PSG dominated, had the ball, but did not win. Against Nantes on Saturday evening (1-1) at the Parc des Princes during the 13th day of Ligue 1, the Parisians outrageously dominated without managing to break through the canary lock. And for good reason, the mastery of Luis Enrique’s players proved sterile, sometimes even to the point of caricature.
84.1% possession
The Parisians gave the impression of monopolizing the ball during the meeting. The figures bear this out: with 84.1% ball possession, PSG have quite simply established a historic record. This is in fact the highest rate in a Ligue 1 match since at least 2006-2007, when the statistician Opta began collecting this data.
1008 passes
Obviously, with so much possession, the Parisians had plenty of time to exchange passes. Here too, the figures speak for themselves: 1008 passes were recorded during the game. This is more than five times more than Nantes in the match, and it is also a record in a Ligue 1 match (since at least 2006-2007). The previous record dated from the first match of the Enrique era, against Lorient in August 2023. 1001 passes were then made… for, already, a parity score (0-0).
183 balloons for Vitinha
He is, despite himself, one of the symbols of this sterile PSG. Portuguese midfielder Vitinha touched 183 balls during the match, the highest total for a player from the capital club (since at least 2006-2007). In Ligue 1, only Jean-Clair Todibo in 2023 and Jean-Michaël Séri in 2017 have counted more touches of the ball in the same match. But, out of his 183 balls and 169 passes attempted, how many really caused danger?
24 shots
This time, the number of shootings recorded does not reach records, but is still significant. Even if, of the 24 shots, including 10 on target, not all had the same degree of danger, PSG should have scored more than two goals, if we rely on the Expected Goals model, estimated at 2.57. Inefficiency, a recurring evil.
