How Vitinha powered PSG’s Champions League win

Over the course of the most ambitious investment project in sports history, their blueprint to achieve major honors has largely remained the same. Since essentially being backed by the nation of Qatar, Paris Saint-Germain have always featured a large crop of eye-catching and high profile attackers, a stalwart Brazilian center-back, and a criminally underrated central midfielder that dominates European nights. While Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti never captured European success, Vitinha was the beating heart of the PSG team that finally won the Champions League. 

This PSG team have largely built their squad around younger players from smaller teams, avoiding the ‘Galacticos’ signings of the past. Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos and Joao Neves from Benfica, Kvaratshelia and Fabian Ruiz from Napoli, Willian Pacho from Frankfurt, and Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue from French clubs. Those players have all had a relatively simple progression from promising young player to emerging star, then eventually making the big move to the Parisian giants. However, the pathway for Vitinha was far from simple. 

Vitinha has evolved to become a different player

As a 20-year old, Vitinha made a loan move to Wolves from Porto (as many Portuguese players did) with an option to buy at the end of the season. However, Vitinha only made five league starts for Wolves, stuck behind Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves (Another two Portuguese midfielders from Porto). The reason behind Vitinha’s failed move to the Premier League wasn’t because of his quality, as Connor Coady recalled it, but the squad planning backed by Portuguese super agent Jorge Mendes. 

“I loved the way he took loads of touches, he was always on the ball,” Coady told Sky Sports. “In our country, you are always told as kids to move the ball quickly, aren't you? Pass and move. All of a sudden, we had this kid from Portugal who just took loads of touches but never lost it.”

“Listen, we always knew he was a top player. The issue was that Moutinho and Neves were ahead of him." 

Vitinha was one of the many player trading deals involving Wolves and Jorge Mendes. Starting off with the hiring of Nuno Espirto Santo and breaking through after a shock move bringing 20 year old Porto captain Ruben Neves to the club still in the Championship. Wolves have brought in 23 different Portuguese players since Mendes became ‘a part’ of the club, and Vitinha was one of the failed ones.

The midfielder’s move to Wolves was not made permanent after Espirito Santo left the club in the summer, and after immediately winning the league with Porto, completed a permanent move to PSG in 2022. 

Vitinha found a new home at PSG

Fast forward to the present, the former Wolves benchwarmer is now the key in Luis Enrique’s system, as told by Enrique himself. “Vitinha is a player who is perfectly suited to our playing philosophy, to our expectations, to the qualities that a midfielder must have,” Enrique said. “He is a player with unlimited energy, he plays every minute of the matches, and he wants to train with those who have not played after the games.” 

Vitinha’s quality in possession has been evident all throughout their Ligue 1 season, he ranks 10th in Europe’s top 5 leagues for Passes Into the Final Third and has one of the highest pass completion percentages in Europe despite also completing the most passes of any player in the Top 5 leagues. But everybody knows that domestic success is secondary for PSG. They’ve been chasing Champions League glory for over a decade now, with just one final appearance to show for it before this year.

Through different generations of attempts, the team that kicked off the new era led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, with Motta in midfield, never made it past the quarterfinals. Then came the Neymar and Mbappe era that changed football transfers forever. With the two in attack, Marquinhos partnering with Thiago Silva in defense, and Verratti taking the mantle from Motta, the team could only make the final in 2020, losing to Bayern. Even after they brought in Lionel Messi they couldn’t make it past the Round of 16, and PSG was left to rebuild once again. This time, they brought in players from smaller clubs and this time they went all the way. While the end result changed in Paris, the theme of having a small, diminutive midfielder boss the pitch every night in Europe stayed the same. 

This year Vitinha registered 1,308 passes over the course of the Champions League campaign, the most any player has ever made in the competition's history (Xavi is the only other player to complete over 1,000). And even with countless incredible performances, his best one arguably came in the final.

Although it was a heavy 5-0 scoreline, it was anticipated to be a tight game with PSG potentially struggling to break down a compact Inter defense. Vitinha was the one to unlock it with his passing. Sitting at the base of the midfield, he found himself in-between Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves, linking the three in and out of possession. For the first goal, Vitinha sits behind Ruiz and patiently waits for an opening before playing a defense splitting pass to Doue, who finds Hakimi for an easy tap-in. 

Later on, Vitinha’s dribbling allows him to surge through the open space and lay it off to Doue for an assist. The reason a midfielder like Vitinha is so underrated is because when he does one action like coming short for the ball, he’s actually doing multiple things at once. He baits Inter’s midfield to press him and while turning, creates a passing lane for Dembele. His initial movement from the centre of midfield to closer to his own backline manipulates Inter’s shape and alongside Dembele’s movement, allows a big opening in midfield. He then breezes through Inter’s press with mesmerising close control, plays a one two with Dembele and has all of Inter’s territory to run free. 

This type of midfielder, much like his predecessors Verratti and Motta, as well as Xavi whose passing record he broke, are midfield generals designed to dominate a soccer game. 

From minute 0 to minute 90, they do everything on the pitch except score goals. Because of this, they don’t often get the type of praise that attackers do. Now finally, after his spell in England and doing the dirty work behind the Messi-Neymar-Mbappe trio, Vitinha is gaining recognition as one of the best midfielders in the world. 

After winning the Nations League with Portugal, manager Roberto Martinez tipped his midfield star for the Ballon D’or, an award not often given to a midfielder but after Rodri’s win last year, the mold may finally be breaking. 

Before Rodri, the last midfielder to win it was Luka Modrid in 2018, who himself praised Vitinha to Nova TV. “He is an organizer who is crucial for the team, as he has shown at PSG, where they won the Champions League, and also with Portugal,” Modrid said. He showed his quality. In my opinion, Vitinha is one of the best, if not the best, midfielders” 

Whether or not Vitinha wins the Ballon D’or, the Portuguese midfielder is cementing himself as one of the best midfielders in the world. And if PSG continue to build on their Champions League success as they’re set up to do, all the while relying heavily on Vitinha in the heart of their midfield, he could become one of the best players of his generation.