TOPS
The Italian goalkeeper was once again imperious on his line this Friday, at Louis II, to allow PSG to leave the Rock with a draw (0-0). In the first half, he was the reason why the capital’s players managed to keep a clean sheet. From the first minutes, he won his duel against Balogun (4th), which allowed him to enter his match perfectly. He then disgusted the Monegasque attackers in turn. In the second half, he had fewer opportunities to work but he still remained vigilant, especially when leaving far from his goal.
If PSG did not exist offensively (or almost) in the first period, in the second act, everything was better. Even if this new momentum is also due to the decline in performance of the Monegasques, worn out by their efforts, the Parisian entrants have done the greatest good. Bradley Barcola, who replaced Marco Asensio (36th), brought depth and a little more speed than the Spaniard. Ousmane Dembélé and Nuno Mendes (entered in the 59th) have also greatly contributed to the new Parisian spirit by bringing percussion through their interval shots, not to mention Randal Kolo Muani, sent to the turbin from the restart instead by… Kylian Mbappé.
The French midfielder was one of the reasons for the Parisian offensive failure. Always placed in the right place to hinder the ball’s release, Youssouf Fofana was everywhere! With 16 balls recovered, it was often he who was at the start of Monegasque projections. Thanks to his high recoveries, his attackers only had to dive towards the opposing surface. In the second half, like his entire team, he paid for his efforts in the first act but did not hesitate until the end with good returns to relieve his defense. He was also very effective in his restarts with accurate passes which allowed lines to be broken quickly.
FLOPS
The Portuguese striker had difficulty influencing this meeting. Associated with Kylian Mbappé and Marco Asensio to start this game, Gonçalo Ramos had to step back next to these two players who tend to move towards the axis rather than staying glued to their line. Little found in the game either in support or in the area, the former Benfica player will not have had much to eat at the Stade Louis II. Despite a small number of balls touched, he still lost 9. He also missed too many passes (7/14) and won too few duels (3/6). To see if Luis Enrique will count on him at the kick-off of the match against Real Sociedad on Tuesday evening.
The Monegasque attackers are going to have a bad night, with Gianluigi Donnarumma no doubt haunting them. Captain Wissam Ben Yedder was flagged offside far too many times while the balls to his destination were almost all good. The French striker lost too many balls (11 in total). Folarin Balogun came up against Donnarumma several times and procrastinated too much in front of goal. He also lost a lot of balls (13). Takumi Minamino tried a lot of things but didn’t succeed that much. The Japanese was often caught by the defense when arming his shot and also had to bow to Donnarumma. He is one of the well-contained Monegasques (0/6 duels won) and like his offensive partners, he lost far too many balls (12).