River Plate came back to win the Recopa Sudamericana thanks to a more compact and aggressive pressing game. River heavily dominated both halves, preventing Athletico from coming out of their own half of the pitch and thus outshooting them. After 90 minutes of pressure, Athletico’s defense finally collapsed during injury time. Tactical analysis and match […]
For forty-eight minutes, the Europa League Final was a fairly dull affair, with both Chelsea and Arsenal’s pressing games suffocating each other’s buildup. Then, Giroud scored and the floodgates crashed open, allowing Chelsea to capture the Europa League trophy by the half hour mark. Tactical analysis and match report by Om Arvind. Judging causality in […]
Preceding the chaos of the second half was a contest tightly-fought by two differing systems – one demonstrating alternative components of a 4-3-3 setup and the other displaying unique structures in a narrow 4-2-2-2 shape. Paranaense’s innovative attacking moves trumped the home side’s but it was not enough to avoid defeat. Tactical analysis and match […]
Inter piled the pressure on Empoli in the first half, mainly with crosses and long shots, without coming close to scoring. Empoli themselves were quite brave in possession and put together some nice attacks of their own, but Inter were able to take the lead early in the second half. After Empoli’s equalizer it looked […]
A somewhat fortunate early goal allowed Corinthians to do what they do best: defend. Giving São Paulo the initiative and waiting for opportunities to counter, Corinthians were rarely in danger of conceding an equalizer in a pretty poor spectacle. São Paulo didn’t show any ideas or capacity to reverse the situation and continued their dreadful […]
After finding it difficult to break through US Sassuolo’s 4-4-2 diamond defensive shape, Atalanta Bergamo adapted, pressed and played some gorgeous football to make a historic comeback, in the final matchday of the Serie A season. The result means that Atalanta will enter the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, scoring […]
If you play Bayern Munich and the game is fifty-fifty, you have to score your chances. Leipzig did not. As a result, despite the fact this was an even match for large spells, they were forced to watch Bayern win the DFB Pokal. Tactical analysis and match report by Erik Elias. In a time where […]
Barcelona’s poor mid-pitch press combined with Valencia’s ruthlessness gave Marcelino’s side an early lead. Barcelona’s lack of attacking output allowed them to keep it. A late glimmer of hope from Messi was ultimately quashed as Barcelona stumbled out of another trophy. Tactical analysis and match report by Tom Quartly. The Benito Villamarín was the elected […]
The MLS match between Los Angeles FC and Montreal Impact promised to be a game at a high level. But Montreal seemed to be overwhelmed by the versatile attacking department of LAFC in the first half. Montreal switched to a more aggressive defending approach in the second half, but LAFC were already four goals up, […]
For all that was at stake for the home side, their performance was very disappointing. Bordeaux’s fluid, yet structured, possession-based approach trumped Caen’s midfield and facilitated for complete control, relegating Caen to Ligue 2 in the process. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. With their safety already assured, the Bordeaux players could be […]