David Moyes had never progressed past the quarter-finals of European competition: but a brutal bashing of a disjointed Olympique Lyonnais has put West Ham United into a European semi-final for the first time in forty-six years. Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker. UEFA’s B competition has always been filled with intriguing match-ups, lo and […]
If there ever was a tie to define ‘Europa League heritage’, it was RB Leipzig versus Atalanta. Two incredibly exciting sides that play transition-heavy football were destined to create a memorable match for neutrals, and they certainly delivered both in terms of excitement and tactical intrigue. Tactical analysis and match report by Neel Shelat. RB […]
Barcelona found things awkward against Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to the solid midfield pressing and transition game of the home side. Frankfurt created better chances and were rewarded early in the second half with a goal. Xavi responded with the introduction of Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembélé, who quickly repaid him with their involvement in […]
West Ham started the game with an attacking mindset, looking to cancel out the deficit from the first leg. With the help of suitable midfield roles in their possession game, they were able to do this in the first half through Tomáš Souček’s goal. There was no separating the teams in the second half, but […]
Barcelona continued their Europa League campaign by hosting Group E winners Galatasaray in the Round of Sixteen, with the two sides meeting for the first time in almost twenty years, with each of their previous six matches coming in the Champions League’s group stage. In spite of being the dominant side in the match, the […]
Barcelona made their Europa League debut against Napoli in the first knockout round of the competition. Lifting the Europa League trophy might not have been either side’s grandest ambition, but now they found themselves in it to win it. Napoli must have been the happier side after the final whistle as Barcelona missed lots of […]
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. […]