Champions League Performance Insights: How Villa went for broke against Paris
Friday, April 18, 2025
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UEFA Technical Observer Michael O'Neill explains how Aston Villa changed their gameplan in pursuit of a comeback UEFA Champions League quarter-final victory against Paris.
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"When we played there, we played a very different gameplan because we were avoiding the transition and trying to defend lower. But today we took the new gameplan and we were pushing more, having a lot of individual duels and pressing them. We knew there was a possibility of conceding on transition but even like that, in the end, we got them suffering."
This was Unai Emery's post-match reflection to Amazon Prime Video following his Aston Villa side's 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. With it, he touched on the thought process behind Villa's approach to the second leg of the sides' UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
With a 3-1 deficit from the first leg, Villa took a very different approach than in Paris and in the following analysis, UEFA Technical Observer Michael O'Neill will explain both approaches and the demands they make on players, as well as the lessons they offer to coaches working with young footballers.
As a starting point, consider the graphic above which underlines the contrasting gameplans by showing Villa's average distance from their own goal when making defensive actions: in the first leg it was 30.9m, whereas in the second it was 50m, virtually on the halfway line.
In the first leg at Parc des Princes, as shown in the video above, Villa defended closer to their goal; we see them start in a mid-block shape, in a 4-4-2, before shifting to a 5-4-1 as they fall back. O'Neill explained: "Boubacar Kamara dropped into the back five and when they did that, John McGinn dropped into the midfield. They wanted to stay compact and tight between the lines and ended up in a six because of players following runners."
As the action unfolds, Villa end up in a low block – which is how they spent 49% of that first leg – and have every player bar Marcus Rashford in their own penalty box. Within this set-up, O'Neill highlighted the role of centre-back Ezri Konsa, who was the spare man in the back line and their chief organiser, ensuring his team-mates closed any gaps.
O'Neill added: "A lot of the game today is defending 1v1 but this is a different type of defending where you're not having a lot of the ball but you're solid and difficult to play through. And with opponents like PSG, who are very good at playing with combinations in tight areas, Villa's players had to keep good distances and make sure that [Paris] weren't playing between the lines.
"You need strong communication for this because if one player steps up to the ball and gets it wrong, there can be a domino effect as invariably someone else then has to [cover] and space opens up."
Villa 'wanted to play in opposition half'
With this second video, we move on to the return fixture and see a much more aggressive Villa side. Following the clearance by Youri Tielemans, the whole team push up to try to get pressure on the ball in the Paris half. Rashford leads the press, with his team-mates quick to get up behind him.
According to O'Neill, the other important aspect is how Villa looked to create by playing the ball forward quickly, seen here through Tielemans' switch of play. "Villa wanted to play in the opposition half and they wanted duels. Amadou Onana came into the team to give a physical presence in the middle of pitch and instead of trying to build from back, they felt the best way was to press in the opposition half as you're winning the ball higher up."
One telling statistic from the two matches is that after producing 36 pressures in the Paris half in the first leg, Villa managed 161 back in Birmingham.
Above we see another measure of that more aggressive gameplan in the form of the number of ball recoveries by Villa in Paris territory in each leg – six versus 34. To do this well, says O'Neill, the key ingredients are as follows: "Getting up to the ball, sprinting big distances and making sure players are not pressing individually."
The risk factor
"With it being 3-1 from the first leg, Villa had to take risks," noted O'Neill and the risk element is evident in the final video below which offers an example of Paris's threat from early in Tuesday's contest.
The action begins with Villa in a mid-block, forcing Paris to play backwards, yet when Willian Pacho finds Vitinha in a pocket of space, they spring upfield and create a 3v2 on their left flank. O'Neill said: "They find the pocket and break the pressure and then it is a 4v4, with six Villa players ahead of the ball. Villa defend it well but it's an example of the risk you take if you press high and over big distances.
"When you're playing a man-to-man game, you only have to have one person short on their pressure or for the opposition to show the individual quality to get out through the press and you're going to be in a situation where suddenly you're going back to your own goal and defending big spaces. Then it becomes about making good decisions to try to slow the opposition down and help your team recover."
Development lessons from UEFA Technical Observer and Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill
Defending in a low block
"We have to play like this often with Northern Ireland and for some of our players, the natural instinct is to try to get the ball back quickly but in a low block you need to be more patient, more disciplined and make sure the distances you are pressing over are short.
"Mentality is important as sometimes with young players, they feel that to win the game they have to be the dominant team with the ball, yet you can control a game without having the ball. Older players understand that against certain teams you may have to do this, and that it's your shape and discipline that keep you in the game.
"Another key lesson is to be happy to defend deep as sometimes for a young player, the nearer the opposition get to their goal the more impatient they get and greater they feel the danger. Therefore, they have to learn the patience needed and, particularly when defending in a compact unit, to not be ill-disciplined and step out. This demands concentration and focus as it only takes one player to make a rash decision, one defender stepping out at the wrong time, and suddenly there is space. Teams can draw you out and test your concentration and decision-making so it's important to not be the one who breaks that chain.
"One way to train this is with drills with overloads, giving the overload initially to the attacking team and then to the defensive team. You need to give the defending team a target for when they win the ball, such as trying to score into a goal on the halfway line. Can they force the opposition back? Can they step up as a team and stay compact? Your defenders should work on defending the width of your box as well and it's important that your wide defenders don't just force the ball wide but stop crosses too."
Defending high up the pitch
"In the video clip from the first leg, we saw Villa defending deep in a compact low block and this primarily involves defending going forward. When high up the pitch, by contrast, you have to defend going back to your own goal and, at the elite level, this means a player's mentality is very important. You need bravery as you're defending big spaces against fast attacking players – and dealing with 1v1 situations in big spaces is a considerable challenge.
"With teams like PSG who are possession-dominant, they want to try to create those situations and that's why they go back to goalkeeper to bring the opposition press with them as it makes the pitch bigger and they can then play through it with their quality.
"For a defender, decision-making in these situations is key. Do you try to hold your line or do you drop? Can you counter-press and win the ball back? If you're man for man, do you get really tight or – given the physical attributes of the player you are up against – are you better to think about the space behind you? Invariably in transition moments, the defenders have to drop and then it's about how quickly you can recover individually and as a team.
"This can be trained and there are practices you can do such as creating a possession-based area and then defending 3v3 so when the ball comes out of possession, suddenly you are defending. The key is to create match-type scenarios to work on that decision-making aspect."
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