How fluid PSG exposed Slot's back-five tweak
In Wednesday's match, PSG had 74% of the ball and 18 shots to Liverpool's three. These stats are damning but Liverpool didn't set up to defend their own box for 90 minutes, despite starting with a back five. Out of possession, they looked to press high - albeit without much success.
Hugo Ekitike, Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz formed a narrow line between PSG's defence and midfield. PSG dropped one of their midfielders back, forming a makeshift back three with the two central defenders. Liverpool's front three went man-to-man with these three players.
Behind them were the remaining two PSG midfielders, who were marked by Liverpool's midfield duo. Liverpool's wing-backs were tasked with marking Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes. PSG rotated impressively to find players unmarked.
Full-backs Hakimi and Mendes both pushed high up the pitch, pinning back Liverpool's wing-backs. This prevented Liverpool having any presence in wide areas when they pressed. With Liverpool's midfield two marking PSG's central midfielders, they were unable to pull into these wide areas either.
The French side dropped their attackers deep, into these empty wide positions with Liverpool's back three reluctant to follow them out into these areas. "I thought we could try and press them really high and aggressive," Slot said. "Every time we tried to press them high and aggressive, those were the moments we got ripped apart.