Malik Tillman was one of the standouts on PSV's side yesterday. In the match against Paris Saint-Germain, Malik played in a position that was new to him: as a midfield controller.
Together with Guus Til and Ismael Saibari, Malik formed PSV's midfield against the French superpower. That PSV started without a real controller against Paris Saint-Germain was not out of luxury, as Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman stayed home injured. However, the supporters did not know what Peter did know: Malik can do just fine in the six position. His passing was very accurate; of the 40 passes Malik sent, 34 arrived at a teammate, 16 of which went forward. One of those passes was classified as a "key pass. Of the base players, only Ryan Flamingo and Mauro Júnior were more accurate in their passing than Malik.
Partly this made up for the absence of the vaunted duo, but other statistics also showed that the American played a strong game. Malik won 1 aerial duel and also intercepted 2 dangerous passes from the opponent around his own goal area. 2 fouls were committed on Malik, indicating that the Parisians had little grip on him. This was not surprising either, as the midfielder seemed to be all over the pitch, making him difficult to defend.
