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Player reportLigue 1 2026

Illia Zabarnyi

PSG
Ball-playing centre-back CB
7.5 progressive passes/90 · 0.3 line-breaking/90
centre-backball-playing centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
287
minutes
3 apps
252
passes
95% completed
95%
pass completion
252 passes
24
progressive passes
7.5/90
17
line-breaking passes
5.3/90
34
defensive actions
10.7/90
3
tackles + interceptions
50% tackle win
8
clearances
2.5/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

Thin sample this season. Illia Zabarnyi has played 3 matches (287 min) so far, so sections that need a bigger sample to say anything reliable are not shown here — they are missing on purpose, not broken. See all seasons combined →
01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (65% of his 252 passes)
95% completion · 252× in 3/3 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
7.5 prog/90 · 17× in 3/3 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 9× in 2/3 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
6.9/90 · 22× in 3/3 matches
Signature: Receive → Break A Line → Switch Play → Progress — the only steps proven repeatable this season (4 of 5 in the full pattern). Not enough evidence yet for the rest of the chain below.
Not a pattern: carry out — 0× (insufficient confidence, hidden — not enough evidence yet) — omitted from the signature rather than presented as one.
15

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
84
passes / match
10.7
def actions / 90
72–103
pass range (matches)
8
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (72 at the low end, 103 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

07

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

83 tracked carries (26.0/90, 11 progressive, 651m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

7%18%20%10%1%10%25%7%1%
progressivelateral/short% of his 83 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 7m, longest 35m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
11Outside → Inside
68Inside → Inside
2Outside → Outside
2Inside → Outside
First (37)Second (26)Third (16)Fourth (4)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

2
tackle duels
1
won
1
beaten · 50%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 50%
OUTSIDE 50%
Tackle-duel location — 1 inside · 1 outside
Right Wing
1 · 50%
Right Half-Space
0 · 0%
Central
1 · 50%
Left Half-Space
0 · 0%
Left Wing
0 · 0%
Vision AI beaten in 1 of 2 tackle duels (50% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

He attempted only 0 dribbles of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.

02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

12%
vertical passes
20×
4%
switches
7×
39%
carries
67×
45%
short circulation
78×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW2846%1329%825%7RHS18441%769%1742%784%73%6C2612%331%838%1015%44%1LHS250%150%1LW0FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the right half-space in the middle third → central areas in the middle third — 2 progressive passes (33% of his progression) at 0.001 xT each. He moves it inside.

His progression is inward: 50% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 17% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

Only 7% of his passes switch play, so his threat is same-side — contain the flank he occupies and the route closes.

Quality behind the volume: 1 line-breaking passes and 22 final-third entries, 3.4 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
6%20%29%21%2%1%6%10%5%1%0%0%
completedincomplete252 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
252
passes
95%
completed
12
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 95% season completion rate.
04

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

24
progressive · 7.5/90
22
final-third entries · 6.9/90
1
box entries · 0.31/90
24
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
11

How does he create chances?

1 key passes (0.31/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
100%
chance creation (1)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
08

What is his passing profile?

252
passes attempted
47%
mostly forward
48%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
118 · 47%
Sideways
95 · 38%
Backward
39 · 15%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
109 · 45%
Medium
114 · 48%
Long (>30m)
17 · 7%
09

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

0.570.420.340.240.170.15
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
0.57
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Half-Space Att third
2 passes
0.42
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
8 passes
0.34
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Att third
5 passes · 1 to a shot
0.24
Right Half-Space Def third → Right Wing Mid third
4 passes
0.17
Right Half-Space Def third → Right Wing Att third
1 passes
0.15
Right Half-Space Mid third → Left Wing Att third
2 passes
05

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Illia Zabarnyi gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
51%
Primary
Right Half-Space, Middle third
22%
Secondary
Right Half-Space, Defensive third
7%
Third
Central, Middle third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
06

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Illia Zabarnyi actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
1314241323145172534
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

6%20%29%21%2%1%6%10%5%1%0%0%
own goal left, attacking →
10

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

1Key pass
1Cutback
24Progressive
17Long ball
9Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
15Outside → Inside
126Inside → Inside
13Outside → Outside
86Inside → Outside
By direction
118Forward
39Backward
95Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
03

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he plays straight through the right hs, advancing it forward in the middle third — 2 passes worth 0.57 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 1 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he switches it out from the right hs to the right wing, advancing it forward in the middle third — 1 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the right wing in the defensive third: 19% of his 16 touches there are lost (3 times).
19%3/16 lost0%0/55 lost0%0/10 lost—1 touch · too few—0 touches · too few6%1/16 lost2%3/129 lost12%2/17 lost—1 touch · too few—0 touches · too few—0 touches · too few—5 touches · too few—2 touches · too few—0 touches · too few—0 touches · too fewRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

12

How & where does he defend?

34 defensive actions across the season (10.7/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
2
tackles · 50% won
1
interceptions · 0.3/90
10
recoveries · 3.1/90
8
clearances · 2.5/90
1
blocks
37
avg action height
1
won high (att 3rd)
16
middle third
17
own third
Vision AI A mid-block defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 13 proactive ball-wins (4.1/90), tackle success 50%. He defends mostly around the middle third.
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

13

Impact on the Team

PSG's output per match with Illia Zabarnyi (3 matches) versus without him (5 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 5 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (3)
WITHOUT (5)
Δ
goals against /match
0.67
1.40
-0.73
points /match
3.00
1.60
+1.40
goals for /match
2.67
1.60
+1.07
xG for /match
2.33
1.90
+0.43
14

His Share of the Team

Of everything PSG produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Illia Zabarnyi specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
clearances
16%
104 / 634
final-third entries
8%
230 / 3025
threat added by passing (xT)
7%
46.8 / 629.0
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

16

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 515 centre-backs in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Ball-playing centre-back77%Stopper centre-back54%
Why Ball-playing centre-back 77%: a weighted blend of retention 84 (weight 30%) + build-up 71 (weight 30%) + progression 66 (weight 25%) + press resistance 56 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
—
Strong
retention, carrying, final-third threat, transition, build-up
Average
progression, crossing, receiving zones, press resistance, territory (wide vs central), defensive aggression, through-balls, passing directness
Weak
creativity, ball-winning, line-breaking, dribbling, box threat
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Retention
84
Carrying
82
Final-third threat
77
Transition ~proxy
75
Build-up
71
Progression
66
Crossing
63
Receiving zones
61
Press resistance ~proxy
56
Territory (wide vs central)
54
Defensive aggression
52
Through-balls ~proxy
49
Passing directness
46
Creativity
39
Ball-winning
37
Line-breaking
35
Dribbling
30
Box threat
26
17

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 189 cm / 80 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

William Saliba Arsenal · Premier League 25/26 · 192 cm / 92 kg
76%
Driven by: retention (23%), carrying (15%), box threat (12%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via through-balls; Saliba more via dribbling.
Kim Min-Jae Bayern · Bundesliga · 190 cm / 81 kg
69%
Driven by: transition (25%), retention (21%), carrying (14%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via territory (wide vs central); Min-Jae more via passing directness, receiving zones.
Rúben Dias Man City · Premier League · 187 cm / 86 kg
69%
Driven by: carrying (19%), transition (17%), retention (16%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via territory (wide vs central), defensive aggression; Dias more via passing directness, receiving zones.
Alessandro Buongiorno Napoli · Serie A 25/26 · 190 cm / 86 kg
68%
Driven by: transition (21%), dribbling (18%), carrying (15%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via retention, progression; Buongiorno more via ball-winning.
CJ Egan-Riley Marseille · 183 cm / 70 kg
67%
Driven by: retention (19%), box threat (16%), carrying (15%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via territory (wide vs central), crossing; Egan-Riley more via through-balls.
Aïssa Mandi Levante · La Liga · 186 cm / 81 kg
67%
Driven by: retention (21%), transition (18%), carrying (16%). Different mechanism — Zabarnyi more via territory (wide vs central); Mandi more via line-breaking, dribbling.
18

Summary

Illia Zabarnyi is a ball-playing centre-back: 95% pass completion, 17 line-breaking passes and 7.5 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]

Based on 3 matches (287 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a ball-playing centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is press resistance — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall ball-playing centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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