Arsenal Vs PSG: Marco Verratti Rhythm Must Be Disrupted
Arsenal travel to Paris on Tuesday night where they face Paris Saint-Germain. To be successful, PSG midfielder Marco Verratti must be disrupted.
The biggest game of the season thus far in on the horizon. With the weekly rhythm of the Premier League well and truly underway, European football enters view with a tantalising tie for Arsenal to open the campaign with.
The Gunners will travel to Paris on Tuesday night to face French champions Paris Saint-Germain where the top two ranked teams of the group will face off with the hope of laying down a marker of supremacy as they both look to secure that ever important top spot of qualification. As ever in these big games, the midfield area will be crucial in determining the victor, and the visitors will have quite a challenge on their hands.
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PSG’s metronome in recent games has been the diminutive figure of Marco Verratti. The Italian international, playing alongside compatriot Thiago Motta, displays an intelligence and understanding that few others can replicate. He is acutely aware of his positioning, the space in which he occupies, where his teammates and opposition are and he then has the technical ability to exploit such superior understanding.
Arsenal midfielder, Francis Coquelin, when asked about the strengths of PSG, was quick to point out the talents of Verratti:
“In the middle, it is difficult because you have Thiago Motta or Marco Veratti who are two really important players because they can break the lines and move the ball – especially Motta. Veratti is the little magician with the ball, so this middle is a strong middle.”
He and Granit Xhaka will be tasked with controlling the pass master and disrupting his rhythm will be absolutely vital. Like Santi Cazorla with Arsenal, or Xavi with Barcelona, Verratti is the deeper lying midfielder who simply controls possession. Allowed to push forward when he sees fit, the 23-year-old is the orchestrator of much of PSG’s best football.
With Arsene Wenger perhaps tempted to concede the battle of possession – a tactic that he has been more willing to employ against the better sides in recent seasons – limiting the barrage of attacks from PSG will have to come through hounding their technically gifted midfielders. The centrepiece of this PSG side, after the departure of Zlatan is now Verratti.
While he may not be the big name of Thiago Silva or Edinson Cavani, he is the key man to stop on Tuesday. Fail to do so, and Arsenal could be chasing shadows all night long.
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