Insights from Luis Enrique's Assistant: How PSG Will Tackle Arsenal's Set Pieces in the Champions League Final

LUIS ENRIQUE’S former assistant gave a slight hint on how he will attempt to combat Arsenal’s set piece threat during tomorrow’s Champions League final.

The Gunners have become Europe‘s masters of dead-ball situations, with 25 of their 71 Premier League goals this season coming from set pieces (excluding penalties) – 19 from corners.

Luis Enrique (centre) alongside former assistant Jesus Casas (right) for Spain during Euro 2020 Credit: Getty Spain’s approach to Italy’s aggressive corner approach could give us some clues as to how they will counter Arsenal’s threat Credit: EPA

Jesus Casas worked as an analyst under Enrique at between 2014 and 2017, and later became his assistant for Spain between (2018-22).

famously load the box and put the opposition goalkeeper under pressure – an approach Italy adopted to take against Spain in the Euro 2020 semi-final.

The likes of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini did what William Saliba and Gabriel like to do from corners – throwing their weight about and making a real nuisance of themselves in the box.

found out all about it in the final as Italy’s goal came from a corner. But rather than flood the box with defenders, Enrique took a different approach.

Casas explained: “First of all, you look at their most dangerous players attacking the ball and the type of deliveries they usually use. You also analyse how to counter it.

“I’ll use Italy as an example. In that Euros, Italy would put eight players inside the box from corners. And because they overloaded the area, it became difficult to identify exactly who the main threats were. So we tried to counter that.

“We decided to leave two players high up the pitch. We defended the first phase of the corner properly, but when Italy saw we had left two attackers up the field, they were forced to leave three players back. That made things clearer because only five players then attacked the cross.

“Every coach and every team has different nuances. You try to predict what they might do, where they can hurt you most, and which zones they attack most effectively so you can place your strongest defenders there.”

Should Enrique choose to caveat the set plays in this manner again by leaving the likes of , Desire Doue up field, may be worried about their searing pace and leave players back.

Enrique is no stranger to making bold tactical decisions.

Last season, PSG revolutionised the kick-off routine when Vitinha would kick the ball out of touch near the corner flag so that the French champions could immediately press hard from the front.

In the quarter-finals against Liverpool this season, Nuno Mendes with long throw-ins that split the Reds’ midfield.

Then in the semi-final, Matvey Safonov was on Michael Olise‘s side of the field. PSG would respond by crowding the space around the French winger to frustrate him all evening.

But Arsenal’s set plays are a different kettle of fish, and if the past is anything to go by Enrique might learn a lesson or two.

Spain lost 2-1 against Switzerland in September 2022, conceding two goals from corners.

After the game, Enrique was asked about why his side demonstrated weakness defending from such situations.

Enrique and Casas worked together for seven years combined at Barcelona and Spain Credit: Getty

His response was: “Set pieces don’t matter whether you train them or not. Even if it’s eleven against nine, they can still score.

“I remember a club where we trained them every day and it was still a disaster. I don’t think set pieces are worth working on.

“We analyse them on video because I don’t have time. We work on attacking ones, but defensively we analyse them on video. It happened to me in clubs too and it doesn’t matter.”

Although Casas had left to manage Iraq by this point, he confirmed it was true that Enrique gave very little attention to set pieces yet admitted his approach would likely change ahead of the final.

Casas said: “Yes, when he first arrived with the National Team he did give them some importance. But later there was a period where, for whatever reason, he no longer wanted to focus heavily on set pieces.

“By the time I was almost leaving the national team, we were mainly just showing what the opposition did and how they defended them. There wasn’t a huge amount of practical work on the training pitch.

“I don’t know whether now at PSG, because he has more time, he works more on set pieces again. I can’t confirm it 100%, but I imagine when you analyse Arsenal you know set pieces are one of their biggest weapons. So I expect they’ll do something different.

“Maybe they’ll be more aggressive and leave more players higher up the pitch so Arsenal are forced to commit fewer players into the box. But yes, I’m sure they’ll work on something.”

Arsenal make life hard for the opposition when it comes to corners Credit: Getty Arsenal are out to stop PSG from defending their Champions League crown Credit: AFP

Should Enrique decide to emulate his approach against Italy, it wouldn’t be the first time somebody has tried to foil Arsenal in that manner.

For the Gunners’ second leg tie against Chelsea back in February, was to leave THREE players up the pitch – something that forced Arteta to adjust his approach.

It worked as Arsenal failed to score from a corner.

If the past is anything to go by, perhaps Enrique could follow suit.