How Kane and Doue’s positioning helped propel PSG-Bayern into a Champions League classic

It would have been easy to write an article focussing on any of the six forwards that started in Paris Saint-Germain’s classic 5-4 victory against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night — that’s how good they were.

Harry Kane? Desire Doue? Michael Olise? Ousmane Dembele? Luis Diaz? Khvicha Kvaratskhelia? Take your pick.

In an enthralling semi-final encounter, PSG and Bayern’s attackers performed at the highest individual and collective level possible to bring us a Champions League classic that will live long in the memory.

“The reason why the game is the way it is is because every player we have on the pitch gives every chance to the forward line to be dangerous,” Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany told CBS Sports after the match. “Michael Olise needs the runs from the full-backs to create those chances, just like Doue needs the runs from (Achraf) Hakimi.

“It’s easy to say: ‘Okay, hold your full-backs back and you control the counter a little bit better’ but how much do you lose as well? We scored four. We felt we could have scored more and in the end, the game is still about scoring one more.”

Luis Enrique and Kompany didn’t hold their sides back, with man-to-man pressing, fluidity in possession and full-throttle transitions characterising the match.

“The way the two teams play, we knew the game was going to be open,” Kane told beIN Sports after the match. “There was going to be a lot of one-v-one battles across the pitch. When you look at both team’s attacks, it’s dangerous, it’s electric, it’s intense.”

In this type of game, the margins are minimal, but Kane and Doue in particular helped their team-mates, and especially their partners in the front line, to exploit them.

On paper, Doue was PSG’s right-sided winger but limiting Luis Enrique’s forwards to specific positions is a disservice to their flexibility on the ball.

As customary, Doue switched positions with Dembele throughout the match but he also roamed inside to overload the central areas and the left wing in an attempt to disrupt Bayern’s man-marking.

Here, Doue starts in a central position, with Alphonso Davies tracking his movement, but the France forward drops deeper and Bayern’s left-back is hesitant about following him.

This allows Doue to overload the central area,before roaming to the left wing to become a free passing option.

With Dayot Upamecano marking Kvaratskhelia and Josip Stanisic pressing Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes finds Doue in the space between them.

The impact of Doue’s roams and smart positioning was significant. It led to PSG’s first goal: the corner kick from which Neves scored the second and Kvaratskhelia’s strike which made it 4-2.

In the build-up to Kvaratskhelia’s first goal, Doue moves infield before switching positions with Dembele.

In the resultant two-v-two scenario down the near side, Doue fakes a run behind the defence before dropping to collect the ball from Mendes, which gives him a couple of yards’ advantage on Upamecano.

Kvaratskhelia then follows that with another double movement to trick Stanisic and Doue finds his run behind the defence.

In an isolated situation against a full-back, Kvaratskhelia needs no introduction.

He dribbles past Stanisic before curling the ball into the far corner.

Doue’s off-ball movement was vital on Kvaratskhelia’s other goal as well.

Here, with Vitinha in possession of the ball, he is in the right half-space and drops, dragging Konrad Laimer up the pitch and creating space for Hakimi to attack.

The timing of Hakimi’s run is in sync with Doue’s movement, leaving his supposed marker, Diaz, in no man’s land. Vitinha then finds the right-back’s run..

… and Hakimi plays the ball across goal for Kvaratskhelia to score, helped by Dembele’s dummy.

On the other hand, Kane empowered Bayern’s threat on the transitions with his deep positioning when his side were defending the ball.

It meant that when Bayern regained possession, they could quickly link with Kane to find Olise and Diaz’s runs.

In this example, Jamal Musiala wins the ball in midfield and Joshua Kimmich finds Kane on the transition.

Meanwhile, Olise dashes forward to attack the space, with PSG’s centre-backs unsure whether to move up and defend the England striker, or maintain their positions.

Willian Pacho tries to block the passing lane into Olise but Kane has enough time on the ball to find his right winger’s run. However, Olise’s shot is saved by the PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.

Kane’s deeper position during Bayern’s transitions played a role in the penalty which led to the opener and Diaz’s strike in the second half.

Here, on the counter-attack which led to Diaz being fouled in the 18-yard box, Kane is by the edge of Bayern’s penalty area when the Colombian is dribbling forward with the ball.

Diaz then passes the ball to Olise, with Kane’s deeper positioning putting him in space as PSG’s defensive line is retreating to defend the rest of Bayern’s forwards.

Olise then finds Kane, who plays the ball to Kimmich, forcing Marquinhos to maintain his high position.

Simultaneously, Olise and Diaz attack the central space before Bayern combine to find the latter, who is fouled by Pacho.

On the other goal, Kane drops to offer himself as a passing option once Upamecano dispossesses Kvaratskhelia.

Kimmich then finds Kane in space, with Neves not in a position to counter-press the centre-forward, who picks Diaz’s run behind the defence.

The Bayern man exquisitely controls the ball, throws a dummy to wrong-foot Marquinhos…

… and finishes the move by curling a shot into the back of the net.

How this iteration of PSG and Bayern play puts individual talent in the right framework to showcase its ability. In turn, it has resulted in one of the greatest matches in Champions League history.

The question, though, is what can we expect next week when the sides meet for the second leg at the Allianz Arena?

Luis Enrique and Kompany were clear in their answers: more of the same.