Yearning to mimic the glory days under an old star, Manchester United looked to break their four-year trophy drought with a win in this final. But Villarreal had other ideas. As a compact defensive block met an aimless offensive setup, over two hours of sparring in a grueling finale saw the Spaniards round off the […]
Ajax had nearly 65% possession and limited Lille to only three shots in the entire match. As one of those shots resulted in a goal, Lille seemed to sneak away with the win, despite an average performance. A little help from the referee put Ajax on track to equalize and even snatch the win in […]
Real Sociedad have one of the best defenses in LaLiga, but their pressing and high defensive line was blown away by the speed of Manchester United’s counterattack. United dominated the first half hour with an unexpectedly well-executed pressing trap game plan. After their first goal, they stepped back, defended deeper, and picked off la Real […]
Arsenal initially controlled possession quite well and showed some promising approaches when breaking the Benfica midfield press, yet were unable to find the finishing touch against the Portuguese back five. Benfica grew slowly into the game and took the lead through a Pizzi penalty, but things were immediately levelled by Saka’s reply two minutes later. […]
AZ’s defensive woes domestically were all but forgotten, as Slot’s side showed commitment and resilience in their 4-4-2 medium block – fending off Napoli for a victory at the Stadio San Paolo. The hosts were uncomfortable being forced into retaining so much possession, as the individual quality of their wingers was nullified by AZ’s defensive […]
As the world yearns for a sense of “normality”, Sevilla getting their hands on the Europa League is the closest we have got so far. After neatly exploiting Internazionale’s pressing structure, Sevilla would constantly evade pressure and produce smart combinations within their buildup. In the end, the game would not be defined by oozing moves […]
A dominance of possession came to nothing as structural issues in attack surfaced for Shakhtar Donetsk. Inter’s stern 5-3-2 defensive block proved to be impenetrable for the toiling Shakhtar outfit. Inter’s high press caused Shakhtar into buildup errors which the Italians ruthlessly capitalized on, to claim a win that never looked under threat. Tactical analysis […]
Impressive fluidity during the buildup combined with world-class performances from Éver Banega, Joan Jordán and Yassine Bounou sent Sevilla to their sixth Europa League final. Ole Gunnar Solskjær did not have an answer to every single tactical problem that his Spanish counterpart presented him, but could have still left as a winner if his defenders […]
A versatile buildup system and exploiting FC Basel on the transition rewarded Shakhtar Donetsk with the third Europa League semi-final in the club’s history. Their central focus overwhelmed their opponents, while Basel’s own passing structure lacked the balance or the bite to get themselves back into the game. Tactical analysis and match report by Joel […]
Wolves missed a penalty in the twelfth minute and never recovered, as they slowly drowned in the waves of Sevilla counterpressing. Chance creation was at a premium for the Spanish side against a staunch Wolves defense. But one goal was all they were ever going to need, as Lopetegui’s side laid down another marker on […]