense, Vitinha and Ruiz projected themselves where they had to project themselves, and this allowed Leo and Kylian to find interesting spaces.”
Vitinha and Ruiz each recorded a hockey assist in the match. The Portuguese midfielder was influential in PSG’s first goal of the contest, as he picked out Messi in the middle third, and the Argentine went on to assist Mbappe for the opener. On the other hand, it was Ruiz who pushed up play into Marseille’s own half in the sequence that culminated in Mbappe’s second goal of the match.
PSG currently sits atop the Ligue 1 standings with 60 points through 25 matches played.
