Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hailed the performance of Paris Saint-Germain and claimed Manchester United were in a "honeymoon" period under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that was never going to last.
Wenger appeared on the panel of beIN Sports' Champions League coverage on Tuesday evening and was deadly accurate with his pre-match analysis, predicting the French champions would control midfield and would win the match if they were patient in the home side's final third.
“We have seen all the problems of Manchester United as predicted before the game. They cannot build the game up, especially at the back," Wenger said during half-time of the match.
"They cannot make good passes into midfield and United have a real lack of ideas in how to build the game. Man United played at home and had one shot on goal in a Champions League game. You can't be dominated in midfield and the whole evening, Manchester United were dominated in midfield.
He said Paris' decision to stack midfield with defensive players who could retain possession, like Brazilian Marquinhos, proved a masterstroke in nullying the speed of Manchester United.
"PSG played with five midfielders and they never lost the ball. Manchester United could never win the ball back and when they had the ball they lost it very quickly because PSG dominated the midfield to win the ball back.
"They lost the battle in midfield. When you play at home and you cannot keep the ball, you're always in trouble.”
Paul Pogba was particularly poor in the game, failing to take control of midfield and failing to have significant impact on the game before he was sent off after earning a second yellow card for an ugly challenge on Dani Alves. Wenger says Thomas Tuchel masterminded a plan to take the France World Cup winner out of the contest.
"What Paris Saint-Germain did is they blocked Pogba with Marquinhos in man-to-man marking and when Paris Saint-Germain had the ball, Draxler came in behind Pogba and that’s where the chances were created behind the midfield of Manchester United," the Frenchman said.
"Paris Saint-Germain had good opportunities, but were not patient enough to give the final ball and a bit more attention to not be offside, they should have been 2-0 up (at half-time)."
Wenger also showed support for his longterm nemesis Jose Mourinho, saying the turnaround in form was largely due to the easy fixtures following his sacking rather than any vast improvement in tactics under Solskjaer.
"When Mourinho left, Manchester United had five games that were all winnable. And every win makes you stronger and that's what Solskjaer has done as well, he's got young players in.
"This is what you call in a marriage, the honeymoon, and the honeymoon stops at some point and then you have to come back to reality. Maybe you are lucky and you have a longer honeymoon than everybody else."
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