In the Zone: Paris 0-1 Bayern performance analysis

In the group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League 37% of the goals were scored from crosses. On the first night of the knockout stage, another goal came from that source – the one with which Kingsley Coman earned Bayern München a first-leg advantage over Paris Saint-Germain.

It was only Bayern's second goal from a cross in this season's competition and, in this analysis piece brought to you by FedEx, UEFA's Technical Observer panel explain why it was the consequence of a deliberate tactic to inflict damage on Paris from the flanks.

Goals

0-1: Kingsley Coman (53)

On his 50th appearance in the competition, the 26-year-old did just what he had done in the Lisbon final between these teams in 2020, by scoring the game's only goal. Alphonso Davies was the source with a cross from the left that the unmarked Coman met with a controlled low volley which went under the body of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

For the Paris-born Coman it was his first Champions League goal of the season, but fourth in his last three games in all competitions.

Player of the Match: Kingsley Coman

On a night where wing play was pivotal, Coman played a key role for more than just his goal – indeed the nine crosses he produced from open play (three completed) was the highest number by any player in the Champions League this week.

UEFA's technical observers offered the following verdict on his display: "Coman was the outlet through whom Bayern created all the threat in the first half. He switched wings at half-time and scored the winning goal with a cool and precise first-time finish. He also showed huge work-rate off the ball, allowing Bayern to stop Paris at source."

Team formations

Paris

Christophe Galtier's men lined up in a 4-4-2 set-up headed by with a front two of Lionel Messi (30) and Neymar (10), with Kylian Mbappé fit only to start on the bench after three matches out with a muscle injury. On the right of their midfield was Warren Zaïre-Emery (33), making his full Champions League debut, his only previous appearance having come as a late substitute against Maccabi Haifa on 25 October. At 16 years and 343 days, he became the youngest player to start a knockout game in the competition in the Champions League era.

Bayern

The German champions set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in which they looked to their wing-backs João Cancelo (22) and Coman (11) to provide penetration from wide areas. Cancelo was making his first appearance for Bayern in the competition and fourth overall, following his January arrival on loan, but he made way at half-time for Davies – a change we elaborate on in the analysis below.

Features

In the eyes of the UEFA observers, Bayern's use of their wing-backs was pivotal to earning their seventh straight win in this season's competition on Tuesday night. After all, the key change made by either coach was Julian Nagelsmann's half-time introduction of Davies in place of Cancelo, and the key moment was the cross that Davies then supplied for Coman, his fellow wing-back, to score. It was Davies' only cross of the night but made all the difference.

The video above offers an analysis of the goal, showing how Bayern, working the ball around, first go right to Coman before then manoeuvring the ball to the other flank where Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting lays it back for Davies. At this point Coman is standing completely unmarked on the right-hand corner of the penalty area. Davies swings a left-foot ball beyond the bodies around the penalty spot and into the space Coman attacks to deliver his decisive strike.

Coman had started on the left before swapping flanks on Davies' introduction and the second clip, from the first period, shows him deliver a dangerous cross from that left side for Choupo-Moting, following a switch of play by Joshua Kimmich.

We see another menacing Coman cross in the third clip, this time after Bayern again work the ball from one side of the pitch to the other.

The Bayern plan was clear: to seek penetration out wide against opponents playing in a narrow 4-4-2 framework. And, according to Nagelsmann, their chances of penetration were greater once Davies, with his greater speed and power, had replaced Cancelo.

Speaking to reporters afterwards he explained how he had wanted his wing-backs to make more deep runs and get into the box more than he saw in the first half. "We brought Phonzie [Davies] in at half-time because it was good to have the capability to have a bit more speed on both wings," he said.

"We tried to fix our opponents' full-backs a bit more with deep runs and then we scored from such a situation. We knew there was a chance to make some crosses to the far post and Phonzie is brilliant at having deep runs because of his speed."

If it was a satisfactory night for Bayern's coach, his counterpart Christophe Galtier was left with much to ponder. In falling to their fifth defeat already of 2023, Paris failed to score for the first time in 15 Champions League matches and only the second time in their last 33 home games in the competition. Indeed they managed only one shot in the entire first half – and that was a free-kick in stoppage time.

With Mbappé on the bench, there was little threat in behind from the French champions. In the view of UEFA's observers, too often they wanted the ball into feet – cue frustration against a Bayern side who showed impressive energy and discipline in defending that internal space.

The game changed with the introduction of Mbappé in the place of Carlos Soler after 57 minutes. His arrival created room for Neymar and Messi, and his speed gave Paris that missing threat in behind.

As the quotes below explain, Nagelsmann felt his team were guilty of neither pressing high enough nor dropping deep enough during the last half-hour and, in the end, only a marginal offside decision against Nuno Mendes denied Mbappé an equaliser when he converted a cross from the Portuguese.

As a final point, that was not Mendes' only attacking contribution: the 20-year-old was the Paris player with the most takes-ons (ten in all with a 60% success rate) and the most ball carries after a take-on (seven) – numbers matched only by Bayern's Jamal Musiala at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.

Coaches' assessments

Christophe Galtier, Paris coach: "They made it difficult for us, but we could have done better from our full-backs. Bayern deserved to score when they did because they had a good 60 minutes, but then we had a 25-minute spell in which we were much better, got in behind and improved our link-up play.

"When we had no depth, Bayern pressed us. I suspected that if we played like that, without depth, without verticality, we would have a very difficult first half. Unfortunately, when I wanted to put Mbappé on, they scored."

Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern coach: "Especially the first 25 mins I was very happy. We had brilliant control, good ball possession. We avoided every counterattack in the first 25 minutes. We were a bit surprised by how much of the ball we had. We didn't expect Paris to be so passive; it was a good first half. After the break, we had a great start and then things hung in the balance a little, though the two times they really threatened it was offside."

"[On defending Mbappé] We had a 'half-half' position [where] we didn't make that high pressure but didn't defend that deep either. So in the end there was no pressure and there was a lot of space behind our defensive line; that's a 'half-half' situation we want to avoid with Mbappé."