Dans l’idée d’apporter à nos lecteurs un contenu plus riche, nous avons eu l’idée de lancer A section analyzing the key plays in a match, whether for goals scored or conceded, or for great moves, near misses, and more. The goal is to determine the proportion of collective or individual success or error in each play. Here’s the new issue. This is a sequence of the 2-7 victory against Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 3 of the 2025-2026 Champions League. This is the red card and penalty conceded for the equalizer.
The situation when Bayer Leverkusen makes the “decisive header.”
For the moment, there is no danger. Willian Pacho (24-year-old defender) has just won an aerial duel after a 6-meter clearance and is now in front of the defense, covered by Vitinha (25-year-old midfielder), Nuno Mendes (23-year-old left-back), and Ilya Zabarnyi (23-year-old defender). Edmond Tapsoba (26-year-old Leverkusen defender) takes over in midfield and clears the ball with some power. Logically, the players closest to the ball’s destination head there.
The situation when the ball enters the Parisian box.
The ball now enters the box, and PSG doesn’t necessarily seem to be in danger, even if it’s not ideal. Zabarnyi is ahead, and Nuno Mendes could close down in front of Christian Kofane (19-year-old striker). Except he’s dropping behind, perhaps because he has a lot of trust in his teammate. Perhaps a bit out of “relaxation” too, feeling that it’s a bit “easy.”
It would have been wiser to play to the end and pass in front of Kofane to hinder his progress. The Portuguese instead pushes him from behind. This is dangerous, as there’s a possibility of a foul. Also, it seems to give a little boost to get past Zabarnyi.
Especially since the latter seems to be trying to manage his opponent’s run. He’s not rushing towards the ball. The defender seems to be expecting Lucas Chevalier (23-year-old goalkeeper) to intervene.
This is a key point in this play: the ball is coming from quite far and high, without the extreme speed and good visibility to intervene. Chevalier could have simply been there, at least at the penalty spot, to win the ball back easily. Even there, he still looks like he has time to get out. Throughout the entire play, it’s even clearer. But he’s falling back.
We can think of a lack of confidence, but also of communication and reflexes (perhaps concentration), since the defenders aren’t doing their best to play the ball. Zabarnyi is at fault in the end, but he’s far from being the only one responsible.
