FIFA 19: PSG Career Mode Guide, Tactics, Formations & Tips

Paris Saint-Germain are now one of the biggest and certainly richest clubs in the world, and have been transformed into Champions League contenders over the past decade. Since being controlled by cash-rich owners, PSG have claimed five Ligue 1 titles, but are still in search of European glory.

£366 million was spent on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe alone in 2017 as the club became hellbent on securing the European crown, but due to Financial Fair Play they haven’t been able to make any big money moves since.

On FIFA 19 Career Mode, the Champions League has to be the target. Can you take the Parisians to the top of Europe.

Team Rating

PSG have a five star rating in the game, with an 87 attack, 84 midfield and 80 defence.

Formation

New manager Thomas Tuchel has recently switched to an unconventional 4-1-3-2 formation as PSG look to overthrow their opponents in the French league, but that is too aggressive to go for in FIFA 19. Instead, switch to their old 4-3-3 holding formation to allow cleaner play down the wings. Other possible systems include a 4-3-3 attack or a 4-3-2-1.

Free signing and legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (90 GK positioning) is in net, with a back four of Thomas Meunier, the solid Thiago Silva (90 jumping), Presnel Kimpembe and Layvin Kurzawa.

Centre back Marquinhos moves up to defensive midfield to link up with the classy Marco Verratti (93 composure) and Angel Di Maria.

Speedster Kylian Mbappe (96 sprint speed) lines up on the right-hand side, with the lethal Edinson Cavani (89 finishing) through and mercurial Neymar (96 dribbling) out on the left.

On the bench you should have Alphonse Areola, Thilo Kehrer, Dani Alves, Lassana Diarra, Adrien Rabiot, Julian Draxler and Eric Choupo-Moting. 

Tactics and instructions

With that front three, you should look to overthrow the opposition with their quality. You don’t need to pile too many players forward, as Angel Di Maria will support them with drives from midfield.

All of Neymar (87 finishing), Edinson Cavani (90 volleys) and Kylian Mbappe (88 finishing) know how to find the back of the net, so if you get half a yard to shoot, don’t hesitate. Cavani also has quality in the air (89 heading accuracy, 88 jumping) so look to swing balls in from wide areas. 

Marco Verratti will run the game from midfield, and he will be the man you want on the ball as you look to play in the attackers. 

If you are searching for a goal late on, it may be worth changing your ultra attacking formation to their real life 4-1-3-2 to get more men up the pitch. Do this by pressing L2/LT and edit the various game plans. 

As for your instructions, you will need to change a fair bit after altering the default formation. Left back Layvin Kurzawa needs to providing the crosses on the left hand with Neymar cutting in, so set the Frenchman’s run type to ‘overlap’.

Marquinhos has a big responsibility in defensive midfield, but with his quality you back him protect the back four he used to be part of. Help him a little by switching his attacking support to ‘stay back while attacking’. 

As for Neymar, he is such a threat and you need him constantly in dangerous areas. Change his attacking support to ‘stay forward'. 

Kylian Mbappe will cause the defence plenty of problems with raw speed, so for his support runs he should ‘get in behind’ but also ‘get into box for crosses’ to occupy defenders and grab tap-ins.

You can play this way against almost 90% of the sides in Ligue 1, but you way want to rein them in slightly against the likes of Lyon and Marseille, and even more so in your Champions League group against Liverpool and Napoli. 

Training

In your training you need to be using high development players to make the most out of your sessions. For PSG this includes Kylian Mbappe, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe, Christopher Nkunku and Thilo Kehrer.

The Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £160 million

Starting wage budget: £179,000 a week

Who should go

There are quite a few youngsters at PSG, but many have bright futures so you don’t need to sell too many players. Two that can go are Kevin Rimane and Antoine Bernede, who should collect you over £800,000 in total and save £17,000 a week in wages.

Juan Bernat has only just joined from Bayern Munich, but is not a Champions League player and should be sold in January. The Spaniard should fetch you £6 million and save £51,000 a week in wages. 

Loans

Out of the younger players, looks to send promising left back Stanley Nsoki out on loan. If you are planning on selling Bernat, then maybe send the 19-year-old out on a short-term loan. You should also loan out Sebastien Cibois and Alec Georgen to see if they can get to their 79 and 80 potentials, respectively.

Who to sign

New transfer budget: £161 million (+ £6 million in January)

New wage budget: £195,000 a week (+ £51,000 in January)

World class left back

Layvin Kurzawa is the weak link in the starting lineup, and although he can reach a potential of 82, that is still not enough for what PSG are trying to achieve. Plus the fact that Juan Bernat is an unreliable back-up, it makes perfect sense to bring in a new defender.

You must be careful with a tight-ish wage budget, but you should be able to secure Alex Telles. The Porto man is on the brink of world class with an 84 overall, and this can rise to a potential of 87. Stats of 92 stamina, 89 crossing and 87 curve see him cost close to £40 million, but his wages only start at £19,000 a week. 

Alternative options

Striker cover

Yes, all of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar can cover up front, but it is always worth having a number 9 in reserve. Also Cavani is now 31 and probably only two seasons away from needing to be replaced, so it is worth planning ahead and addressing that now.

Timo Werner would be a great option, with the German already a prolific goal scorer with an even brighter future. The RB Leipzig man has attributes 93 acceleration, 93 sprint speed and 87 finishing, taking him to an 83 overall which can grow to a potential of 87. He will set you back close to £45 million with wages upwards of £62,000 a week. 

Alternative options

Contracts

Six players have contracts running out in Paris, and only one of those in pressing. Adrien Rabiot looks to be on his way out of the Parc des Princes, but as a quality player with an 87 potential you must tie him to a long-term deal.

Alphonse Areola should become the first choice goalkeeper next season so it is important his contract situation is sorted. 

Gianluigi Buffon is likely to retire at the end of the season, but if there is a chance you can give him a new deal you should take it. As for Dani Alves, you may want to assess his level in January to see if he is worth keeping on, and the same goes for defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra.

As for Antoine Bernede, you should sell him before his contract runs out at the end of the campaign. 

Managerial objectives

The objectives at PSG are quite sensible in comparison to many other clubs on FIFA 19, with winning the Ligue 1 title and Coupe Nationale basically a given in France. As for Europe, you will be asked to reach the Champions League final, so you should throw all your eggs in one basket and make sure you achieve it.

Brand exposure as a critical importance, and here you need to gain £176 million in shirt sales and claim £158 million of prize money within three seasons. With Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe up front, neither of these should be an issue.

Youth development has a low importance, but you still need to sign two players younger than 20. They must have a higher potential than the average of the current level of players in the same position in your squad. This is likel to affect your transfer policy.

Blow Europe away

Well, it does look simple with PSG, target Europe. It may be tricky to bring on new signings with a smaller wage budget that you would expect, but if you fiddle with your budget allocation, you should be able to get the players you want.

The French league lacks any form of depth, but still make sure you claim the title after PSG slipped up in 2016/17. Your Champions League group is tough, but you’ll still be the favourites to top the pool, as Paris did in real life, and over two legs, few sides can match your quality. Can you grab that elusive European crown?

Full PSG player ratings