#2 PSG’s midfield was sharp and hungry
PSG manager Thomas Tuchel deployed Marquinhos, Marco Verratti and Gueye as his midfield three. They complemented each other perfectly.
Marquinhos played some exquisite cross-field balls to the wide players in order to open up Real Madrid’s defence and helped out defensively as well. He was eventually replaced by Ander Herrera after picking up a knock.
Verratti was a live wire in the midfield, constantly looking for chances to retain possession and then find the space to feed the ball to the players in front of him. Many of his passes cut through Real Madrid's defence and he was close to registering an assist on many occasions.
Just last season, Gueye was playing for Everton who finished eighth in the Premier League. Now he was bossing the midfield against a heavyweight side like Madrid. He committed himself to picking up every loose ball and put in crucial tackles in order to break down Madrid counterattacks.
Due to the midfield’s willingness to win back the ball, PSG were able to create many chances and put Real Madrid to the sword.