Vitinha: Paris Saint-Germain’s versatile playmaker

In this article, Vitinha’s national team manager, Roberto Martínez, delves into why the Portuguese midfielder is at the heart of Paris Saint-Germain’s in-possession strategy. The Portugal head coach also reveals how, at times, Vitinha’s role in his side’s victory over Seattle Sounders FC surpassed his typical playmaking responsibilities. This article is based on a match review with Football Performance Insights’ Arron Ackerman and Martínez, who is part of FIFA’s Technical Study Group observing the FIFA Club World Cup™.

PSG averaged 67.8% possession across their three group-stage games. Vitinha is a key part of his team’s fluency on the ball, completing the second-highest number of passes against Seattle Sounders FC and the highest in PSG’s matches against Atlético de Madrid and Botafogo. For Martínez, the Portugal midfielder has the following attributes that make him the metronome of this PSG side:

Personality: Vitinha possesses an innate willingness to help his team and to always be available for the ball.

Positional awareness: He has the game intelligence to move around the pitch in ways that create passing lanes with his team-mates during build-up.

Physical mobility: Complimenting his positional acumen is the stamina and speed to get into the positions necessary to create passing lanes.

Technical quality: Vitinha’s ball control and ability to turn under pressure help him secure and progress possession after receiving the ball.

The numbers retrieved by FIFA’s Football Performance Insights Team for PSG’s win over the Sounders reiterate some of these attributes that make him a key player for PSG’s in-possession play. Vitinha had nine involvements in sequences ending in attempts at goal, which was the joint highest (with Achraf Hakimi) in the match. He also covered 12.3km, which was more than any other PSG player and demonstrates the physical outputs required to operate this role; he clocked the most kilometres in the Parisian club’s match against Botafogo as well, with 11.8km.

(1/2) Vitinha was at the heart of PSG’s attacking sequences against Seattle Sounders.

(2/2) His mobility is a key attribute that allows him to open passing lanes with his team-mates and circulate possession.

In PSG’s final group game, it was the Portuguese midfielder’s versatility in particular that caught the eye. Martínez highlights that Vitinha was able to impact the game during moments when his team were in possession in three different ways – combined, they reveal why the player was a huge part of how his team were able to maintain control over their opponents.

1. Dictating from midfield
The first way he exerted his influence was from his more conventional defensive midfield position in PSG’s 4-1-2-3 formation, sitting just in front of his team’s defensive unit. From here, Vitinha could dictate his team’s build-up and – if possible – switch play.

Clip 1: This clip shows Vitinha influencing possession from his more conventional position, sitting in front of the defensive line. The midfielder’s range of passing makes him a huge asset in these situations.

2. Dropping into the defensive line
Another means of affecting the game saw Vitinha slot into PSG’s defensive line alongside centre-backs Willian Pacho (51) and Marquinhos (4). This provided left full-back Nuno Mendes (25) with the freedom to venture down the wide channel and gave centre-midfielder Fabián Ruiz (8) the license to roam into midfield.

FIFA’s Enhanced Football Intelligence classified Vitinha’s (circled) average positioning in possession as that of a left centre-back, illustrating his tendency to drop into the defensive line to dictate play against the Sounders.

It was the fact that Vitinha would maintain this position throughout a spell of possession which was significant, says Martínez.

“His discipline to stay part of the back three allows PSG to have a completely different way of penetrating, with the two midfielders and the false number 9. This allows four or five PSG players to be available around the ball and is one of the reasons why they found it so easy to keep possession.”

Clip 2: By dropping into the defensive line, Vitinha (17) opened up new passing angles and freed team-mates Mendes (25) and Ruiz (8) to overload attacking areas.

3. Advancing to support the attack
A third and more unconventional way the Portuguese midfielder impacted the game in possession was with his forward runs deep inside the opposition’s half. The unpredictability of these runs made them difficult to defend. However, as Martínez explains, activating this type of penetrating run requires team-wide coordination.

Clip 3: In certain moments of the game where PSG were in possession, Vitinha would break forward into the attacking third of the pitch. These elusive movements were typically initiated by Ruiz (8) playing the ball from a deep position out wide to Mendes (25).

“I think you can see that this is not the decision of one player. This is a well-worked [team] concept. When the ball gets played from Fabián [Ruiz] into the outside area, it initiates that penetration from Vitinha, which opens up the space. He crosses three defensive lines in a way that’s very difficult to defend against because, as the ball goes out wide, he is on the blind side of the two [Seattle Sounders] midfielders, which is very difficult for them to pick up. The ball then gets played to the player that makes the run [Vitinha]. That’s what shows that this is a concept; the moment the ball goes out wide, they expect the penetrating run.”