[인터풋볼] Reporter Dong-min Lee = Marquinhos pointed out the problem in the Eindhoven match.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) faced Eindhoven in the third round of the 2024-25 season UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase held at Parc des Princes in Paris, France at 4 a.m. on the 23rd (Korean time). It was a 1-1 draw.
It was Eindhoven that took the lead first. Eindhoven blocked PSG’s build-up in the 34th minute of the first half, and Noah Lang caught the ball. Lang hit a right-footed shot in front of the penalty box and hit the net. The first half ended with PSG trailing 0-1.
The game has returned to square one. In the 10th minute of the second half, Ashraf Hakimi received a pass from Fabian Lewis and scored the equalizer with a powerful mid-range shot from outside the penalty box. In the end, the game ended 1-1.
On this day, Lee Kang-in came out as a fake number 9 and was not effective. There were many scenes where Lee Kang-in came down and passed the ball to his teammates rather than staying in the penalty box. However, his colleagues failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Lee Kang-in left the field after being replaced by Marco Asensio in the 23rd minute of the second half.
Lee Kang-in also had a chance. In the 16th minute of the first half, Lee Kang-in received a pass from Bradley Barcola and fired a left-footed shot in front of the penalty box, but the goalkeeper blocked it. Lee Kang-in also missed a crucial opportunity. In the 43rd minute of the first half, PSG brought the ball from the opponent’s penalty box with forward pressure, and Lee Kang-in fired a turning shot, but it was caught by the goalkeeper’s foot. According to the soccer statistics media ‘Sofa Score’, Lee Kang-in played 68 minutes, had 1 effective shot, 1 missed shot, touched the ball 47 times, passed success rate 82% (28 out of 34 successful), 2 key passes, Recorded 1 cross (3 attempts) and 3 ground duels (4 attempts). The rating was 7.2 points.
Lee Kang-in has received a lot of love from coach Enrique since joining PSG last season. Director Enrique highly praised Lee Kang-in’s versatility. In fact, Lee Kang-in played his role no matter which position he played: left or right winger, midfielder, or false number 9.
Lee Kang-in played a variety of positions this season as well. Recently, I had some fun with fake number 9. In Ligue 1, with Lee Kang-in playing as a false number 9 and scoring goals, Coach Enrique is actively using Lee Kang-in at the forefront. Lee Kang-in scored 4 times in 8 league games. However, Lee Kang-in’s fake number 9 is not working in UCL. Lee Kang-in also played as a false number 9 in the second match of the UCL League Phase against Arsenal. However, under pressure from Arsenal, PSG attacked with long balls and could not utilize Lee Kang-in properly. This game was the same.
PSG captain Marquinhos pointed out problems with this game. Marquinhos said, “Last season, we had a great number 9 in Kylian Mbappe. When a player like that leaves, we focus on that player. The way we play is different now.”
He continued, “It’s important to score goals. We have great players in our team who can score goals. They showed that ability. But in this game, they lacked a little composure in front of the goal. We need to work on that in training.” added.
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