UEFA Technical Report 2018-19

CONTENTS
4 6 16 22
INTRODUCTION THE ROUTE THE FINAL PROFILE:
TO MADRID JÜRGEN KLOPP
26 28 32 38
RESULTS SQUAD OF TALKING ANALYSIS:
THE SEASON POINTS GOALSCORING
44 46 52 56
GOALS OF ANALYSIS: ANALYSIS: ANALYSIS:
THE SEASON SET PLAYS PRESSING GOALKEEPING
60 62 64 96
ANALYSIS: ANALYSIS: TEAM ROLL OF
FITNESS POSSESSION PROFILES HONOUR
INTRODUCTION UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
GROUP A GROUP B
Borussia Club Atlético Club Brugge AS Monaco FC FC Barcelona Tottenham FC Internazionale PSV Eindhoven
Dortmund de Madrid (BRU) (MON) (BAR) Hotspur FC Milano (PSV)
(BVB) (ATL) (TOT) (INT)
GROUP C GROUP D
UEFA’s technical observers

gather at the final in Madrid
Paris Liverpool FC SSC Napoli FK Crvena FC Porto FC Schalke 04 Galatasaray AŞ FC Lokomotiv
Saint-Germain (LIV) (NAP) zvezda (POR) (SCH) (GAL) Moskva
A N A LY S I N G
(PAR) (CRV) (LMO)
This review of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions

League season serves as a record of a campaign
that spanned 125 matches between the start of
THE ACTION GROUP E GROUP F

the group stage last September and the final in
Madrid on 1 June.
The 20th UEFA Champions League technical
report of its kind, it aims to provide a meaningful
UEFA’S TECHNICAL OBSERVERS analysis of the action via the input of UEFA's
Technical Observers’ Group.
MET IN MADRID FOLLOWING THE There was a member of this group at every fixture
played in the knockout rounds and their insights
FINAL TO DISCUSS THE SEASON’S provide the basis for the trends and talking points
TRENDS AND TALKING POINTS covered in the report, as well as informing the
reflections on the playing styles of the top 16 clubs
FC Bayern
München
AFC Ajax
(AJX)
SL Benfica
(SLB)
AEK Athens FC
(AEK)
Manchester
City FC
Olympique
Lyonnais
FC Shakhtar
Donetsk
TSG 1899
Hoffenheim
(BAY) (MC) (OL) (SHK) (HOF)
that feature in the team profiles section.
UEFA’s team of technical observers for 2018/19
comprised Cristian Chivu (Romania), Roberto
Martínez (Spain), Ginés Meléndez (Spain),
David Moyes (Scotland), Michael O’Neill
(Northern Ireland), Mixu Paatelainen (Finland), Peter
GROUP G GROUP H
Rudbaek (Denmark), Thomas Schaaf (Germany)
and Gareth Southgate (England). Packie Bonner
(Republic of Ireland) joined the group for the final at
the Estadio Metropolitano.
The report is backed by statistical analysis and
with the tendencies identified in the following
pages, UEFA aims to provide a meaningful tool
for coaches across the continent. It will be made Real Madrid CF AS Roma FC Viktoria Plzeň PFC CSKA Juventus Manchester Valencia CF BSC Young Boys
available to members of the coaching family and, (RM) (ASR) (PLZ) Moskva (JUV) United FC (VAL) (YB)
(CSM) (MU)
hopefully, will help development coaches stay aware
of the prevailing styles and strategies, as well as the
qualities required, at the elite end of the club game.
4 5
OVERVIEW UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
THE ROUTE
TO MADRID
SHOCK RESULTS AND STUNNING COMEBACKS
WERE IN EVIDENCE IN THIS SEASON’S UEFA
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AS TWO ENGLISH
CLUBS NAVIGATED THRILLING PATHS TO
THE ESTADIO METROPOLITANO
Lucas Moura (right)

equalises for Tottenham
against Barcelona in their
Group B meeting to secure
Spurs a place in the last 16
6 7
GROUP STAGE
A season that would be defined by nights
of heart-pounding drama and barely
conceivable comebacks began with some
Dortmund players
celebrate their
second goal in a
– two set-piece goals overturning Ronaldo’s
goal-of-the-season strike.
While United managed just one home goal,
12
Barcelona topped
4-0 victory against
small hints of the paths its eventual Atlético de Madrid their neighbours Manchester City hit six in one their group for the
protagonist teams would take. match alone against Shakhtar Donetsk. Pep 12th year running
Liverpool’s first two games of the group Guardiola’s men had slipped up 2-1 at home
stage featured 90th-minute winning strikes to Lyon in their first Group F fixture but ended
3
– one in their favour against Paris as group winners with an unsurpassed 16-goal
Saint-Germain, the other bringing defeat in tally. Lyon did not win again after matchday 1
Naples. In an up-and-down autumn, they but still followed City through after five
would lose all three Group C away games, straight draws. For the third
including a 2-0 reverse at Crvena zvezda. In the same section, finally, Hoffenheim consecutive year
Yet while Liverpool did not reproduce their finished winless on their UEFA Champions the eventual
attacking menace of the previous campaign League group stage debut – a fate shared with champions were
– scoring nine group stage goals compared PSV, AEK Athens and a Monaco side guided for group runners-up
with 23 – they now had a goalkeeper exuding their last four matches by Thierry Henry.
assurance in Alisson Becker and they earned Hoffenheim’s fellow newcomers, Young
275
the three points required from their must-win Boys, posted their first win on matchday 6
final fixture against Napoli at Anfield thanks against already qualified Juventus. As for
to the Brazilian’s last-gasp stop from Crvena zvezda, new to the UEFA Champions
Arkadiusz Milik. It left the teams tied on nine League group stage, if not a competition they Goals scored in
points, with Carlo Ancelotti’s men eliminated had won in 1991, their victory over Liverpool in the group stage
for having scored fewer goals. front of an impassioned Belgrade crowd – the
Tottenham Hotspur, starting as they first victory by any Balkan side in the
5
would go on, had their own close shave in post-1992 era – would feel even more of a
Group B where they faced three former collector’s item by the season’s end.
champions in Barcelona, Internazionale and
PSV Eindhoven. Last-minute losers at Inter on Goalless draws
matchday one, Spurs had just one point after compatriots Borussia Dortmund, who finished Cristiano Ronaldo from 96 group
three games yet then came through several top of Group A thanks to an eye-catching 4-0 reached the last 16
with his new club fixtures
tests of nerve: after Wembley wins over PSV home success over second-placed Atlético de Juventus
and Inter via goals in the last ten minutes, Madrid, Diego Simeone’s heaviest European
Lucas Moura’s 85th-minute equaliser at defeat at the Atleti helm.
Barcelona squeezed them into the last 16 Across the Spanish capital, defending
with eight points (ahead of Inter on champions Real Madrid entered 2018/19
head-to-head away goals). missing a departed match winner in Cristiano
If the two finalists were still finding their Ronaldo – and the coach who had guided
stride, other clubs had raced out of the blocks. them to a hat-trick of triumphs, Zinédine
Barcelona (the only eventual semi-finalist to Zidane. First Julen Lopetegui and then Santi
do so), Bayern München and Porto all won Solari held the reins during the autumn as
their groups without losing a game; in the Madrid won Group G ahead of Roma – despite
case of Niko Kovač’s Bayern, by shrugging off two losses to CSKA Moskva, the section’s
some shaky domestic results with the boost bottom side (the latter, 0-3 in December,
of eight Robert Lewandowski goals. marking their biggest home reverse in UEFA
Unbeaten Ajax followed the Bavarians out club competition).
of Group E – an impressive feat in itself by Ronaldo’s new UEFA Champions League
the four-time European champions who had chapter with Juventus began with a red card in
set off on 25 July in the second qualifying Valencia yet the Italian title holders still won
round, and had last reached the knockout Group H with the help of a victory at another
rounds in 2005/06. of his old sides, Manchester United. Although
It was Schalke, meanwhile, who advanced United would part ways with José Mourinho
behind Porto in Group D, having achieved four by Christmas, they made it to the last 16 with
clean sheets – a total bettered only by the help of a late comeback win at Juventus
8 9
7
Four months after
ROUND OF 16
There were just as many victories recorded away
Naby Keïta of Liverpool
is surrounded by Bayern
München players
as at home in the round of 16 (seven apiece) and

putting six past none was as dramatic as Manchester United’s at
Shakhtar, City hit Paris Saint-Germain.
seven against Schalke United, by now, were being led by Ole Gunnar
Solskjær, who as a player at Old Trafford had
scored the goal that completed a stunning,
10
stoppage-time turnaround in the 1999 UEFA
Champions League final. Twenty years on, they
shredded another script, becoming the first
For the first time in ten team in European Cup history to win a tie after
years all four English losing the first leg at home by two goals or more.
sides made it to the Their 3-1 success in Paris came without
round of 16 the suspended Paul Pogba, sent off in a 2-0
first-leg loss. United completed 226 passes to
their hosts’ 695 but after Romelu Lukaku’s two
4
first-half goals, they got the third required when
Marcus Rashford converted a 94th-minute
penalty awarded for handball against Presnel
Number of ties in Kimpembe after consultation with VAR.
which teams overturned Ajax achieved their own famous fightback
first-leg deficits by eliminating holders Real Madrid with
a 4-1 triumph at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Beaten 2-1 in the home first leg, Erik ten
Hag’s team attacked Madrid with a block
of four forwards (their formation morphing
from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4 as they flew upfield) and
no one illustrated their attacking brilliance
better than Dušan Tadić. Scorer of one goal
and provider of two others, he memorably
escaped Casemiro with a roulette turn before
supplying David Neres for his goal – and
earned himself a rare 10/10 rating from
France’s L’Equipe newspaper in the process. Joshua Kimmich in the return and Jürgen man back line hold out for 35 minutes before
It was Madrid’s earliest elimination Klopp’s men prevailed with goals from Sadio the floodgates opened, the visitors exposed
since 2010 and their neighbours Atlético Mané (2) and Virgil van Dijk. repeatedly by longer passes behind their
suffered their own stumble, letting a 2-0 Missing Harry Kane and Dele Alli for their defence for City’s quick forwards to sprint on to.
first-leg advantage over Juventus slip tie with Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, As for Barcelona, they finished 5-1 aggregate
through their fingers in Turin. The architect Tottenham found a different source of victors against Lyon after the first leg in France
of their demise was Ronaldo, an old inspiration in Jan Vertonghen, who, switched ended goalless. In the Camp Nou return, the
nemesis from Madrid derbies. His eighth to a wing-back role, scored one goal and scoreboard read 2-1 with 13 minutes remaining
UEFA Champions League hat-trick included made another in a 3-0 home success that set before Lionel Messi netted his second and then
two headers, showcasing his remarkable up a 4-0 overall scoreline. teed up two more goals on the counter.
ability to jump early and hang in the air. There was an even greater margin of victory While Barcelona were bound for a 12th
Along with two Spanish casualties, the in the other Anglo-German duel between consecutive quarter-final, the team who beat
round of 16 marked the end of the road for the Manchester City and Schalke. While it took them at that stage the year before, Roma, fell
remaining three Bundesliga clubs – ensuring a 90th-minute Raheem Sterling breakaway short. Nineteen-year-old Nicolò Zaniolo’s two
no German representation in the quarter-finals strike – the through ball delivered by his goals in a 2-1 win against Porto at the Stadio
for the first time since 2006. All three fell to goalkeeper, Ederson – to secure ten-man Olimpico – the first UEFA Champions League
Premier League opposition. City’s 3-2 victory in Gelsenkirchen, the second double by an Italian teenager – had raised
Bayern München’s defensive organisation leg was an entirely one-sided affair: 7-0 Roman hopes, but Sérgio Conceição’s side
Romelu Lukaku gives frustrated Liverpool in a goalless draw at to City. In his last match as Schalke coach, responded at home, prevailing 3-1 after extra
Manchester United an
early lead in Paris Anfield, but they missed the suspended Domenico Tedesco saw his team’s five- time. Another tie turned on its head.
10 11
Donny van de Beek helps

Ajax through with a goal
away to Juventus
same applied to Ajax, who had begun their
campaign in the second qualifying round but
now overcame Juventus to reach their first
3
Kevin De Bruyne
UEFA Champions League semi-final since 1997.
They did so with another exceptional away
assists in Man City’s
display. As in their 1-1 first-leg draw in second leg against
Amsterdam, they shrugged off the setback of a Tottenham
Cristiano Ronaldo goal and responded swiftly
through Donny van de Beek. His intelligent
5
forward runs in support of the front three were
a strong feature of Ajax’s play and he was in the
right place to steer in a close-range equaliser
before Matthijs de Ligt capped a dominant
Goals in the first 21
display by leaping to power in a header from minutes of the City-
Lasse Schöne’s corner for the winning goal. Spurs second leg
The two other quarter-finals provided more
easily predicted outcomes with victories for
22
Barcelona and Liverpool. In Barcelona’s case
they profited from an early own goal to win at
Manchester United and then, after a
first-minute reprieve when Marcus Rashford
Years since Ajax had
clipped the crossbar, ran out ultimately last reached the
convincing 3-0 winners at the Camp Nou where semi-finals
Lionel Messi punished uncertain defending with
two goals and Philippe Coutinho added a third.
Liverpool, for their part, ended up with the
same five-goal victory margin against Porto
that they had earned in the clubs’ last-16
meeting in 2018, though this contest was
closer than the scoreboard would suggest.
Porto, despite missing suspended skipper
QUARTER-FINALS Héctor Herrera, matched their hosts for

attempts on target at Anfield but conceded to
“Football can be crazy sometimes.” So said ended up succumbing to Heung-Min Son’s Naby Keïta’s deflected shot and Roberto
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at 78th-minute strike following a Fabian Delph Firmino while seeing Moussa Marega foiled by
the conclusion of a remarkable quarter-final defensive lapse. the foot of Alisson Becker. At the Estádio do
with Manchester City, a seven-goal contest in De Bruyne did start the return and teed up a Dragão, where Liverpool had won 5-0 a year
England's northwest that went the way of the Sterling strike after four minutes. Somehow, earlier, the Reds showed resilience in the face
less-fancied team – though only after the by the 21st minute City had three goals but of an early storm, and then the clinical touch
Tottenham players had, literally, picked Spurs had two. Starting with a midfield that Porto were lacking as each of their front
themselves up off the floor after a VAR ruling diamond, Mauricio Pochettino’s side had three found the net before Virgil van Dijk’s
annulled Raheem Sterling’s riotously sought to attack City through the middle, second set-piece header of the campaign
celebrated, stoppage-time ‘winner’ for offside. sensing an opportunity for their quick front sealed a 4-1 triumph.
The all-Premier League contest had begun players against City’s centre-backs, and it paid
with City aiming to overturn a 1-0 deficit from off during an astonishing first quarter as they
a first leg at Spurs’ new stadium where Pep profited from uncustomary slips by Aymeric
Guardiola had set out with a rare sense of Laporte to score twice through Son, shining in
caution, fielding two holding midfielders and Kane’s ongoing absence. This gave them the
keeping Kevin De Bruyne on the bench until edge on away goals – and they held on to it
the 89th minute. With Guardiola perhaps after Agüero and Fernando Llorente traded
mindful of the previous season’s quarter-final second-half strikes. City would end the season
first-leg defeat at Liverpool, this was City with a domestic treble, but with European
with the safety catch on. After Lloris had glory once again out of reach. A Philippe Coutinho goal
completes Barcelona’s win
saved Sergio Agüero’s first-half penalty, they If Spurs’ progress was not anticipated, the against Manchester United
12 13
SEMI-FINALS
In the 64-year history of the European Cup, it of Frenkie de Jong-inspired supremacy, with target striker to put Ajax’s centre-backs under
is doubtful there have ever been two David Neres later striking a post. Yet while Spurs pressure and create space for Lucas Moura.
back-to-back semi-final nights quite like it. had improved in the first leg after a tactical Suddenly, with the Brazilian’s two goals in
After all, if one footballing miracle is switch – from a back three to a four with a quick succession, Tottenham needed just
something to savour, then the second week of midfield diamond – they found the going no one more to advance on the away-goals rule.
May 2019 presented two in a row as Liverpool easier over in Amsterdam. By the 35-minute Ziyech hit the goalframe at the other end, yet
demolished a three-goal deficit against mark Ajax’s aggregate advantage stood at 3-0, ultimately Ajax wilted: Llorente beat De Ligt to
Barcelona and then, on the very next evening, thanks to a Matthijs de Ligt header and Hakim a high ball, Dele Alli touched it on and Lucas’s
Tottenham Hotspur did the same in the space Ziyech’s fiercely curled finish. low shot rolled into the bottom corner. There
of 41 second-half minutes away at Ajax. Then came Mauricio Pochettino’s half- were 95 minutes and one second on the clock,
For Liverpool, theirs was a recovery to rival time introduction of Fernando Llorente, a and Spurs were in the final.
the famous 2005 final triumph against AC
Milan in Istanbul. When Lionel Messi hit a
majestic 30-metre free-kick to put Ernesto
Valverde’s men 3-0 up in the first leg, the tie
Tottenham turned
looked over; indeed it probably would have around a three-goal
been had Ousmane Dembélé not fluffed the deficit against Ajax
night’s very last kick in front of Alisson Becker.

Yet Liverpool had played well: they had 52% of
Georginio Wijnaldum possession, created chances (with Mohamed
scored twice as
Liverpool made a Salah hitting a post), and saw Barcelona
remarkable comeback
against Barcelona
misplace 88 passes in the face of the visitors’
33
disorienting high tempo. Indeed, at 1-0, it had
taken a defensive switch by Valverde, sending
on Nélson Semedo for Philippe Coutinho, to
Years since a team counter the threat of Andy Robertson and
last overturned stem the flow.
a 3-0 European Cup Back on Merseyside, Liverpool were missing
semi-final deficit Salah and Roberto Firmino but gained an
early foothold through Divock Origi’s goal and
(Barcelona v IFK
Anfield, where past Lazarus acts ensure hope
Göteborg)
is never far away, believed once more. Save for
a spell of control before half-time, which led to
openings for Messi, Coutinho and Jordi Alba,
16
Open-play crosses by
Barcelona struggled to build attacks owing to
Liverpool’s energy and intense pressing, which
brought 11 interceptions and left Messi and
Luis Suárez as peripheral figures. And they had
Liverpool at home
no answer to Liverpool’s crossing either, which
against Barcelona
yielded the two Georginio Wijnaldum strikes
that brought the tie level early in the second
period, before Trent Alexander-Arnold’s
2min 57secs
The total time that
quickly taken corner caught Barcelona napping
– and Origi applied the killer touch.
A night to “remember forever” is how Jürgen
Klopp described it, and just 24 hours later,
Tottenham held the
we had another. Ajax were by now in a strong
aggregate advantage
position to advance to the final following a 1-0
against Ajax first-leg win in London. Donny van de Beek had
delivered the only goal during an opening half
14
THE FINAL UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
SALAH SETS
REDS ON THE
R O A D TO G LO R Y
AN EARLY PENALTY
PROVED TOO MUCH
FOR TOTTENHAM AS
LIVERPOOL CLAIMED
THE TROPHY FOR
A SIXTH TIME
If the knockout phase of the 2018/19 UEFA

Champions League had resembled a road
of unexpected twists, the final followed a
course that was set inside two minutes. Or 107
seconds to be precise.
That, after all, was all the time it took
for Mohamed Salah to convert the penalty
kick awarded by Damir Skomina, the
Slovenian referee, for a handball offence
against Moussa Sissoko. In the collective
view of UEFA’s technical observers it proved
the defining moment. As one of them
commented: “Practically everything changed
after 30 seconds.”
Indeed, just 21 seconds had passed when
Sadio Mané checked back on himself on the
left-hand corner of the Tottenham Hotspur
box and chipped over the first cross of the
night, with Sissoko standing barely two
metres away, right arm extended to signal to a
team-mate. The ball struck his underarm and
Liverpool had their penalty.
Salah, whose participation in the previous
year’s final against Real Madrid had ended
with an early injury and teary departure, had
the chance to make amends and his finish
was fierce, the ball rising over Hugo Lloris as
Tottenham’s goalkeeper dived to his left.
Salah kneeled and kissed the turf and, if a
personal demon had been exorcised, the
impact on the psychology of the entire final
was even more significant.
As Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham’s
manager, later noted, it was “mentally
Mohamed Salah puts tough” to concede so early in their first UEFA
Liverpool ahead with
an early penalty
Champions League final. Only Paolo Maldini,
for AC Milan in 2005, had struck an earlier final
16 17
goal and where that Istanbul contest featured For UEFA’s technical observers, de Madrid forward lasted only nine minutes.
an astonishing Liverpool fightback, this goal Tottenham deserved praise for the way Pochettino had put his faith in his captain but
left the Reds with something to defend. For they built up past the first line of Liverpool’s only Roberto Firmino touched the ball as little
a team who had lost their last two European press, the two centre-backs linking with as Kane did in the first period (11 times each).
finals – and a manager, Jürgen Klopp, seeking midfielders Sissoko and Winks to work That said, Tottenham had not led at half-
to avoid a third UEFA Champions League final the ball out to the full-backs, yet beyond time in a single fixture en route to Madrid, yet
defeat and earn his first trophy with Liverpool the halfway line they had less success. kept finding ways to win. And their start to the
– it seemed to prompt a shift in strategy. The The tireless Rose earned a roar of second period, attacking the end where their
Estadio Metropolitano witnessed few of the appreciation when pulling a ball down to earth fans were congregated, was purposeful, even if
forward runs by full-backs and midfielders that and bursting away from Jordan Henderson yet, the end product remained absent.
usually pepper Liverpool’s play. Instead we saw in keeping with the overall tone, he spoiled his Son and Kieran Trippier worked a crossing
a safety-first, sit-deep approach, illustrated by good work with a pass behind Son and into opportunity down the right but Dele Alli failed
the Reds’ eventual statistic of 39% possession, touch. Indeed, not until the final moments of to connect with the ball at the back post. “Oh
and 189 passes completed to Spurs’ 428. the half did a Tottenham player get a clear sight when the Spurs go marching in” came the cry of
Amid all the colour the two sets of of goal, and even then Christian Eriksen’s effort encouragement from their supporters but when
supporters had transported to the eastern from the edge of the ‘D’ flew high into the bank Sissoko marched through Liverpool’s midfield
edge of Madrid – with their respective ‘home’ of red behind Alisson Becker. line to give his team a four against three, Winks
ends each awash with flags before kick-off It did not help, of course, that their lost his one-on-one duel with Robertson – one
– one of the largest Liverpool banners was captain and centre-forward, Harry Kane, of ten recoveries by the left-back.
arrestingly simple: a silver European Cup and was struggling to impose himself against Collectively Liverpool’s defenders had the
five stars against a red backcloth. Liverpool had Liverpool’s centre-backs on his first bit between their teeth, their organisation
come for a sixth and their response to the early appearance since sustaining ankle ligament commendable. Alexander-Arnold blocked a
Tottenham fans
display a sea of white goal underlined this was all that mattered. damage in the quarter-final first leg. When Dele Alli shot after the midfielder had brought
flags in Madrid
For the neutral, it meant this second all- Diego Simeone gambled on Diego Costa’s down Trippier’s lofted pass. Then Joël Matip
English UEFA Champions League final had fitness ahead of the 2014 final, the Atlético muscled aside Kane to clear the loose ball.
39%
little of the intensity and end-to-end thrills
of Premier League football, and if the Madrid
heat was a mitigating factor, there was also
Liverpool were the first the impact of a three-week break since the Divock Origi
seals the game
side since Internazionale domestic season’s end. with Liverpool’s
second goal
in 2010 to win the final Altogether, it made for a scruffy start.
despite having a smaller Passes went astray across the pitch; Salah,
share of possession Toby Alderweireld, then Trent Alexander-
Arnold setting an unhappy trend. If Harry
Winks stood out for his neatness on the ball
4
for Spurs, Liverpool’s more direct approach –
evidenced by the 70-metre ball by Virgil van
Dijk to Mané that yielded their first corner –
Divock Origi’s strike was proving more effective.
meant a substitute has Alexander-Arnold, playing in his second
scored in the final for UEFA Champions League final already at
four years running 20, was not far wide with a shot fizzed from
25 metres and he showed his defensive
awareness soon after when covering for his
6
centre-backs with a vital interception as
Heung-Min Son threatened to run clear.
On a night when Alexander-Arnold’s
Spurs were the sixth first- attacking game was less prominent, Liverpool
time finalist in a row to actually registered only one completed cross,
have lost the showpiece though there was certainly danger in Andy
Robertson’s first centre, which would have
(after Valencia, Bayer 04
reached Salah at the back post but for Danny
Leverkusen, Monaco,
Rose’s alertness. It was the Liverpool left-back
Arsenal and Chelsea) too who later drew Lloris’s only save of the
game, after he had run unchallenged from his
own half and unleashed a rising shot.
18 19
While taking no risks, Klopp’s men knew one As for Pochettino, his first substitution –
MATCH STATISTICS
long pass to Salah offered not just an outlet, replacing Winks with Spurs’ semi-final hero
but the promise of a second goal. Georginio Lucas Moura – highlighted the need for a greater
Wijnaldum’s ball gave the Egyptian a run at goal threat. And that threat finally grew as the
goal and, stepping on to his left foot, he sought Londoners went for broke. Son supplied Dele on
to bend a shot around Jan Vertonghen but the the left side of the box but his attempted lob
defender, one of Spurs’ strongest performers, dropped softly into Alisson’s arms.
read his intentions and blocked. Alisson, with Son then headed for goal himself, surging TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TEAM SHAPES
an eye-catching, 80-metre driven pass down on to Dele’s pass and cutting between Van
0-2 TOTTENHAM
the right, then sent Salah away again to spark Dijk and Matip, only for the Dutchman to
another scare in the Spurs box. shift gears and usher the ball behind before LIVERPOOL 1
With Firmino struggling for fitness, Klopp the Spurs man could shoot – a show of
made his first change when replacing him the authority that would bring Liverpool’s SATURDAY 1 JUNE 2019
with Divock Origi after 58 minutes. It would imperious centre-back the UEFA observers’ Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid
prove a decisive switch, though it was James man of the match award. 2 4 5
GOALS
3
Milner, his next substitute, who threatened Entering the 80th minute, Son eventually
first, following fine work by Mané. Carrying the did test Alisson, who pushed away his 0-1 Salah 2 (pen), 0-2 Origi 87
17 8
ball from his own half, the Senegalese escaped 25-metre drive and when Rose put the ball
Eriksen with some cute footwork before back in the box, Lucas missed Tottenham’s TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR LIVERPOOL 20 23 7
feeding Salah, who teed up Milner for a shot best chance of the night, a low snapshot from
1 Lloris 13 Alisson
that whistled past the post. 15 metres that lacked the pace and power to 10
2 Trippier 66 Alexander-Arnold
beat his compatriot.
Last to try was Eriksen, with a curling free- 4 Alderweireld 32 Matip
5 Vertonghen 4 Van Dijk 10 9 11
kick after a trip on Rose on the left edge of the
area, but Alisson foiled him too and instead, it 3 Rose 26 Robertson
Liverpool’s jubilant was a set play at the other end that settled the 8 Winks (27 Lucas 66) 14 Henderson 5 14
players lift the club’s
outcome. Son, at the near post, failed to get 3
sixth European Cup 17 Sissoko (15 Dier 74) 3 Fabinho
a firm head to Milner’s corner from the right
20 Dele (18 Llorente 81) 5 Wijnaldum (7 Milner 62)
and the ball flew on to Van Dijk in the vicinity of 26 4 32 66
the penalty spot. Though Eric Dier blocked his 23 Eriksen 11 Salah
attempt, Vertonghen inadvertently diverted 7 Son 9 Firmino (27 Origi 58)
the bouncing ball to Matip who turned it on to 10 Kane 10 Mané (12 Gomez 90)
Origi, standing free to his left. The Belgian took
one touch, then buried a left-foot strike into UNUSED SUBSTITUTES UNUSED SUBSTITUTES 13
the far corner. Origi, Liverpool’s match winner 13 Vorm 22 Mignolet LIVERPOOL
against Barcelona, had done it again. 6 Sánchez 6 Lovren
“We’ve conquered all of Europe, we’re never 11 Lamela 15 Sturridge
gonna stop,” sang the Liverpool fans. Alisson,
12 Wanyama 18 Moreno
for one, was certainly not stopping, diving TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR LIVERPOOL
16 Walker-Peters 20 Lallana
low to halt one final Son attempt and then 0 GOALS 2
collecting Kane’s drive in his midriff. With it, the 21 Foyth 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain
61% POSSESSION 39%
Brazilian equalled the record for eight saves in a 22 Gazzaniga 23 Shaqiri
16 TOTAL ATTEMPTS 14
UEFA Champions League final. 24 Aurier 24 Brewster
Here, to quote Klopp, was “a keeper who 8 ON TARGET 3
33 Davies 62 Kelleher
makes difficult things look easy” – and a player 6 OFF TARGET 5
whose impact on this final could not have been COACH COACH 2 BLOCKED 6
more different than that of his predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino Jürgen Klopp 0 AGAINST WOODWORK 0
Loris Karius, 12 months previously. For Klopp,
8 CORNERS 9
the disappointment of Kyiv and those other
lost finals could give way to something else. He REFEREE 0 YELLOW CARDS 0
had his first European Cup, Liverpool their sixth. Damir Skomina (SVN) 0 RED CARDS 0
This had been a night for getting over the line. 528 PASSES 280
As the veteran Milner raised six digits to the ATTENDANCE
428 PASSES COMPLETED 189
fans, drawing a giant cheer, that was the sole 63,272
103.4km DISTANCE COVERED 105km
number that counted now.
20 21
THE WINNING COACH UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
KLOPP CLASS
AFTER TWO FINAL DEFEATS, 2019 BROUGHT
A LONG-AWAITED UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
TRIUMPH FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL COACH WHO
HAS REBUILT LIVERPOOL IN HIS OWN IMAGE
For a man who has described himself as the This was the moment Klopp had long
"reserve tank" for his Liverpool players, ever- waited for, following previous UEFA
ready to provide a shot of motivation from Champions League final losses with Borussia
the sidelines, there was something serene, Dortmund in 2013 and Liverpool in 2018.
almost subdued, about Jürgen Klopp in the Before this third final he had summoned
initial moment or two of his hour of triumph. the German equivalent of third time lucky
The camera that followed his movements (“All the best things come in threes”)
before and after referee Damir Skomina when recalling his 2004 success in leading
blew the final whistle on the 2019 UEFA Mainz into the Bundesliga following two
Champions League final showed him respond consecutive near-misses in the pursuit of
with a rare calm. Before Skomina’s last promotion from the second division.
blast, he had already made his way towards The hope too was to avoid a third final
Mauricio Pochettino to offer an embrace to reverse in UEFA competitions since arriving
his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart. at Anfield. He has yet to lose a home
As pandemonium erupted around him, European tie as Liverpool manager but had
Klopp shook the hand of the fourth official, suffered defeat in the UEFA Europa League
then looked up to his family in the stand, decider at the end of his first season, as
putting two hands to his mouth to send up well as the Kyiv heartache of 2018. Indeed,
a kiss to his wife Ulla. There were hugs with overall Klopp had lost six straight finals, as
members of Liverpool’s backroom staff but Dortmund and Liverpool manager, prior to
not until he had helped Jan Vertonghen, the night of 1 June.
the Spurs centre-back, rise from the turf There was a business-like approach to
did the big white grin appear on his face as this year's final. Where 12 months earlier,
he looked back up to his family and began Liverpool had flown into Kyiv on the
seeking out his own players. Thursday for the Saturday evening match,
Jürgen Klopp
has a close bond
with his players
22 23
THE WINNING COACH UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
difference, but it has a big impact. That’s moved to praise the 52-year-old after I think I watched 1,000 videos, which I
one reason why we were not flying in the Liverpool’s remarkable recovery against usually don’t do, but the thing is you have
game. It was like, ‘OK, be solid here’.” Barcelona. “For me this remontada only your own view in a situation like that.
It was far removed from the heavy- [fightback] has one name: Jürgen. I think That’s quite limited, so you miss things and
metal football that was once a popular this is not about tactics, this is not about I didn’t want to miss anything.
synonym for Klopp’s style; this was a philosophy; this is about heart and soul “It’s so nice all the relief, the power and
mature performance from a team whose and a fantastic empathy that he creates the emotions in those celebrations. It’s all
manager has undergone his own steady with that group of players.” about that. I know what people think about
evolution. The 2018/19 season was Klopp’s Those bonds were evident in the footballers and managers, but money is
first full campaign coaching without Zeljko celebrations with his players in Madrid, in not what drives us. These pictures are what
Buvac, an old team-mate from Mainz the way both Alisson Becker and Virgil van we want to see, to put in our minds and
who had followed him to Dortmund and Dijk enveloped their 1.91m-tall coach in keep forever. I will never forget one single
then Liverpool as his assistant. Klopp had bear hugs, lifting him off his feet. Alisson moment, and I was so exhausted after the
always been the man to lead team shape has praised Klopp for treating his players game that I sat in the coaches’ dressing
and set-piece work but now, following “like sons”. Klopp’s message to each player room together with my colleagues. I
the departure of his right-hand man, as he saluted them on the pitch was a enjoyed it so much, having a beer, sitting
is understood to have become more simple, heartfelt “thank you”. there, half-naked, talking to the guys who
forthright in his decision-making. After the dust had settled, he reflected worked the whole year, and I didn’t even go
This is not to say Klopp is an on what Liverpool’s triumph meant to out into the players’ dressing room. I was
Tottenham manager
Mauricio Pochettino
authoritarian figure. Last summer he him. “By far the best part of the final was just sitting there and I thought, ‘Wow, it’s
congratulates Jürgen moved quickly to bring back Pep Lijnders all the things that happened around me,” unbelievable’. After the game was one of
Klopp after the final
to Anfield following the Dutchman's he said. “In the first week of my holiday, the best moments in my life, 100%.”
departure for a brief spell as head coach
of NEC Nijmegen. Ljinders, assistant
now they arrived the day before as for any first-team coach, is his chief planner,
Jürgen Klopp
other European away fixture. If that was a while fellow assistant Peter Krawietz, an holds the trophy
minor difference, they had undergone the analyst nicknamed ‘The Eye’, had worked aloft at last
same training camp in Marbella as a year with Klopp previously at Dortmund and
before but unlike then, Klopp reflected, Mainz. Together the trio made tweaks to
this time they had fortune on their side Liverpool’s approach, seeking alternative
– a penalty in their favour from the game's strategies against wary opponents who
first attack. “You need luck in a final and we were now less open. With this appreciation
never had it [before], it was the first time,” that they could no longer just rely on
he said. “Whether it was a lucky penalty for lightning counterattacks, one area of
us, I don’t know. We take it, of course.” attention was working on retaining the ball
Klopp, speaking some five weeks after better in midfield.
the final, reflected that this incident Klopp fosters close co-operation with
coloured everything. “None of the boys this pair as well as his head of fitness and
had doubts about how we would react if we conditioning, Andreas Kornmayer, and
were one-nil down, but if you’re one-nil up, his goalkeeper coach, John Achterberg,
it changes it from ‘You can win something’, and offered a noteworthy comment on
to ‘Now you can lose something’. It’s a little leadership in the run-up to the final. “I need
experts around me,” he said. “That’s what
leadership is: have strong people around
you with a better knowledge in different
departments than yourself.”
Yet whatever the strength of the
“THIS IS ABOUT HEART structure around him (and this includes
Michael Edwards, the sporting director who
AND SOUL AND A recommended Mohamed Salah's signing),
it is Klopp’s personality and galvanising
FANTASTIC EMPATHY presence that have transformed a club that,
THAT HE CREATES prior to his arrival, had not played UEFA
Champions League knockout football since
WITH HIS PLAYERS” 2009. Even an old rival, José Mourinho, was
24 25
R E S U LT S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
PLAY-OFFS – LEAGUE PATH PLAY-OFFS – CHAMPIONS PATH

(Aggregate scores played over two legs; the first-named club played at home in the first leg) (Aggregate scores played over two legs; the first-named club played at home in the first leg)
R E S U LT S
Benfica 5-2 PAOK Ajax 3-1 Dynamo Kyiv Crvena zvezda 2-2* Salzburg BATE 2-6 PSV Young Boys 3-2 Dinamo Zagreb Vidi 2-3 AEK Athens
First leg 1-1 Second leg 4-1 First leg 3-1 Second leg 0-0 First leg 0-0 Second leg 2-2 First leg 2-3 Second leg 0-3 First leg 1-1 Second leg 2-1 First leg 1-2 Second leg 1-1
*Crvena zvezda win on away goals
GROUP STAGE
GROUP A P W D L F A Pts GROUP B P W D L F A Pts GROUP C P W D L F A Pts GROUP D P W D L F A Pts
Borussia Dortmund 6 4 1 1 10 2 13 FC Barcelona 6 4 2 0 14 5 14 Paris Saint-Germain 6 3 2 1 17 9 11 FC Porto 6 5 1 0 15 6 16
Club Atlético de Madrid 6 4 1 1 9 6 13 Tottenham Hotspur FC 6 2 2 2 9 10 8 Liverpool FC 6 3 0 3 9 7 9 FC Schalke 04 6 3 2 1 6 4 11
Club Brugge 6 1 3 2 6 5 6 FC Internazionale Milano 6 2 2 2 6 7 8 SSC Napoli 6 2 3 1 7 5 9 Galatasaray AŞ 6 1 1 4 5 8 4
AS Monaco FC 6 0 1 5 2 14 1 PSV Eindhoven 6 0 2 4 6 13 2 FK Crvena zvezda 6 1 1 4 5 17 4 FC Lokomotiv Moskva 6 1 0 5 4 12 3
18/09 Brugge 0-1 Dortmund 06/11 Monaco 0-4 Brugge 18/09 Barcelona 4-0 PSV 06/11 Tottenham 2-1 PSV 18/09 Liverpool 3-2 Paris 06/11 Crvena zvezda 2-0 Liverpool 18/09 Galatasaray 3-0 Lokomotiv 06/11 Porto 4-1 Lokomotiv
18/09 Monaco 1-2 Atlético 06/11 Atlético 2-0 Dortmund 18/09 Inter 2-1 Tottenham 06/11 Inter 1-1 Barcelona 18/09 Crvena zvezda 0-0 Napoli 06/11 Napoli 1-1 Paris 18/09 Schalke 1-1 Porto 06/11 Schalke 2-0 Galatasaray
03/10 Atlético 3-1 Brugge 28/11 Atlético 2-0 Monaco 03/10 Tottenham 2-4 Barcelona 28/11 PSV 1-2 Barcelona 03/10 Paris 6-1 Crvena zvezda 28/11 Paris 2-1 Liverpool 03/10 Lokomotiv 0-1 Schalke 28/11 Lokomotiv 2-0 Galatasaray
03/10 Dortmund 3-0 Monaco 28/11 Dortmund 0-0 Brugge 03/10 PSV 1-2 Inter 28/11 Tottenham 1-0 Inter 03/10 Napoli 1-0 Liverpool 28/11 Napoli 3-1 Crvena zvezda 03/10 Porto 1-0 Galatasaray 28/11 Porto 3-1 Schalke
24/10 Brugge 1-1 Monaco 11/12 Brugge 0-0 Atlético 24/10 PSV 2-2 Tottenham 11/12 Barcelona 1-1 Tottenham 24/10 Paris 2-2 Napoli 11/12 Liverpool 1-0 Napoli 24/10 Lokomotiv 1-3 Porto 11/12 Galatasaray 2-3 Porto
24/10 Dortmund 4-0 Atlético 11/12 Monaco 0-2 Dortmund 24/10 Barcelona 2-0 Inter 11/12 Inter 1-1 PSV 24/10 Liverpool 4-0 Crvena zvezda 11/12 Crvena zvezda 1-4 Paris 24/10 Galatasaray 0-0 Schalke 11/12 Schalke 1-0 Lokomotiv
GROUP E P W D L F A Pts GROUP F P W D L F A Pts GROUP G P W D L F A Pts GROUP H P W D L F A Pts

FC Bayern München 6 4 2 0 15 5 14 Manchester City FC 6 4 1 1 16 6 13 Real Madrid CF 6 4 0 2 12 5 12 Juventus 6 4 0 2 9 4 12
AFC Ajax 6 3 3 0 11 5 12 Olympique Lyonnais 6 1 5 0 12 11 8 AS Roma 6 3 0 3 11 8 9 Manchester United FC 6 3 1 2 7 4 10
SL Benfica 6 2 1 3 6 11 7 FC Shakhtar Donetsk 6 1 3 2 8 16 6 FC Viktoria Plzeň 6 2 1 3 7 16 7 Valencia CF 6 2 2 2 6 6 8
AEK Athens FC 6 0 0 6 2 13 0 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 6 0 3 3 11 14 3 PFC CSKA Moskva 6 2 1 3 8 9 7 BSC Young Boys 6 1 1 4 4 12 4
19/09 Ajax 3-0 AEK Athens 07/11 Bayern 2-0 AEK Athens 19/09 Shakhtar 2-2 Hoffenheim 07/11 Lyon 2-2 Hoffenheim 19/09 Real Madrid 3-0 Roma 07/11 CSKA 1-2 Roma 19/09 Young Boys 0-3 Man United 07/11 Valencia 3-1 Young Boys
19/09 Benfica 0-2 Bayern 07/11 Benfica 1-1 Ajax 19/09 Man City 1-2 Lyon 07/11 Man City 6-0 Shakhtar 19/09 Viktoria Plzeň 2-2 CSKA 07/11 Viktoria Plzeň 0-5 Real Madrid 19/09 Valencia 0-2 Juventus 07/11 Juventus 1-2 Man United
02/10 Bayern 1-1 Ajax 27/11 AEK Athens 0-2 Ajax 02/10 Hoffenheim 1-2 Man City 27/11 Hoffenheim 2-3 Shakhtar 02/10 CSKA 1-0 Real Madrid 27/11 CSKA 1-2 Viktoria Plzeň 02/10 Juventus 3-0 Young Boys 27/11 Man United 1-0 Young Boys
02/10 AEK Athens 2-3 Benfica 27/11 Bayern 5-1 Benfica 02/10 Lyon 2-2 Shakhtar 27/11 Lyon 2-2 Man City 02/10 Roma 5-0 Viktoria Plzeň 27/11 Roma 0-2 Real Madrid 02/10 Man United 0-0 Valencia 27/11 Juventus 1-0 Valencia
23/10 AEK Athens 0-2 Bayern 12/12 Ajax 3-3 Bayern 23/10 Hoffenheim 3-3 Lyon 12/12 Shakhtar 1-1 Lyon 23/10 Roma 3-0 CSKA 12/12 Real Madrid 0-3 CSKA 23/10 Young Boys 1-1 Valencia 12/12 Young Boys 2-1 Juventus
23/10 Ajax 1-0 Benfica 12/12 Benfica 1-0 AEK Athens 23/10 Shakhtar 0-3 Man City 12/12 Man City 2-1 Hoffenheim 23/10 Real Madrid 2-1 Viktoria Plzeň 12/12 Viktoria Plzeň 2-1 Roma 23/10 Man United 0-1 Juventus 12/12 Valencia 2-1 Man United
ROUND OF 16 12 February–13 March QUARTER-FINALS 9–17 April SEMI-FINALS 30 April–8 May FINAL 1 June
Manchester United 3-3 Paris

First leg 0-2 (Man United win on away goals) Second leg 3-1
Liverpool 6-1 Porto
First leg 2-0 Second leg 4-1
Roma 3-4 Porto
First leg 2-1 Second leg 1-3 (aet)
Tottenham 3-3 Ajax
First leg 0-1 (Tottenham win on away goals) Second leg 3-2
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Borussia Dortmund
Tottenham 4-4 Manchester City
First leg 1-0 (Tottenham win on away goals) Second leg 3-4
Ajax 5-3 Real Madrid
Lyon 1-5 Barcelona Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool

Ajax 3-2 Juventus
Liverpool 3-1 Bayern München
Barcelona 3-4 Liverpool
Schalke 2-10 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-4 Barcelona
Atlético Madrid 2-3 Juventus
26 27
A N A LY S I S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
SQUAD
For the UEFA technical observers,
meeting the morning after
Liverpool’s final triumph, the task
of selecting their UEFA Champions
OF THE
League squad of the season was the
cause of considerable debate.
In the end, their 20-man selection
contained individuals from seven
SEASON
different clubs, with winners
Liverpool represented by half a
dozen players – starting with their
two key men in the final, goalkeeper
Alisson Becker and defensive leader
Virgil van Dijk.
CHAMPIONS LIVERPOOL FILLED SIX Runners-up Tottenham Hotspur JAN
VIRGIL VAN DIJK MATTHIJS DE LIGT VERTONGHEN
OF THE 20 PLACES IN THE TECHNICAL were represented by three players,
including Lucas Moura, who did not
LIVERPOOL AJAX TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
OBSERVERS’ ALL-STAR SELECTION start the final but had scripted one
DEF 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 2 GOALS DEF 2018/19 | 11 APPS | 2 GOALS DEF 2018/19 | 10 APPS | 1 GOAL
of the season’s most remarkable
stories with his semi-final hat-trick Unflappable leader who brings aerial power Prodigious teenager showed composure, Outstanding both with the ball and
in Amsterdam. in both boxes, speed on ground, leadership and a goal threat in skippering defensively, forming impressive pairing
and excellence in 1v1s. Ajax to the semis. with Alderweireld.
Not surprisingly given their
outstanding contribution to the
campaign, there was room for five
34.5
KM/H
58
CLEARANCES
68
AERIAL DUELS WON
71
DEFENSIVE
players from semi-finalists Ajax, (ranked first) (ranked second) (67.6% ranked third) INTERVENTIONS
including three essential pieces of
the team’s spine in Matthijs de Ligt,
Frenkie de Jong and Dušan Tadić.
If Ajax’s De Ligt, at 19, was the
youngest player to feature, Lyon
were another club showcasing fresh
talent in their dynamic 22-year-old
midfielder Tanguy Ndombélé.
Overall, this was a squad that
recognised not just consistency
over a full campaign but big impacts
on big matches – such as Cristiano
Ronaldo’s round of 16 hat-trick for
Juventus against Atlético de Madrid
and Kevin De Bruyne’s trio of assists
for Manchester City in their home
quarter-final against Tottenham.
MARC-ANDRÉ Of course, Lionel Messi ticks both TRENT ANDY MOUSSA
ALISSON BECKER TER STEGEN of those boxes and the tournament’s ALEXANDER-ARNOLD ROBERTSON SISSOKO
top scorer featured as one of two
LIVERPOOL BARCELONA Barcelona players, together with LIVERPOOL LIVERPOOL TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
GK 2018/19 | 13 APPS GK 2018/19 | 11 APPS goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. DEF 2018/19 | 11 APPS | 0 GOALS DEF 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 0 GOALS MID 2018/19 | 10 APPS | 0 GOALS
Inevitably, given the plethora of
Two-footed goalkeeper with Quarter-back keeper with superb Youngster’s crossing ability was a major Constant threat down Liverpool’s left with Came of age as a Spurs player
strong anticipation; made vital saves distribution, short and long, and key saves elite individuals to choose from, asset for the Reds and brought their his well-timed runs into the final third. with his midfield dynamism and driving
v Napoli and in final. when required such as at Lyon. other noteworthy performers semi-final winner. runs from deep.
narrowly missed out – including
6
CLEAN
8
SAVES IN
6
CLEAN
Messi’s Blaugrana team-mate Gerard 22
CROSSES COMPLETED
653 520 94%
PASS COMPLETION
Piqué and the influential Manchester PASSES ATTEMPTED COMPLETED
SHEETS THE FINAL SHEETS OF 73 ATTEMPTED (ranked second) IN QUARTER-FINAL FIRST LEG
City midfielder Bernardo Silva.
28 29
A N A LY S I S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
KEVIN FRENKIE RAHEEM

HAKEM ZIYECH DE BRUYNE DE JONG STERLING LIONEL MESSI DUŠAN TADIĆ
AJAX MANCHESTER CITY AJAX MANCHESTER CITY BARCELONA AJAX
MID 2018/19 | 11 APPS | 3 GOALS MID 2018/19 | 4 APPS | 0 GOALS MID 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 0 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 10 APPS | 5 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 10 APPS | 12 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 6 GOALS
Left-footed wide man shone with his vision Stamped his class on quarter-final v Spurs, Pivotal in defensive midfield role, Constant menace for full-backs Outright top scorer for the first time Key figure in Ajax attack, holding
and penetrating runs, connecting superbly driving City on with a trio of assists. controlling the tempo with a rare composure with his quick feet; earned his best goal tally since 2011/12 and author of the campaign’s ball up and orchestrating moves from
with Tadić. under pressure. yet in the competition. finest free-kick strike. ‘false nine’ position.
9
BIG CHANCES 67 4
ASSISTS
92%
PASSING ACCURACY
82 24
KEY PASSES
17
THROUGH BALLS
37
CHANCES
33
KEY PASSES
TAKE-ONS DRIBBLES
CREATED (ranked first) IN 247 MINUTES PLAYED IN SEMI-FINAL (ranked third) (ranked first) CREATED (both ranked first)
TANGUY GEORGINIO CRISTIANO

NDOMBÉLÉ WIJNALDUM DAVID NERES SADIO MANÉ RONALDO LUCAS MOURA
LYON LIVERPOOL AJAX LIVERPOOL JUVENTUS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

MID 2018/19 | 8 APPS | 2 GOALS MID 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 2 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 11 APPS | 2 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 13 APPS | 4 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 9 APPS | 6 GOALS FWD 2018/19 | 12 APPS | 5 GOALS
Influential midfielder with intelligence to Versatile and assured in possession, the Skilful winger shone in Ajax front four; Liverpool’s most effective Hit the observers’ goal of the season Scored the Camp Nou equaliser that
solve tactical problems; excelled in group unsung midfielder snatched the spotlight struck important goals v Real Madrid forward in 2018/19 with his speed, as well as a much-savoured hat-trick propelled Spurs into the last 16 –
stage games v Manchester City. with a semi-final double v Barcelona. and Juventus. direct running and 1v1 threat. v Atlético de Madrid. and an unforgettable semi-final treble.
387
PASSES
341
COMPLETED
OVER 10.7km
COVERED IN SIX OF EIGHT
1 1
SPRINT EVERY
1,150
MOST MINUTES PLAYED WAS INVOLVED IN 8 32.8
KM/H
SPRINT EVERY OF JUVENTUS’ 14 GOALS
ATTEMPTED (88%) FULL APPEARANCES 1.69 MINUTES 1.63 MINUTES BY AN OUTFIELDER (Spurs’ quickest sprinter)
30 31
TA L K I N G P O I N T S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
WA L K I N G FLEXIBILITY EXCEEDS
PHILOSOPHY
One question that arose in the post-final
discussion between UEFA’s technical observers
was whether we are seeing a new age of
A FINE LINE
If every coach has their own idea of how pragmatism with regards to coaches’ strategies.
they like to see football played, one striking Liverpool offered an example in the final where
feature of UEFA Champions League football they played a low-risk game in a departure
in 2018/19 was the number of times the men from the high-speed, high-intensity football
in the technical area shifted their approach that had swept aside Barcelona and so many
TACTICAL FLEXIBILITY, THE INTENSITY OF THE throughout matches, making tweaks

here and there to nullify their opponents’
others. Jürgen Klopp’s approach paid off on the
night, although had the game gone against
ENGLISH GAME AND AJAX’S RUN TO THE LAST strengths or exploit their weaknesses. Liverpool, would there have been questions
In the words of one close observer of asked of Klopp’s cautious approach? After
FOUR WERE ALL HOT TOPICS FOR UEFA’S Tottenham Hotspur’s progress to the final, all, witness the way Guardiola’s choice of two
TECHNICAL OBSERVERS IN MADRID Mauricio Pochettino, for instance, “always has

a plan B and a plan C”. Spurs’ flexibility means
holding midfielders for the quarter-final defeat
at Tottenham dominated the post-mortem.
regular changes of formation – and Pochettino Coaches walk a fine line in a sport where
does not delay in making decisions. In the semi- little details can determine the biggest of
final home leg against Ajax, for example, the matches – and act as the crude arbiter of
Argentinian set his team up with a back three, whether a decision was ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
but by the midway point of the first half had Roberto Martínez, the Belgium coach and
switched to a back four with midfield diamond UEFA technical observer, praised the bravery
Kevin De Bruyne was at (1-4-1-2-1-2) in an attempt to gain some of Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, when
the heart of Manchester
City’s tussle with control. He admitted after the match that his he made a defensive-looking switch with
Tottenham starting shape had been “maybe a mistake” but his side leading 1-0 at home to Liverpool by
he had acted quickly to remedy it. withdrawing Philippe Coutinho in favour of
Some might see the elite coach as a chess Nélson Semedo; in reality it helped to address
player, moving their pieces amid a flurry of arm the threat Andy Robertson was posing down
movements from the touchline. The observer’s Liverpool’s left and restore Barcelona’s balance.
report of Manchester City’s visit to Schalke noted In the technical observers’ discussion
a series of tweaks by Pep Guardiola: 1-4-1-2-3 to of broader questions of flexibility, there
start; then 1-4-2-1-3 in the face of a temporary were varying views expressed: one coach
loss of control; then 1-4-1-2-3 once more; then commented that young players today
1-4-2-2-1 after Nicolás Otamendi’s red card. grow up playing different positions and
Guardiola offered another example when therefore have the adaptability to cope
City hosted Tottenham in the quarter-final. with tactical changes. Another, playing
The visitors’ early success, with two goals for devil’s advocate, asked whether we might
Heung-Min Son, brought a swift switch: Spurs’ be seeing too much flexibility – and too
threat was coming through the centre of the many different demands on players.
pitch, via their midfield diamond, so Guardiola To return to Pochettino, finally, one last
altered his starting formation of 1-4-3-3 to point centred on his second-half introduction
reassert control. He brought Kevin De Bruyne of Fernando Llorente to spark Tottenham’s
back inside to play closer to İlkay Gündoğan second-half fightback at Ajax. The fact it
in the middle and, with the support of the wreaked such havoc in the Ajax defence, where
two Silvas, Bernardo and David, this meant Llorente dominated centre-backs Daley Blind
a midfield four at times in the latter part of and Matthijs de Ligt, raised the question of
the first period. By the closing minutes of the whether the overriding tendency for very
match, though, with City chasing goals, they structured build-up play means that teams
finished up with just three defenders and can no longer handle the lesser-seen, old-
four up front. As for Pochettino, he altered fashioned threat of high balls up to a big target
Spurs’ shape after the early flood of goals. man. Given Barcelona’s similar struggles with
Tottenham had started with two up front Liverpool’s stream of crosses in the other semi-
in Lucas Moura and Son, but the latter now final (like Ajax the next night, they faced 16
dropped to the left side of a flat four-man from open play), it can be affirmed that to win
midfield, with Dele Alli supporting Lucas in a this competition, the capability to cope with
4-4-1-1 set-up. different challenges is a vital asset.
32 33
PREMIER LEAGUE NEVER SAY DIE KEEPING AHEAD

POWER AND Since 2017, there have been as many recoveries after OF THE REST
COMEBACK KINGS losing the first leg by at least three goals as there were One of the abiding images created by a two good hands first and foremost – and that
If the all-English UEFA Champions League final in the 20 seasons between 1987 and 2016. goalkeeper in the 2018/19 was that of there was a danger of this being overlooked.
proved anti-climactic, the manner in which Ederson, the Manchester City custodian, The need for goalkeepers to work on their
Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur advanced collecting a ball on the ‘D’ of his penalty box positioning – their recovery after stepping
to Madrid had the whole of Europe talking COMEBACKS BY THREE GOALS OR MORE SINCE 2017 during the visit to Schalke, stepping forward out to build play – was another matter; the
about the power of Premier League football. five metres and launching a long, diagonal modern netminder has a tendency to stray
There were different factors cited, including LIVERPOOL 4-3 BARCELONA ball that landed at Raheem Sterling’s feet just into ‘riskier’ positions, and for this Bonner
the collective economic might of England’s top (0-3, 4-0) 2018/19 SEMI-FINAL outside the opposition area. Sterling’s marker stressed the need for goalkeeper coaches with
division and the influence of the outstanding lost his balance, and with one touch from the a good understanding of the game and an
ROMA 4-4 BARCELONA
coaches and players recruited from around (1-4, 3-0, away goals) 2017/18 QUARTER-FINAL forward the ball was in the net. Goal: Sterling; effective collaboration with the head coaches
the world who have raised the tactical and 80-metre assist: Ederson. And an emphatic on team tactics.
technical demands. But top of the list was the BARCELONA 6-5 PARIS illustration of the accuracy that today’s elite
intensity of the English game. This means both (0-4, 6-1) 2016/17 ROUND OF 16 goalkeepers can achieve with their feet.
the on-field tempo and the intense demands of It is not just their accuracy but their ability
a division where the high level of competition to influence the flow of a match too. UEFA’s
means teams cannot let their standards drop. technical observers cited Gianluigi Buffon’s
COMEBACKS BY THREE GOALS OR MORE 1987–2016
That Liverpool lost just one match in the contribution to Paris Saint-Germain’s victory
2018/19 Premier League yet still did not at Manchester United as a case in point. After Alisson Becker was
capture the title reinforces the argument of DEPORTIVO 5-4 MILAN seeing his team struggle with United’s high singled out for the mixed
range of his passing
one UEFA observer that “every game mentally (1-4, 4-0) 2003/04 QUARTER-FINAL press in the opening period of the game, the
and physically is at a different level to any other WERDER BREMEN 5-3 DYNAMO BERLIN experienced Italian took the decision to push
league in Europe”. Though some would dispute (0-3, 5-0) 1988/89 FIRST ROUND his team-mates up and start playing long –
this, it seems reasonable to suggest the English and thereby dilute United’s threat.
calendar offers stern tests more regularly – in GALATASARAY 5-3 NEUCHÂTEL XAMAX This ability to read a game and play both
terms of high intensity, high tempo games – (0-3, 5-0) 1988/89 SECOND ROUND short and long, seeing space higher up the
than Ajax, for example, face in the Eredivisie. pitch, is imperative and few do it better than
Similarly those clubs who win their national Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen, who draws
leagues with large points margins may suffer comparison to an American football quarter-
in the UEFA Champions League owing to the back for his range of passing, be it picking out
absence of a serious threat that keeps their a full-back pushed on high or knocking a ball
competitive levels sky-high week in, week out. up to Lionel Messi as the Argentinian maestro
As a consequence, the mental and physical 2017 – yet it was the memory of their defeat dropped into midfield.
resilience of the English participants stood out at Roma in 2018 that seemed to flash back at Another who excels with his feet is
to the point where Jürgen Klopp was describing them once Liverpool had scored their first goal Liverpool’s two-footed Alisson Becker; one
his players as “mentality giants”. at Anfield. In Rome they had lost a 4-1 lead in discussion point that arose in the post-final
Even before one extraordinary week in May, a 3-0 second-leg defeat; on Merseyside, they meeting was the difference between him
we saw Manchester United recover from their collapsed in the same way. In both instances, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris. Ten of
2-0 home defeat to oust Paris Saint-Germain in they had no answer to the speed and power Alisson’s 27 attempted passes in the final went
the last 16. And then for something even more and intensity of their hosts, and one UEFA into the opposition half and the view of the
remarkable as Liverpool and Tottenham raised observer suggested that the limited defensive UEFA observers was that he showed greater
the intensity levels to max against Barcelona contributions of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez confidence in his long-range accuracy – and
and Ajax – and both opponents duly crumbled. did not help in the away tie: “You have to ability to mix it up – than the predominantly
In Barcelona’s case it was not for the first defend with 11 players.” left-footed Lloris who played 42 of his 54
time. One extraordinary statistic in the wake Of course, there was also the Anfield factor attempted passes within his own half.
of those semi-finals was that, since 2017, at work. As the same observer said, this is a club Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper and
the UEFA Champions League has witnessed with a deep-rooted belief in their powers of UEFA technical advisor Packie Bonner led the
as many comebacks from a first-leg deficit of recovery, gained from so many past triumphs, reflection on goalkeeping in which a variety
three goals or more as it had over the preceding and a crowd who respond to the high energy of opinions were aired. One view was that as
three decades. Barcelona were authors of of their team, which, in turn, energises their well as focusing on developing two good feet,
one such comeback – against Paris in March players further. A virtuous circle. it was essential for young goalkeepers to have
34 35
VAR came to
Tottenham’s
rescue in
Manchester
APPLAUSE FOR AJAX A SQUAD GAME VAR’S SUDDEN

“Refreshing.” “Innovative.” “A big plus for the Fifty years after the first substitutions in a IMPACT
tournament.” These were some of the UEFA European Cup final, the 2019 showpiece in Nobody who was at Manchester City’s
observers’ views on the imprint that Dutch Madrid highlighted the extent to which football stadium on 17 April 2019 will forget the
champions Ajax left on the tournament this year has become a squad game. It was not just eruption of noise that greeted the sight of
– views doubtless shared by neutrals far and wide. for the fact Divock Origi’s strike for Liverpool Raheem Sterling’s shot rolling into the net
The efforts of Erik ten Hag’s team in reaching the provided the fifth goal by a substitute in the off Hugo Lloris’s left boot two minutes and
semi-final, and coming within seconds of a first last six finals but also for the impression made 22 seconds into added time. Nor will they
UEFA Champions League final since 1996, were all by two different images – one before the forget the pushing of the stop button on
the more impressive for their youthful composition. match, the other afterwards. Before kick-off those City celebrations when, little over a
Six of the side that started the stunning 4-1 win at the customary team photos featured not just minute later, referee Cüneyt Çakir signalled
Real Madrid – a result that ended Madrid’s 1,011- the starting XIs but each team’s substitutes the goal’s annulment after a VAR review had
day reign as European champions – were aged too – a message of inclusivity, that ‘we’re showed an offside offence against Sergio
22 or under. Four of them were products of Ajax’s all in this together’. Afterwards, meanwhile, Agüero in the build-up. After that release of
academy while a fifth, André Onana, had made the forest of bodies on the platform where emotion, City did not have their fifth goal
his professional debut with the club. Only four, Liverpool received their trophy – an assembly and it was Tottenham Hotspur heading for
moreover, had had the experience of Ajax’s UEFA of first-team regulars, fringe squad members the last four.
Europa League final appearance two years earlier. and Jürgen Klopp’s support staff numbering THE AWAY GOAL, If the 2018 FIFA World Cup was the first
What is more, they had got to the semi-final the
hard way, coming through three qualifying rounds last
more than 50 – underlined in bold the scale
of the enterprise within today’s elite clubs. As
50 YEARS ON high-profile international tournament to
feature VAR, the new technology made its
summer, before going on to become the first team in Gareth Southgate, the England manager and It is also 50 years since the away-goals rule first first appearance in the UEFA Champions
14 years to reach the last four from outside Europe’s UEFA technical observer, reflected, the modern settled a European Cup tie. That was in the League from the round of 16 of the 2018/19
five biggest leagues. They did so playing the Ajax way coach has the challenge of leading not just a second round of the 1968/69 competition, as competition onwards following successful
too – with exceptional levels of belief and control, large squad of players but a complex and broad Danish forward Jørn Bjerregaard’s strike at the technological testing and the training of
freedom and composure, as they won in successive staff too. It is a challenge that both Klopp and Santiago Bernabéu edged Rapid Wien past Real referees. At every stadium, a VAR team – a
rounds at Madrid, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur. his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Madrid despite a 2-1 loss in Spain (aggregate video assistant referee, an assistant video
Over the season only Liverpool created more big Pochettino have embraced, excelling in their score: 2-2). The topic of away goals was assistant referee and two video operators
chances than their 28; only Tottenham managed leadership of these groups, with their ability to discussed at the UEFA Elite Club Coaches Forum – was in place to support the referee and
more key passes than their 124. empathise, to connect and to persuade players in September 2018 with top European coaches help him take correct decisions in four
UEFA’s technical observers were unanimous in their to buy into their vision. asking for a review of the away-goals rule in match-changing situations: goals, penalty
admiration of Ajax’s efforts with particular praise European competitions. decisions, direct red card incidents and
for Barcelona-bound midfielder Frenkie de Jong’s The away goals question came up during mistaken identity.
ability to find the right pass at the right time. Dušan the UEFA technical observers’ meeting in Prior to the round of 16, representatives
Tadić’s embracing of the UEFA Champions League Madrid too, where there were various views of the clubs involved – coaches, coaching
challenge at the age of 30, meanwhile, was one of Ajax surprise expressed. For one coach, the rule brings a staff and club delegates – received a
the season’s feelgood stories. Although Ten Hag Real Madrid by
winning in Spain
welcome element of jeopardy – and with it presentation from Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s
had a more conventional alternative for the centre- the accompanying tension and excitement chief refereeing officer, on the workings of
forward slot in Kasper Dolberg, it was the Serbian who witnessed in the Paris-Man United, Man City- the system. Come the final on 1 June, VAR
stole the limelight as a false nine, holding the ball up Tottenham and Ajax-Tottenham matches. was used to confirm the handball decision
and combining to spectacular effect with the quick, Another argued the rule was unfair. A third made by referee Damir Skomina against
younger talents around him. The concentration of coach speculated about the possibility of Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko for Liverpool’s
wealth among certain leagues and clubs during the playing extra time in ties that ended with the penalty – an award made in keeping with the
quarter-century since Ajax’s fourth and last European aggregate scores level. current interpretation of the handball rule.
Cup triumph has made it harder than ever for a team It is interesting to note that in that inaugural This stricter interpretation was explained
from a smaller nation like the Netherlands to travel season of away goals in the European Cup, by Rosetti ahead of the knockout stage
so far into the competition. Economic forces would visiting sides failed to score in 46% of the when he said: “When the arm is totally out
prompt the departure of key players in the months matches played across the round of 16, of the body above the shoulder it should
that followed, but Ajax certainly made their fans quarter-finals and semi-finals. The season be penalised. If the defender is making the
dream. Even Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen could not before that, the percentage figure was even body bigger in order to block the ball it is not
hide his sympathy for his old club when that dream higher at 57%. The equivalent percentage fair.” In March, IFAB subsequently confirmed
was finally extinguished in the final moments of for 2018/19 was 29%, indicating that today the changed handball rule for 2019/20, with
their semi-final. “Over the two games they played – when away trips hold far fewer surprises and an offence committed if a player makes
the better football,” he said. “In the end we were just playing conditions are increasingly uniform – an his body bigger with his arm, or if the arm is
lucky we scored.” away goal is a less precious currency. above shoulder height.
36 37
A N A LY S I S : G O A L S C O R I N G UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
Raheem Sterling
scored five goals,
A total of 366 goals were scored in the
2018/19 UEFA Champions League,
GOAL TIMES
his season-best rattled in at a rate of 2.93 per match.
This marked a fall from the previous
two years – 401 was the record figure FULL SEASON First Second Extra
posted in 2017/18, 380 the year before half half time
– but it was still the fourth-highest 366 goals 159 206 1 1

total since the current format was
established in 2003.
First Second Extra
The second halves of matches KNOCKOUT STAGE half half time
produced more goals than the first
– 206 to 159 – with the latter stages
91 goals 38 52 1
proving especially productive as games
opened up due to teams chasing a
result and players beginning to tire. If 44
we add the 76–90 minute period to 1-15
the goals struck in added time, the 13
combined total for goals scored from
76 minutes onwards was 88 – virtually
53
16-30
a quarter of the overall number (24%). 14
Quarter-finalists Manchester City
finished as the top scorers with 30 57
strikes from their ten matches, while 31-45
Paris Saint-Germain recorded the 11

second-highest goals-per-game ratio 5
(2.5), having hit 20 in eight matches 45+
before elimination. As for Liverpool, the 0
eventual champions ended the season
with 24 goals – 17 fewer than when 57
46-60
finishing runners-up in 2018, albeit
with four fewer in the goals-against
15
column too. 61
61-75
13
66
76-90
22
366
Goals scored in
90+
2
22
PU T TIN G TH E
the 2018/19 competition 91-105
0
7 1
BA LL IN TH E N E T
106-120
1
Number of 0-0 draws
WHILE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF GOALS DROPPED FOR THE

3 40%
Tottenham hit eight
21
Matches won with
FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS, THE SCORING RATE REMAINED Goals-per-game ratio of top of their 20 goals after goals after the
RELATIVELY HIGH COMPARED TO PREVIOUS SEASONS scorers Manchester City the 75th minute 75-minute mark
38 39
GOALS PER SEASON SOLO ARTISTS

(in current 125-match format)
The forensic attention to detail
401 HOW THE GOALS CATEGORY ACTION GROUP STAGE KNOCKOUT TOTAL
found in today’s elite game
355
368 362 361
380
366 WERE SCORED Corners 28 14 42 is one possible explanation
for the fewer goals scored
345 347 Free-kicks (direct) 8 3 11
331 330 329 Just over a quarter (25.68%) of the from solo runs compared with
320 SET PLAY Free-kicks (indirect) 11 1 12
309 309 total of 366 goals scored in 2018/19 decades past. Nevertheless,
285 came from crosses and cut-backs, Penalties 25 9 34 the 2018/19 season featured
3.21
underlining once more the importance Throw-ins 0 1 1 some fine examples, such as
3.04
of good wing play. Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé
Combinations 50 9 59
2.94 2.89 The second biggest source of breaking from his own half to
2.84 2.92 goals was combinations, a broad Crosses/cutbacks 69 25 94 score in eye-catching fashion
2.90
2.65 2.78 category that included everything Through balls 29 11 40 against Tottenham Hotspur.
2.64 2.63 2.76
from the 20-pass Barcelona move Meanwhile, Messi left two
2.47 Long passes 6 5 11
2.56 leading to Lionel Messi’s hat-trick OPEN PLAY Lyon defenders heading for
2.47 strike against PSV Eindhoven to the Individual action/solo runs 8 2 10 a different postcode as he
first UEFA Champions League goal by Shots from outside box 20 3 23 twisted into the box before
GOALS
2.28
German club Hoffenheim – scored Defensive errors 18 6 24 scoring against the French
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 via a lovely chip by Florian Grillitsch club – and Neymar had the
following a high-class give-and-go Own goals 3 2 5 same effect on Crvena zvezda
SEASON with Leonardo Bittencourt. Total 275 91 366 goalkeeper Milan Borjan after
cutting in from the left to
strike in Belgrade.
Raheem Sterling and David
2018/19 COMEBACKS Neres also capped exciting runs
Seven of the season’s 12 comebacks featured a winning goal scored

THE ADVANTAGE SPEED OF SCORING with memorable individual
after 80 minutes – evidence of how the competition can test teams’ OF SCORING FIRST The average time taken to score a goal in the time in possession reached a seven-season
strikes, though arguably the
best old-fashioned dribble came
stamina and concentration levels until the last kick. 2018/19 season was 12.50 seconds – with high, with even Liverpool – reflecting their
For all of the headlines generated by from Bayern München veteran
just 3.89 passes required. Not all teams took desire for more midfield control – spending
GROUP STAGE dazzling comebacks in two-legged Arjen Robben who, in his final
quite so ‘long’, though, with Liverpool offering fractionally longer in possession than their
INTERNAZIONALE 2-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ties during the 2018/19 campaign, campaign, evaded four Benfica
a noteworthy example thanks to their pace and previous campaign’s average of 7.68 seconds.
(winning goal time: 90+2 mins) the statistics show that the teams defenders before finding the
directness when attacking the opposition. The identity of some of the teams taking a
MONACO 1-2 ATLÉTICO MADRID who claimed the opening goal in UEFA top corner of the net in a 5-1
For Jürgen Klopp’s men, the average length more scenic route to goal was of little surprise.
(45+1 mins) Champions League games this season group stage victory.
of time in possession before scoring was 7.81 One of the finest goals of Ajax’s splendid season,
HOFFENHEIM 1-2 MANCHESTER CITY avoided defeat in 92% of cases. In the case of Sterling and
seconds, with an average of 2.51 passes. in their home group fixture against Bayern
(87 mins) Moreover, while recent technical Robben, both cut inside on
This speed served them well – as witnessed, München, was 18 passes in the making; that
PSV EINDHOVEN 1-2 INTERNAZIONALE reports have highlighted a steady to their stronger foot before
(60 mins) for instance, on their quarter-final trip to is what it took before Dušan Tadić converted
rise in comeback victories – from scoring into the far corner – and
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-1 PSV EINDHOVEN Porto, where they required just three passes Donny van de Beek’s low centre from the right to
five in 2014/15 to 20 in 2017/18 – this is one of the more common
(89 mins) to transport the ball from the edge of their conclude a move the Serbian had begun with a
this season yielded a 40% drop in open-play goals according to
JUVENTUS 1-2 MANCHESTER UNITED own box to the back of Iker Casillas’s net for left-wing throw-in 45 seconds earlier.
fightbacks over 90 minutes, with 12 UEFA technical adviser and
(90 mins) Mohamed Salah’s breakaway goal. Semi-finalists Barcelona, meanwhile, ended
recorded among the 98 matches that former goalkeeper Packie
CSKA MOSKVA 1-2 VIKTORIA PLZEŇ It has been well documented in recent the season with averages of 16.13 seconds
produced a victory. Bonner. For him, the movement
(81 mins) technical reports how teams’ high pressing and 5.9 passes, which was more than double
It is worth noting that eight of these today’s forwards can summon
MANCHESTER CITY 2-1 HOFFENHEIM allows them to strike fast following regains in Liverpool’s statistics. As for beaten finalists
wins were achieved by the visiting when striking the ball makes
(61 mins) opposition territory. In 2017/18, the average Tottenham Hotspur, they finished with figures
team. One of UEFA’s technical these shots extremely difficult
figures read 12.26 seconds in possession and of 14.95 seconds and 5.11 passes – the highest
KNOCKOUT STAGE observers wondered whether some for goalkeepers (illustrated by
4.03 passes. However, 12 months on, the actual of the four Premier League clubs.
SCHALKE 04 2-3 MANCHESTER CITY home sides might have slipped into a review of the competition’s
(90 mins) defensive mode once they gained a 25 goals from outside the box).
JUVENTUS 1-2 AJAX lead, sitting back and inviting pressure AVERAGE TIME/PASSES NEEDED TO SCORE A GOAL Whereas in the past defenders
(67 mins) against opponents now with nothing sought to force their opponents
12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19
MANCHESTER CITY 4-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR to lose. Another possible factor cited inside and into traffic, now –
(59 mins) was the ability of coaches to carry on SECS. IN POSSESSION 10.30 11.45 11.66 11.51 10.58 12.26 12.50 unless a team has two holding
AJAX 2-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR making changes in search of a match- midfielders – there can be more
(90+6 mins)
PASSES IN BUILD-UP 3.40 3.91 3.94 3.74 3.68 4.03 3.89
winning solution. space to exploit there.
40 41
RISKY BUSINESS MESSI BACK ON TOP

6
Liverpool were
Another tendency noted by more than one
UEFA observer concerns goals conceded
during the group stage. That said, few teams
were as ruthless at exploiting rivals’ mistakes
Lionel Messi finished as the UEFA Champions
League’s outright leading scorer for the first time
Lionel Messi
averaged a
goal every
69 minutes
the team with the by teams following mistakes made when as Ajax, who profited from a lapse in their since 2011/12, and the fifth time overall. The
trying to play out from the back in the face own half by each of AEK Athens, Real Madrid Argentinian, who had finished joint-top scorer
most headed goals,
of high-pressing opponents. It was not just and Juventus. in 2014/15, also registered the second-most
followed by Porto (5) the lower-placed teams either, for while To end on a positive note, it is worth shots (54) and the most shots from open play
there were noteworthy examples involving highlighting once more the quality of the (21). He scored six of his goals against English
Crvena zvezda, Galatasaray, Hoffenheim forward play produced in the UEFA Champions clubs, and nine with his left foot – while not
8
and Lokomotiv Moskva, Manchester City League – and not just from those sides who converting a single attempt with his head.
and Tottenham Hotspur were just as journeyed deep into the competition. Consider Messi’s team-mate Luis Suárez found the net just
culpable against more than one opponent. this snapshot from the group fixture between once but worked hard occupying defenders, as with
Eight players scored In the case of City, they leaked goals Napoli and Crvena zvezda, two clubs eliminated his decoy run to pull two defenders to the right as
against Lyon and Spurs after errors; Spurs early. At one end Marek Hamšík, from the Messi embarked on a diagonal run inside from right
from direct free-kicks
against PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona. Napoli side of the centre circle, releases Dries to left before scoring against Manchester United.
in 2018/19 – a narrow Overall, 36 goals came from loose Mertens to score with a classic, defence- This was a goal indicative of much of Barcelona’s
increase on the seven opposition passes, and 50.6% of all goals splitting ball 35 metres down the middle. Then, best attacking work, which originated down the
in 2017/18. Lionel came from regains in the final third. Even five minutes later at the other end, Marko Marin right before the final action followed on the left,
Messi, Neymar and the much-praised Ajax pivot Frenkie de plays a slick reverse pass to release El Fardou usually via Messi. Of Suárez’s support role, it should
Leroy Sané each Jong was at fault for one lost ball, which Ben Nabouhane behind his marker to strike for be noted there were three other Messi goals in
brought a Bayern goal in Amsterdam the Serbian team. Football to applaud. which the Uruguayan selflessly let the ball run by in
converted two apiece,
the lead-up – including two dummies in the group
in Neymar’s case both stage victory at Tottenham Hotspur.
in the same game
(v Crvena zvezda).
The other successful
takers were Eren
Derdiyok, Alex TOP SCORERS
92.6%
Lionel Messi’s goal attempts with his left foot
Grimaldo, Isco, Juan
Players Shots Shot Mins
Mata and Lasse Schöne Goals xG Shots
on target conversion per goal
(5 or more goals)
Lionel Messi 12 6.47 54 26 22.2% 69.8

56
34
Robert Lewandowski 8 6.90 26 17 30.8% 89.1 Hakim Ziyech had the most shots
Cristiano Ronaldo 6 4.91 48 13 12.5% 124.8
4
A record-equalling Napoli through pass v Crvena zvezda Sergio Agüero 6 5.59 30 16 20% 84.8
number of penalties
Moussa Marega 6 5.69 26 15 23.1% 140
were converted, Cristiano Ronaldo scored four
matching the 34 scored Dušan Tadić 6 4.79 21 10 28.6% 180
of his six goals with his head, facilitated
in 2000/01 when there Andrej Kramarić 5 2.35 18 8 27.8% 96.2 by a Juventus side which registered
was a second group the most open-play crosses (155)
stage (and 32 more Paulo Dybala 5 3.66 21 10 23.8% 103.6
matches played)
3
Neymar 5 3.44 24 16 20.8% 106.4
Mohamed Salah 5 7.08 52 15 9.6% 211.6
185
Harry Kane 5 3.20 32 15 15.6% 155.4 Liverpool’s Divock Origi scored with
each of his three shots in the competition.
Lucas Moura 5 3.44 26 10 19.2% 145
Also in the ‘100% club’ with two goals
Of the 366 goals, just Raheem Sterling 5 3.01 23 10 21.7% 174.2 apiece were Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué
over half came from Crvena zvezda through pass v Napoli and Crvena zvezda’s Milan Pavkov,
Edin Džeko 5 3.51 29 14 17.2% 114
regains in the final third who hit a double v Liverpool
Expected goals (xG) give an indication of how many goals a player or team
should have scored on average, given the shots they have taken
42 43
GOALS OF THE SEASON UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
2
RONALDO
TOP TEN GOALS 1 L IONEL MESSI
1
presence of Alisson Becker between the posts
BARCELONA 3-0 LIVERPOOL
meant contact, pace, trajectory and accuracy
A free-kick of supreme power
all had to be perfect, and so they were.
and precision that flies past
STRIKES
Completing the top three was Sadio Mané’s
Alisson from 30 metres.
splendidly improvised finish to open the
scoring during Liverpool’s last-16 success at
Bayern München. Reaching Virgil van Dijk’s
3 S ADIO MANÉ
AGAIN
long pass up the inside-left channel ahead of BAYERN 1-3 LIVERPOOL
Rafinha, he killed the ball with his first touch, Ronaldo looks back
at the halfway line as
Beats Rafinha to a long pass
twisted past the outrushing Manuel Neuer Bonucci receives the ball forward, controls, turns the
with his second and then, with his third, lifted CRISTIANO goalkeeper and chips home.
the ball over the two remaining red-shirted RONALDO 2
FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW,
obstacles between him and the empty net.
The other goals in the top ten caught the eye
for a variety of reasons. Barcelona midfielder Ivan
JUVENTUS 1-2 MANCHESTER UNITED
As a long pass from Leonardo Bonucci drops
4 IVAN RAKITIĆ
OTTENHAM 2-4 BARCELONA
T
The high bounce is no deterrent
UEFA’S TECHNICAL OBSERVERS Rakitić had both feet off the ground as he met a over his shoulder, Ronaldo delivers a as Rakitić executes a flying volley
high-bouncing ball with an acrobatic volley that magnificently controlled volley. from distance.
PICKED A CRISTIANO RONALDO flew more than 25 metres into the Tottenham
GOAL AS THE BEST OF THE SEASON Hotspur net at Wembley in the group stage. Other
long-range efforts were Leroy Sané’s swerving
free-kick for Manchester City in the group stage
Immediately Ronaldo
sets off on a run between
the defenders as Bonucci
5 LEROY SANÉ
MANCHESTER CITY 2-1
HOFFENHEIM
19 delivers a lofted pass
home victory over Hoffenheim, and Philippe 7 A powerfully struck, swerving
Coutinho’s curled strike for Barcelona against their free-kick that beats the
At their meeting the morning after the final in quarter-final victims, Manchester United.
10
21 14
18
3 diving Baumann.
16 23
Madrid, the UEFA Technical Observers’ Group Arguably the best-worked team goal on the list
6
2 7 12
had the task of selecting the best goals of the was Kylian Mbappé’s for Paris Saint-Germain in the KYLIAN MBAPPÉ
campaign – not easy given the high standard round of 16 at United. Winning the ball midway ANCHESTER UNITED 0-2
M
of so many on the 50-strong ‘short’ list drawn inside their own half, the visitors worked it forward 7 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
from the 366 scored overall. in a seven-man sequence culminating with Juan An impressive team transition
The first-choice goal, in the end, came from Bernat’s turn and forward pass to Angel Di María, capped by Mbappé’s startling
a familiar source: Cristiano Ronaldo, supplying whose ploy of springing forward whenever Paris acceleration and finish.
BALL MOVEMENT Ronaldo follows the
the season’s best strike for the third time in regained possession now gained its reward. The
7
flight of the ball as
PLAYER MOVEMENT he breaks towards
five years. Argentinian speared a superbly placed cross past the penalty area RAHEEM STERLING
This was the first year since 2011/12 that the first defender and into the path of Mbappé, MANCHESTER CITY 6-0
the Portuguese forward had not appeared whose electric surge between United’s two SHAKHTAR DONETSK
top of the competition’s scoring chart yet he centre-backs was followed by an ice-cool finish. 4 Sterling twists away from
certainly embellished the 2018/19 highlights Joining Mbappé in the top ten were two two markers before curling
reel with this wondrous effort. other speed merchants: Man City’s Raheem a shot into the far corner.
As in 2017/18, his winning goal was a volley but Sterling for the dribble and curling finish from
where that had been a bicycle kick for Real Madrid
against Juventus, this one was struck on the run –
for Juventus. It came in the group stage against his
the edge of the box against Shakhtar Donetsk,
and Ousmane Dembélé, whose group stage goal
for Barcelona against Tottenham began with his
8 OUSMANE DEMBÉLÉ
BARCELONA 1-1 TOTTENHAM
Dembélé combines high speed
former club Manchester United and was a triumph winning the ball inside his own half, continued with a calm finish to conclude
of movement, technique and timing as he stole with a 40-metre dash upfield and concluded with a 40-metre individual counter.
away from Victor Lindelöf, reading perfectly the the young Frenchman displaying the calmness
flight of Leonardo Bonucci’s ball as it fell over his
shoulder and thrashing it beyond David de Gea.
Semi-finalists Barcelona provided five of the
to apply the brakes, wrongfoot Harry Winks and
sweep the ball home.
Finally, another Barcelona forward, Luis Suárez,
9 P HILIPPE COUTINHO
BARCELONA 3-0
MANCHESTER UNITED
top ten – and the best-rated Blaugrana effort showcased a different speed – of thought – with The Brazilian opens up and
belonged to Lionel Messi with his exceptional the last goal on the list, against his old club sends a long-range shot curling
30-metre free-kick in the first leg of the last- Liverpool. The Uruguayan’s movement and over David de Gea.
four encounter with Liverpool. Messi’s left foot anticipation paid off as he timed perfectly his
has cast so many spells and here, fittingly, was
another piece of magic to deliver his 600th
goal for the club: the distance from goal and
run between the two centre-backs to meet Jordi
Alba’s cross with a sliding touch and open the
scoring in the semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou.
10 LUIS SUÁREZ
BARCELONA 3-0 LIVERPOOL
Combines clever movement
with a deft sliding finish to
Having gained space behind
the United defence, Ronaldo Jordi Alba’s low cross.
connects with the dropping
ball to score on the volley
44 45
A N A LY S I S : S E T P L AY S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
SET PLAYS Of the 366 goals scored in the 2018/19 UEFA

Champions League, 66 of them – or 18% – came
from set plays. This marked a fall in set-piece goals
5
Bayern München scored the joint-
31%
Almost a third of
0.39
Bayern had the ighest
4
Robert Lewandowski’s goals
The number of goals scored from dead-ball for the second season running, even if for some highest number of goals from Bayern’s goals came xG from corners per from set plays. He also had
situations continues to fall teams they remained an important source of goals corners during the tournament from corners 90 minutes the highest xG (2.25)
– Bayern München and Porto scored six apiece from
set plays, while Divock Origi struck for Liverpool in
both the semi-final and final following corners.
xG FROM SET PLAYS xG data does not include penalties or direct free-kicks
GOAL TYPE 2018/19
4 SET-PLAY GOALS
SET-PLAY GOALS SCORED BY EACH TEAM SET-PLAY xG Goals
SET-PLAY GOALS from corners 42
TOTAL GOALS
30 2 2 2 2 2 2 Goals from
2.25
free-kicks 12
1.88
26 1.73 1.63 1 1 1 1 1 1.53
24 Goals from
0.97 0.93 0.89 1.14 0.93 0.92 0.93 0.93 0.85 direct free-kicks 11
22 0.82 0.75 0.82 0.80 0.79 0.73
20 20 20
Penalty
Robert Lewandowski
Virgil van Dijk
Nicolás Tagliafico
Moussa Marega
Luuk de Jong
Fernando Llorente
Matthijs de Ligt
Kostas Manolas
Lukáš Hejda
Felipe
Viktor Klonaridis
Matías Vecino
Jan Vertonghen
Breel Embolo
Federico Fazio
Harry Kane
Toby Alderweireld
Suat Serdar
Clément Lenglet
Sadio Mané
goals 34
16 15
14 14
13 Throw-in
11 10 11 set play 1
10
8 8 8
6 6 6 6 7 7
5 5 5 6 6 6
4 4 4 5
3 3 4 4
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2
1 SET-PLAY GOALS PENALTY GOALS OPEN-PLAY GOALS
2018/19 66 34 266
Porto
Bayern
Man City
Ajax
Liverpool
Atlético de Madrid
Paris
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Man United
Tottenham
Roma
Benfica
Schalke 04
Galatasaray
PSV
Hoffenheim
Viktoria Plzeň
Napoli
AEK Athens
Crvena zvezda
Valencia
Internazionale
Juventus
Lyon
Shakhtar
Lokomotiv
Monaco
Dortmund
Young Boys
Brugge
CSKA Moskva
2017/18 70 28 303
2016/17 73 33 274
2015/16 65 25 257
2014/15 69 31 261
Statistics do not include penalties
SET-PLAY GOALS AND EACH TEAM’S xG 20m DEFENDING WITH A HIGH LINE
6 6 SET-PLAY GOALS Another ploy that generated comment was that of
5.83 SET-PLAY xG defending dead balls – particularly from wide positions –
with a markedly high line. Ajax offered a notable example of
5 5 5.12 this tactic in their semi-final first leg at Tottenham, taking
up a defensive line approximately ten metres beyond the
Tottenham v Ajax
4.4 edge of their own box.
4.63
4 4 4 On the motives for this strategy, Roberto Martínez, one
3.87 13m of UEFA’s technical observers, explained that teams with
3.65
3.28 3.16 less aerial power might prefer to try playing offside in these
3.19
3 2.94 positions; also the high line allows their goalkeeper more
2.71 2.81 space to attack as the ball comes in. It was also observed
2.66 3 2.62
2.5
1.78 1.84 2.35 of Ajax that when defending set plays, they kept two wide
2.19
2 2 2 2 2 2.02 players slightly ahead of their colleagues, ready for the
2 2 2 2 1.69 Inter v Tottenham counterattack.
1.48 1.49
1.3 1.28 1.36 1.2 1.23 1.2 As this second example from Internazionale shows, not
0.93 every team defended wide set plays with a high line. In
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.61 0.65
their group fixture against Tottenham, the Italian club’s
players took up a position right on the edge of their box –
approximately seven metres deeper than Ajax.
Porto
Bayern
Man City
Ajax
Liverpool
Atlético de Madrid
Paris
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Man United
Benfica
Schalke 04
Galatasaray
PSV
Hoffenheim
Monaco
Valencia
Viktoria Plzeň
Internazionale
Juventus
Lyon
Napoli
Shakhtar
Lokomotiv
AEK Athens
Crvena zvezda
Dortmund
Young Boys
Brugge
CSKA Moskva
Tottenham
Roma
Liverpool’s defenders, similarly, held a line on the

perimeter of their penalty box when catching offside two
Paris players for Marquinhos’ disallowed strike in the second
Paris v Liverpool 14m half of the group-stage match at the Parc des Princes.
46 47
CORNERS: ZONAL AND MIXED DEFENDING INSWINGER CORNERS
Straight
Outswinger Straight
22 (2%) Outswinger
475 (38%) 1 (2%)
17 (41%)
Short Short
271 8 (19%)
(22%) DELIVERY GOALS
TYPE
OUTSWINGER CORNERS 16 (38%)

Bayern v Benfica Atlético v Brugge 480 (38%)
Inswinger Inswinger
Robert Lewandowski’s 50th UEFA Champions This image shows Atlético de Madrid defending a corner with
League goal in Bayern’s group stage win over every player back in their box. They used a mixed set-up with three
Benfica raised two points about defending from players marking zonally and the rest man-for-man, with Rodri, TOTAL CORNERS 1,248 TOTAL GOALS 42
corners. As noted by UEFA’s technical observers, their tallest outfield player (1.91m), stood in the central zone.
there is an increased tendency towards
4.4:1 0
zonal defending today, yet in this instance,
3:1 30:1
the short Bayern corner, with Arjen Robben One goal every
feeding Joshua Kimmich, served to bring a One shot every
Benfica man out of his zone. Additionally when Atlético had the lowest Atlético did not 3 corners 30 corners
Lewandowski’s subsequent header went in off corners-to-shots-conceded concede a single
the far post, the visitors’ zonal strategy meant
ratio, conceding a shot goal from a corner
there was no Benfica player there protecting it,
as was prevalent in the past. every 4.4 corners (35 faced) CORNERS-TO-SHOTS RATIO BENFICA SHOT LOCATIONS
FROM CORNERS
Benfica had mixed fortunes from set plays. They conceded an opportunity from every 3.4
corners – an above-average ratio – and were also the club most likely to leak a goal from a
7.3
CORNERS-TO-GOALS-CONCEDED RATIO corner, shipping one goal for every nine opposition deliveries. At the other end of the pitch,
51.0 52.0 they had the best corners-to-shots ratio yet did not score from a single one.
9:1
47.0
44.0
4.4
34.0
32.0 32.0 33.0 33.0 3.8 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.0
27.0 27.0 28.0 3.4 3.6
24.5 25.0 25.0 Benfica had the 2.7 2.8 2.8
3.1
21.5 22.0 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6
16.7 17.0 18.0
18.7 highest corners-to- 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.3
15.0 1.5
9.0
11.3 goals-conceded ratio,
conceding a goal every
9 corners (but one of
Benfica
Internazionale
Porto
Shakhtar
Ajax
Lokomotiv Moskva
Napoli
Borussia Dortmund
Crvena zvezda
Bayern
Tottenham
Roma
Real Madrid
Brugge
Juventus
Paris
Liverpool
Lyon
Schalke 04
Barcelona
Valencia
Man City
Viktoria Plzeň
CSKA Moskva
Hoffenheim
Young Boys
Man United
PSV
Atlético de Madrid
Galatasaray
AEK Athens
Monaco
Benfica had the highest corners-to-goals-
Liverpool
Galatasaray
Hoffenheim
Dortmund
Schalke 04
Brugge
Crvena zvezda
Lyon
Roma
Man United
Benfica
Lokomotiv
Tottenham
Viktoria Plzeň
Shakhtar
CSKA Moskva
AEK Athens
Juventus
Barcelona
Ajax
Man City
Porto
Bayern
Monaco
the lowest corners-to- conceded ratio (but one of the lowest

shots-conceded ratios) corners-to-shots-conceded ratios).
*8 teams did not concede from a corner: Atlético de Madrid, Inter, Napoli, Paris, PSV, Real Madrid, Valencia, Young Boys Circles are scaled by quality of chance
CORNERS-TO-SHOTS-CONCEDED RATIO
CORNERS-TO-GOALS RATIO PORTO SHOT LOCATIONS
5
53.0
4.3 4.4
3.8
FROM CORNERS
3.6 3.7 40.0 41.0
3.3 3.4 3.4 34.5 36.0
3.1 32.0 32.0 32.0 33.0 34.0
2.7 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.8
2.9 2.9 Porto scored the joint- 29.0
2.4 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 24.5 25.0 26.0
2.3 highest number of goals 22.0 23.0
1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1
2.2 2.2 16.0 17.0 17.3 18.8 19.0
1.5
1.8 from corners 9.2 9.8
Porto
Bayern
Atlético de Madrid
Crvena zvezda
Ajax
Liverpool
PSV
AEK Athens
Shakhtar
Roma
Viktoria Plzeň
Lyon
Manchester City
Internazionale
Galatasaray
Lokomotiv
Napoli
Schalke 04
Real Madrid
Hoffenheim
Tottenham
Paris
Juventus
9.2:1
Galatasaray
AEK Athens
Tottenham
Ajax
Hoffenheim
Bayern
Liverpool
PSV
Roma
Crvena zvezda
Monaco
Viktoria Plzeň
Paris
Real Madrid
Lyon
Lokomotiv
Juventus
Valencia
Schalke 04
CSKA Moskva
Napoli
Internazionale
Young Boys
Porto
Dortmund
Benfica
Shakhtar
Man City
Barcelona
Club Brugge
Man United
Atlético de Madrid
Porto had the highest

*9 teams did not score from a corner: Man United, Benfica, Monaco, Valencia, Dortmund, Barcelona,
corners-to-goals ratio Young Boys, Brugge, CSKA Moskva
48 49
IN S WIN G IN G v O U TS W I NG I NG
CO RN E RS
Virgil van Dijk’s goal at Porto was a header

following Sadio Mané’s near-post flick-on of
an inswinging corner. The big Dutchman also
headed a goal at Bayern from an outswinging
delivery from the other side. Liverpool’s varied
threat was evident again early in the final
when Hugo Lloris struggled to deal with two
inswinging corners with five Liverpool players
crowding the space around him. In the end, it
was a second-phase goal from a corner that
brought Divock Origi’s clinching goal in Madrid
Porto v Liverpool
and the Reds were not alone in profiting in this
way. Overall there were eight goals from the
LIVERPOOL SHOT LOCATIONS FROM CORNERS Shots Goals second phase at corners – and one argument Juventus v Ajax
is that defending teams are vulnerable in

these situations because of their focus on
springing quick counterattacks.
The position of Mohamed Salah for
Liverpool’s attacking set plays was also
noteworthy. The Egyptian was positioned
on the edge of the penalty area and carried
a threat from there, having five shots on
goal when latching on to balls cleared to the
perimeter of the box. With his speed, Salah
could also help out defensively when the
opposition countered; for instance, when
Porto sprang forward quickly following a
Liverpool corner in the quarter-final at Anfield,
Salah sprinted back and dispossessed Otávio
right on the edge of his own penalty box.
Before the season began, Jürgen Klopp
and his players and coaching staff took
Ajax v Tottenham
a decision to spend more time practising
set plays. Their attention to detail paid off
throughout the season – and never more
T H E A RT O F B LO C K I NG
so than in their semi-final comeback
against Barcelona. Another part of their In their analysis of set plays in the competition, UEFA’s technical observers
strategy was to keep the ball moving quickly, noted that teams were evidently working on ways to block opposition
to help sustain the pressure on opponents, players as deliveries came into the box, as a means of allowing team-mates
and with Klopp’s match analysts having a free run at the ball. One such example was Cristiano Ronaldo’s headed goal
observed how Barcelona players became for Juventus against Ajax in the quarter-finals. As Miralem Pjanić prepared to
distracted when a decision went against take the corner, Ronaldo’s starting position was beyond the back post but
them, there was even an instruction passed his marker, Matthijs de Ligt, could not keep close to him as he sped around
on to the club’s ball boys prior to the the thicket of bodies in the middle of the area to meet the ball with a strong
Blaugrana’s visit that they should return the header. De Ligt himself was the beneficiary for his opening goal of the semi-
ball as swiftly as possible to help the team final second leg against Tottenham. As Lasse Schöne lined up his corner,
maintain the intensity. And so it was that Spurs centre-back Jan Vertonghen had an eye on De Ligt to try to anticipate
Trent Alexander-Arnold was able to send his movement, but he was unable to follow him because of Donny van de
over the quick corner that caught Barcelona Beek backing into him to bar his path – a coming-together that left him on
Liverpool v Barcelona
unprepared as Origi scored his team’s fourth. the floor as the Ajax defender soared to score.
50 51
A N A LY S I S : P R E S S I N G UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
PRESSING
Teams playing at high intensity find that
the pressing game pays dividends
TOTTENHAM v LIVERPOOL: TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES LIVERPOOL v BARCELONA: THE RED STORM
FINAL SEMI-FINAL, SECOND LEG
Of all their 13 matches in the 2018/19 competition, Liverpool pressed high as would be expected, with – as the Liverpool played with extraordinary intensity Barcelona failed to press with the usual vigour
Tottenham Hotspur’s lowest number of pressures in a screenshot highlights – their front three stationed close both in and out of possession at Anfield. They when they lost the ball. Instead they defended
match (64) came in the final. The fact they had a large to the edge of the Spurs box when Mauricio Pochettino’s pressed high up the pitch and responded from a mid-block and did this, more often than
share of possession might be cited as a factor yet they men sought to play out from the back. To be fair to instantly and with high intensity whenever not, with eight men because they allowed Lionel
had also had more of the ball in the semi-final second Tottenham, they got past this first line of the Liverpool they lost the ball. The energy and organisation Messi and Luis Suárez to stay up the pitch and
leg at Ajax, when they posted more than double the press quite effectively though the heat map shows of their pressing game made it very difficult wait for the ball to be regained. As the scoreline
total of pressures managed in Madrid – many of them the pressure that was then exerted on their full-backs for Barcelona to build from the back in their indicated, they were unable to cope with
higher up the pitch. by Reds players. preferred style. Liverpool’s intensity and barrage of crosses.
TOTTENHAM PRESSING LIVERPOOL PRESSING LIVERPOOL PRESSING BARCELONA PRESSING
Liverpool v Tottenham Liverpool v Tottenham Liverpool v Barcelona Liverpool v Barcelona
Tottenham’s compact shape out of possession meant Harry Kane was Salah was the final’s highest-pressing player (34 times)
often seen pressing the centre backs alone, which allowed them time
to play longer passes aimed for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané
HEAT MAP KEY
Low intensity High intensity
*Pressures: the numbers of times a player pressures an oppostition player per 90

Data provided by Statsbomb
52 53
A N A LY S I S : P R E S S I N G UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
AJAX v TOTTENHAM: TOTTENHAM PRESSING

AJAX v REAL MADRID: SUCCESS AJAX PRESSING
SPURS’ BIG PUSH WITH THE COUNTER PRESS

SEMI-FINAL, SECOND LEG ROUND OF 16, FIRST LEG
The heat map highlights Spurs’ efforts in a Ajax applied such high pressure that they were able
fixture where they pressed high up the pitch, to recover many balls in the opposition half, creating
particularly in a second half where full-backs many problems for Madrid with their aggression and
Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose drove upfield at determination – and indeed scoring after left-back
every opportunity as Mauricio Pochettino’s men Nicolás Tagliafico had harassed Lucas Vázquez into
went for broke. losing the ball in his own half (below).
Ajax v Tottenham Ajax v Real Madrid Ajax v Real Madrid
TOTTENHAM PRESSING AJAX PRESSING

TOTTENHAM v DORTMUND: REAL MADRID v AJAX:
WING-BACKS LEAD THE WAY PRESSING TO THE MAX
ROUND OF 16, FIRST LEG ROUND OF 16, SECOND LEG
At Wembley against Dortmund, Spurs had a At the Santiago Bernabéu, Ajax recorded the
1-3-4-1-2 shape out of possession and this most pressures in a single game across their UEFA
meant the onus was on wing-backs Serge Champions League campaign this season (333).
Aurier and Jan Vertonghen to press high up the They applied pressure across the pitch, particularly
pitch. Once they won the ball (Aurier registered in wide areas in their own half, with three of their
25 pressures and Vertonghen 18), they were goals coming from quick breaks after they had won
instrumental in possession: the Belgian the ball back. The front four of Dušan Tadić, David
crossing for Heung-Min Son’s goal (right) and Neres, Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek showed
then scoring himself from an Aurier centre. admirable discipline in defending every ball that
was lost – and doing it immediately and high up the
pitch. In the process, they denied Madrid the space
to build up play, forcing them to look long.
Tottenham v Dortmund Real Madrid v Ajax

54 55
A N A LY S I S : G O A L K E E P I N G UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
GOALKEEPING ALISSON BECKER

13 GAMES
ANDRÉ ONANA
12 GAMES
HUGO LLORIS
11 GAMES
MARC-ANDRÉ TER STEGEN
11 GAMES
In a team known for its attacking prowess, Alisson ensured GOALS CONCEDED 12 (AVE 0.9) GOALS CONCEDED 13 (AVE 1.08) GOALS CONCEDED 15 (AVE 1.3) GOALS CONCEDED 9 (AVE 0.8)
xGOT CONCEDED 16.2 (AVE 1.25) CONCEDED 18.68 (AVE 1.56) xGOT CONCEDED 13.78 (AVE 1.27) xGOT CONCEDED 10.25 (AVE 0.93)
Liverpool’s success was built from the back. Here we look at
CLEAN SHEETS 6 (AVE 0.46) CLEAN SHEETS 4 (AVE 0.33) CLEAN SHEETS 4 (AVE 0.3) CLEAN SHEETS 6 (AVE 0.54)
the key goalkeeping statistics from the 2018/19 campaign
SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON
TARGET FACED TARGET FACED TARGET FACED TARGET FACED
57 78% 54 76% 45 67% 37 76%
GOALS PREVENTED (Ave 4.3) (Ave 4.5) (Ave 4) (Ave 3.3)
Goals prevented measures xG on target
(xGOT) conceded compared with actual SAVES SAVES SAVES SAVES
5.68 goals conceded, across all games played 46 SAVE 40 SAVE 30 SAVE 27 SAVE
(Ave 3.5) PERCENTAGE (Ave 3.3) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.7) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.4) PERCENTAGE
4.2
3.12
IKER CASILLAS EDERSON WOJCIECH SZCZĘSNY DAVID DE GEA
10 GAMES 10 GAMES 10 GAMES 9 GAMES
1.86 1.75 GOALS CONCEDED 15 (AVE 1.5) GOALS CONCEDED 12 (AVE 1.2) GOALS CONCEDED 9 (AVE 0.9) GOALS CONCEDED 9 (AVE 1)
1.58 1.52
1.25 1.19 xGOT CONCEDED 13.77 (AVE 1.33) xGOT CONCEDED 10.69 (AVE 1.07) xGOT CONCEDED 9.58 (AVE 0.96) xGOT CONCEDED 9.52 (AVE 1.06)
0.64 CLEAN SHEETS 1 (AVE 0.1) CLEAN SHEETS 3 (AVE 0.3) CLEAN SHEETS 5 (AVE 0.5) CLEAN SHEETS 3 (AVE 0.33)
0.17
Onana
Alisson
Olsen
Courtois
Lopes
Szczęsny
De Gea
Ter Stegen
Bürki
Neuer
Buffon
40 63% 33 64% 31 69% 32 71%

(Ave 4) (Ave 3.3) (Ave 3.1) (Ave 3.5)
SAVES SAVES SAVES SAVES

22 SAVE 21 SAVE 23 SAVE 24 SAVE
André Onana was the (Ave 2.2) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.1) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.3) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.6) PERCENTAGE
top-ranked goalkeeper
for goals prevented
(5.68) – and for an
illustration of his sharp
reflexes, just revisit his
point-blank save from
Fernando Llorente in JAN OBLAK MANUEL NEUER ANTHONY LOPES ROMAN BÜRKI
the semi-final second 8 GAMES 8 GAMES 8 GAMES 7 GAMES
leg against Tottenham
Hotspur.
GOALS CONCEDED 9 (AVE 1.1) GOALS CONCEDED 8 (AVE 1) GOALS CONCEDED 13 (AVE 1.6) GOALS CONCEDED 6 (AVE 0.8)
xGOT CONCEDED 7.82 (AVE 0.98) xGOT CONCEDED 8.64 (AVE 1.08) xGOT CONCEDED 14.75 (AVE 2.00) xGOT CONCEDED 7.19 (AVE 1.03)

19 53% 31 75% 48 73% 24 76%
(Ave 2.3) (Ave 3.8) (Ave 6) (Ave 3.4)

Alisson Becker’s last- (Ave 1.2) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.8) PERCENTAGE (Ave 4.3) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.4) PERCENTAGE
minute, close-range
stop from Napoli’s
Arkadiusz Milik was
crucial in getting
Liverpool out of the
group stage and he
ranked second (4.2).
ROBIN OLSEN RALF FÄHRMANN THIBAUT COURTOIS GIANLUIGI BUFFON
6 GAMES 6 GAMES 5 GAMES 5 GAMES
GOALS CONCEDED 9 (AVE 1.5) GOALS CONCEDED 14 (AVE 2.3) GOALS CONCEDED 8 (AVE 1.6) GOALS CONCEDED 6 (AVE 1.2)
xGOT CONCEDED 12.12 (AVE 1.91) xGOT CONCEDED 11.97 (AVE 2.00) xGOT CONCEDED 9.86 (AVE 1.97) xGOT CONCEDED 6.17 (AVE 1.23)

38 76% 30 53% 28 71% 15 65%
(Ave 6.3) (Ave 5) (Ave 5.6) (Ave 3)

(Ave 4.8) PERCENTAGE (Ave 2.6) PERCENTAGE (Ave 4) PERCENTAGE (Ave 1.8) PERCENTAGE
xGOT conceded includes the original xG of the shot but also the goalmouth location where the shot ended up
56 57
A N A LY S I S : G O A L K E E P I N G UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
PASSING
Ederson ranked top for pass completion
among keepers (89%) in 2018/19 and also
posted the shortest average pass length
PRESSURED PASS COMPLETION %
75 75
PASS DISTANCE AND COMPLETION RATE
68m
78%
Alisson ranked top for
(35m). At the other end of the scale, Jan Oblak 72
70 save percentage
68 67 67 67
had the longest average pass length (55m)
63
and the lowest pass completion rate (53%), 60 59
owing to Atlético’s style of play.
53 52
0.82
Of goalkeepers from the last 16 clubs, David 50
de Gea and Robin Olsen ranked highest for
pressured pass completion (75%). Thibaut 38
Courtois was the second most-pressured
32 Ter Stegen ranked top
goalkeeper of all 32 in the competition
(15.8% of his passes being made under for lowest average goals
pressure) and completed 32% of his passes. against per game
Looking at the goalkeepers overall,
Monaco’s Diego Benaglio was joint-top for
pressured pass completion (75%) and second
De Gea
Olsen
Lloris
Ederson
Neuer
Ter Stegen
Buffon
Fährmann
Casillas
Alisson
Szczęsny
Onana
Lopes
Oblak
Bürki
Courtois
75%
for pass completion (83%).
David de Gea and Robin

Olsen ranked highest
for pressured pass
completion
105m
55
46 46 46
48
49
52
6.3
Robin Olsen faced
45
44 the highest number
42 of shots per game
40
38 38
39 and made the highest
37
number of saves on
35
Onana completed passes under pressure Ter Stegen completed passes under pressure average (4.8)
89%
82%
2.38
80% 80%
78%
76% 76%
72% 71%
69%
68%
Jan Oblak faced the
69% 63%
fewest number of shots
64% 64%
on target on average
per game
Ter Stegen
Fährmann
Szczęsny
53%
Courtois
Ederson
Casillas
De Gea
Alisson
Buffon
Onana
Neuer
Lopes
Oblak
Olsen
Lloris
Bürki
Alisson completed passes under pressure Lloris completed passes under pressure LENGTH COMPLETION
58 59
A N A LY S I S : F I T N E S S UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
FITNESS
While a centre-back led the way for top speed, full-backs and
midfielders featured prominently in the other fitness categories
SPEED MOST SPRINTS

– AVERAGE PER MATCH
LONG DISTANCE
The rising speed of the 21st century game was underlined by the fact (PLAYED SIX MATCHES OR MORE) The proportion of midfielders among those operating in that area of the pitch. It is
the 2018/19 campaign featured 696 sprints in excess of 30km/h. Wide
players who covered the most ground on testimony to the enduring fitness levels
players or forwards recorded most of the top speeds, though it was a Dušan Tadić (Ajax) 62.25
average in 2018/19 highlights the need for of Liverpool's James Milner that, at 33,
centre-back, Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, who registered the fastest sprint
stamina and mobility among footballers he features in the top five.
of the season, in the semi-final first leg at Barcelona.
José Callejón (Napoli) 55.83
FASTEST SPRINTS (KM/H) AVERAGE DISTANCE COVERED (METRES PER MIN – PLAYED SIX MATCHES OR MORE)
Sadio Mané (Liverpool) 54.38 Marcelo Brozović (Internazionale) 137.3

Virgil van Dijk Liverpool 34.5 v Barcelona (a)
Matías Vecino (Internazionale) 137.0

Leroy Sané Man City 34.4 v Hoffenheim (h)
Dele Alli (Tottenham) 53.75
Kyle Walker Man City 34.2 v Tottenham (h) Marek Hamšík (Napoli) 136.2
Gareth Bale Real Madrid 33.8 v Roma (h) Ivan Perišić (Inter) 53.17
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) 135.5
Breel Embolo Schalke 33.5 v Galatasaray (a)

Raheem Sterling (Man City) 51.7 James Milner (Liverpool) 135.0
Rafa Silva Benfica 33.5 v Bayern (a)
Maycon (Shakhtar) 134.8
Leroy Sané Man City 33.5 v Lyon (a) Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) 49.33
Miralem Pjanić (Juventus) 133.3
Taison Shakhtar 33.3 v Hoffenheim (h)
Mário Rui (Napoli) 49.17
Koke (Atlético Madrid) 133.1
Loris Benito Young Boys 33.3 v Man United (h)
Christian Fassnacht Young Boys 33.3 v Man United (h) Jordi Alba (Barcelona) 48.45 Djibril Sow (Young Boys) 132.8
Garry Rodrigues Galatasaray 33.3 v Schalke (h) Dele Alli (Tottenham) 132.1
Denzel Dumfries (PSV) 48.38
Juan Cuadrado Juventus 33.3 v Man United (h)
Donny van de Beek (Ajax) 132.0
Gabriel Valencia 33.3 v Young Boys (h)
Dušan Tadić’s importance as the link Fred (Man United) 131.5
man in the Ajax attack is highlighted by
Maxwel Cornet Lyon 33.3 v Man City (h)
his place at the top of this ranking. While Fabián Ruiz (Napoli) 130.0
Éder Militão Porto 33.3 v Roma (a) it is no surprise to see other prominent
forward players like Sadio Mané featured, Dušan Tadić (Ajax) 129.7
Romelu Lukaku Man United 33.3 v Barcelona (h) the presence of three full-backs in
this top ten reflects the up-and-down Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) 129.7
Sergio Busquets Barcelona 33.3 v Liverpool (h)
attacking brief they are asked to fulfil.
60 61
A N A LY S I S : P O S S E S S I O N UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
Real Madrid, featuring

Luka Modrić, had
POSSESSION
the joint highest
possession figures
Results are not always determined by teams dominating the ball
Possession may be regarded as nine-tenths of their five knockout-stage victories in games POSSESSION
the law, but not in UEFA Champions League where they had less of it – while losing 3-0 at ACROSS THE THIRDS
56%
football. Of the 26 matches in the knockout Barcelona in a match where they actually had
rounds that produced a victory, there were 12 more possession than their hosts.
wins posted by teams with the lesser share Across the thirds of the pitch, Atlético
of possession, only one less than the 13 by de Madrid and Real Madrid were the sides
teams with the lion’s share (with one match who had most possession in the attacking Manchester City and
ending with a 50-50 split). third (25% each). Borussia Dortmund and Dortmund had the highest
Champions Liverpool underlined that Manchester City had most in the middle average possession in the
domination of the ball is not the only strategy third (56% each), and Crvena zvezda in the middle third of the pitch of all
for winning football matches, posting four of defensive third (42%). 32 competing clubs. In their
home group fixture against
Club Brugge, Dortmund had
AVERAGE POSSESSION (TOP 16 TEAMS) 70% of their possession in
MANCHESTER CITY 60% the central third; City had
64% in that area in the 7-0
REAL MADRID 60% win over Schalke
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 59%
BARCELONA 58%
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
BAYERN MÜNCHEN 57%
58%
20%
Atlético de Madrid had the
JUVENTUS 55% least possession overall in the
NAPOLI 54% defensive third; Man City had
PORTO 54% the second-least (22%)
AJAX 53%
17%
TOTTENHAM 51%
LIVERPOOL 50%
ATLÉTICO DE MADRID 49% Bayern München had the
ROMA 49% third-least possession in
the attacking third, with
MAN UNITED 46%
only AEK and Crvena
LYON 46% zvezda recording less
AVERAGE POSSESSION IN ATTACKING THIRD (TOP TEN)
25% 25% 24% 22% 22% 22% 21% 21% 21% 21%
Manchester United
Lokomotiv Moskva
Atlético de Madrid
Manchester City
CSKA Moskva
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Liverpool
Valencia
Ajax
62 63
COACH MARINOS OUZOUNIDIS COACH ERIK TEN HAG
BORN: 10/10/1968, Alexandroupoli (GRE) BORN: 02/02/1970, Haaksbergen (NED)
AEK ATHENS FC AFC AJAX

NATIONALITY: Greek NATIONALITY: Dutch
HEAD COACH: 25/05/2018 to 05/02/2019 HEAD COACH: Since 28/12/2017
GRE EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 NED EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
TOTAL W D L TOTAL W D L
GROUP E ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP E ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
AJX SLB BAY BAY AJX SLB UEFA Champions League 6 0 0 6 AEK BAY SLB SLB AEK BAY RM RM JUV JUV TOT TOT UEFA Champions League 12 6 4 2
L 3-0 L 2-3 L 0-2 L 2-0 L 0-2 L 1-0 matches (Group stage to final) W 3-0 D 1-1 W 1-0 D 1-1 W 0-2 D 3-3 L 1-2 W 1-4 D 1-1 W 1-2 W 0-1 L 2-3* matches (Group stage to final)
European club competition 21 6 4 11 European club competition 24 12 9 3
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names *Tottenham win on away goals
matches (including qualifying) matches (including qualifying)
AVERAGES SHAPE SQUAD AVERAGES SHAPE SQUAD

Example: v Ajax (a) Example: v AEK (a)
POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION App Min G A POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION* App Min G A
42% First third 33% 3 In possession 3 Out of possession
GOALKEEPERS 53% First third 29% 3 In possession 3 Out of possession
GOALKEEPERS
Middle third 53% Middle third 49%
Max. 61% v Benfica (h) 1 Vassilis Barkas 6 540 Max. 62% v AEK (h), AEK (a) 24 André Onana 12 1080
Min. 36% v Bayern (h) Final third 14% Min. 43% v Bayern (a), Tottenham (h) Final third 21%
UCL rank: 28 UCL rank: 11
DEFENDERS DEFENDERS
2 Michalis Bakakis 6 520 2 Rasmus Kristensen 1 9
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED
4 Marios Oikonomou 4 338 1 3 Joël Veltman 5 310
108,739m Max. 112,341m v Bayern (h)
Min. 103,241m v Ajax (h)
UCL rank: 24 5 Vasilis Lampropoulos 3 270 112,231m Max. 118,635m v Bayern (a)
Min. 104,883m v Benfica (h)
UCL rank: 7 4 Matthijs de Ligt 11 990 2
25
12 Rodrigo Galo 5 115 5 Maximilian Wöber 4 251
10 7
6
380 81% 22
15 Uroš Ćosić 4 292
513 83% 25
16 Lisandro Magallán 2 9
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 17 19 Dmytro Chygrynskiy 5 450 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 17 12
17 Daley Blind 12 1080
20 22 21 20 7
Max. 600 v Benfica (h) Max. 91% v Benfica (h) Max. 696 v AEK (a) Max. 88% v AEK (h), AEK (a)
Min. 293 v Ajax (a) Min. 74% v Ajax (a) 17 2 23 Niklas Hult 6 540 1 Min. 390 v Tottenham (h) Min. 78% v BAY (a), RM(a), TOT (a)
10 6 31 Nicolás Tagliafico 10 900 3
UCL rank: 28 UCL rank: 23= 20 UCL rank: 11 UCL rank: 17=
8 25 5 21
8
2 MIDFIELDERS 17 20 4 MIDFIELDERS
23 25 12
PASS DISTANCE 5 15 8 André Simões 4 349 PASS DISTANCE* 5
6 Donny van de Beek 12 985 3 2
4 4
23 5 15
Long 69 (18% of total) UCL rank: 11 4 11 Yannis Gianniotas 2 49 Long 55 (11% of total) UCL rank: 29 8 Daley Sinkgraven 2 94
Medium 215 (57%) UCL rank: 29 Medium 298 (58%) UCL rank: 16
20 Petros Mantalos 6 435 12 Noussair Mazraoui 11 827 2
Short 97 (25%) UCL rank: 28= Short 161 (31%) UCL rank: 6
25 Kostas Galanopoulos 6 490 15 Carel Eiting 1 90 1
24
BYPASSED* Total Average BYPASSED** Total Average
Opponents 1825 304 UCL rank: 26 39 Erik Morán 2 100 Opponents 4592 383 UCL rank: 10 19 Zakaria Labyad 1 4
1 24
Defenders 299 50 UCL rank: 22 1 Defenders 762 64 UCL rank: 4
95 Alef 4 200 20 Lasse Schöne 11 886 1 2
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball *Decimal points account for the missing 1%
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 21 Frenkie de Jong 11 986
FORWARDS **Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
9 Giorgos Giakoumakis 3 48
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 22 Hakim Ziyech 11 985 3 3
10 Marko Livaja 1 67 30 Dani de Wit 2 32

ATTEMPTS
2 GOALS
0.33 per match; UCL rank: 31= 14 Tasos Bakasetas 2 180
ATTEMPTS
22 GOALS
1.83 per match; UCL rank: 8=
40 Jurgen Ekkelenkamp 1 15
17 Viktor Klonaridis 5 317 2 FORWARDS
37 ATTEMPTS
6.2 per match; UCL rank: 32
22 Ezequiel Ponce
31 Lucas Boye
6
4
492
122
185 ATTEMPTS
7 David Neres
9 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
11 852
5 96
2 2
2
9 70
10 Dušan Tadić 12 1080 6 5
ON TARGET ON TARGET
1.5 per match; UCL rank: 32 5.8 per match; UCL rank: 6 25 Kasper Dolberg 9 297
4.7 22.6
App = Appearances; Min = Minutes played; G = Goals; A = Assists App = Appearances; Min = Minutes played; G = Goals; A = Assists
EXPECTED GOALS (xG) EXPECTED GOALS (xG)
0.8 per match; UCL rank: 31 1.9 per match; UCL rank: 9
AVERAGE CARDS AVERAGE CARDS
AGE Sent off: AGE Sent off:
15 2 28 1
GOALS
SAVES
5%
18%
25 Galanopoulos v Benfica (a);
Livaja v Ajax (h)
GOALS
SAVES
12%
26%
24.6 Wöber v Bayern (h)
BLOCKED 33% BLOCKED 25%
Expected goals (xG) give an indication of how many goals a player or team should have
WOODWORK 0%
WOODWORK 2%
KEY FEATURES
scored on average, given the shots they have taken
WIDE 44% scored on average, given the shots they have taken
WIDE 35%
• Basic 1-4-2-3-1 formation; also used 1-4-3-3,
1-4-4-1-1
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Defend far up pitch, winning ball back with
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value high press
• Leadership in back line of De Ligt; aerial threat
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP in opposition box
1 Niklas Hult 234 183 78 1 Niklas Hult 1 4 1 Frenkie de Jong 828 749 90 1 Dušan Tadić 5 33
• Midfield pivot De Jong controls possession
2 André Simões 215 192 89 2 Marios Oikonomou 1 1 2 Daley Blind 802 674 84 2 Hakim Ziyech 3 21 from deep; clever passing and composure
3 Dmytro Chygrynskiy 213 196 92 3 Petros Mantalos 0 8 3 Matthijs de Ligt 605 530 88 3 Lasse Schöne 2 16 • Strong in possession; one-touch passing and
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes A = Attempted; C = Completed 4 David Neres 2 10 combinations; technical quality to go 1v1
A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• Offensive full-backs (Tagliafico) with good
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG sense of reading space to create overloads
1 Dmytro Chygrynskiy 41 8 8 1 Viktor Klonaridis 2 9 4 2.5 1 Matthijs de Ligt 94 12 15 1 Dušan Tadić 6 21 10 4.8 • Wingers cutting inside; sharp penetrating runs
2 Michalis Bakakis 28 8 13 2 Ezequiel Ponce 0 8 1 0.6 2 Daley Blind 84 11 20 2 Hakim Ziyech 3 56 21 4.5 between lines
3 Kostas Galanopoulos 27 4 11 3 Tasos Bakasetas 0 4 1 0.2 3 Frenkie de Jong 83 16 19 3 Donny van de Beek 3 21 11 4.3 • Tadić pivotal with clever movement,
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Viktor Klonaridis in action against Ajax BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals hold-up play, linking with wingers
64 Rankings on this page may be based on figures before they are rounded up or down Rankings on this page may be based on figures before they are rounded up or down 65
CLUB ATLÉTICO COACH DIEGO SIMEONE
BORN: 28/04/1970, Buenos Aires (ARG)
COACH ERNESTO VALVERDE
BORN: 09/02/1964, Viandar de la Vera (ESP)
DE MADRID FC BARCELONA
NATIONALITY: Argentinian NATIONALITY: Spanish
HEAD COACH: Since 23/12/2011 HEAD COACH: Since 29/05/2017
ESP EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 4 ESP EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP A ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP B ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
MON BRU BVB BVB MON BRU JUV JUV UEFA Champions League 60 33 16 11 PSV TOT INT INT PSV TOT OL OL MU MU LIV LIV UEFA Champions League 36 19 8 9
W 1-2 W 3-1 L 4-0 W 2-0 W 2-0 D 0-0 W 2-0 L 3-0 matches (Group stage to final) W 4-0 W 2-4 W 2-0 D 1-1 W 1-2 D 1-1 D 0-0 W 5-1 W 0-1 W 3-0 W 3-0 L 4-0 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names

Example: v Dortmund (h) Example: v Liverpool (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 59% v Club Brugge (h) 13 Jan Oblak 8 720 Max. 68% v PSV (h) 1 Marc-André ter Stegen 11 990
Min. 35% v Dortmund (h) Final third 25% Min. 48% v Liverpool (h) Final third 21%
UCL rank: 16= UCL rank: 4= 13 Jasper Cillessen 1 90
DEFENDERS
2 Diego Godín 6 540 1 DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 2 Nélson Semedo 10 554
3 Filipe Luís 5 405 1
108,491m Max. 111,647m v Club Brugge (h)
Min. 102,803m v Monaco (a)
UCL rank: 25 4 Santiago Arias 4 347 105,851m Max. 113,931m v Tottenham (h)
Min. 100,712m v PSV (a)
UCL rank: 29
3 Gerard Piqué 11 990 2
15 Clément Lenglet 12 1000
15 Stefan Savić 1 82
9 18 Jordi Alba 11 990 1 5
503 83% 695 89%
9 7 20 Juanfran 5 450 7 10
8 9 23 Samuel Umtiti 1 79
10 21 Lucas Hernández 5 450 10
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 24 Thomas Vermaelen 2 91
Max. 699 v Club Brugge (h) Max. 89% v Monaco (h) 95 Max. 809 v Man. United (h) Max. 92% v Man. United (a), (h) 4
Min. 323 v Juventus (h) Min. 74% v Juventus (h)
7
14 20
24 José María Giménez 5 360 2 Min. 533 v Tottenham (h) Min. 82% v Liverpool (a) 18 7 8 27 Juan Miranda 1 90
3 5
UCL rank: 13 UCL rank: 17= UCL rank: 2 UCL rank: 3= 20
8 10 35 Francisco Montero 2 135 8 4
21 5 5 MIDFIELDERS
14 24 3
15 4 Ivan Rakitić 12 1020 1 2
PASS DISTANCE* MIDFIELDERS PASS DISTANCE 18 20
3 20 15 3
Long 63 (12% of total) UCL rank: 18=
21 24 5 Thomas 6 418 1 Long 67 (10% of total) UCL rank: 13= 5 Sergio Busquets 12 1033
6 Denis Suárez 2 24
6 Koke 7 562 2 1
Short 152 (30%) UCL rank: 8 Short 208 (30%) UCL rank:1
8 Saúl Ñíguez 8 631 1 8 Arthur 9 566
BYPASSED** Total Average 13 BYPASSED** Total Average
1 12 Rafinha 2 79 1
Opponents 2928 366 UCL rank: 13 10 Ángel Correa 8 353 1 Opponents 6016 501 UCL rank: 1
13 1
20 Sergi Roberto 9 709
Defenders 435 54 UCL rank: 17 11 Thomas Lemar 7 410 1 Defenders 701 58 UCL rank: 8
*Decimal points account for the missing 1% *Decimal points account for the extra 1%
22 Arturo Vidal 11 356
14 Rodri 8 606
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball **Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 26 Carles Aleñá 3 92
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 18 Gelson Martins 2 88 before and after a successful pass is made and received.
FORWARDS
23 Vitolo 4 96
11 26
7 Philippe Coutinho 12 860 3 2
ATTEMPTS GOALS ATTEMPTS GOALS (1 own goal)
1.38 per match; UCL rank: 14 FORWARDS 2.17 per match; UCL rank: 3 9 Luis Suárez 10 900 1 5
7 Antoine Griezmann 8 720 4 2 10 Lionel Messi 10 837 12 3
87 ATTEMPTS
9 Nikola Kalinić
19 Diego Costa
3
4
110
307 1 1
199 ATTEMPTS
11 Ousmane Dembélé
14 Malcom
8
3
417
39
3
1
1
19 Munir 2 65
30 77
22 Álvaro Morata 2 122
ON TARGET ON TARGET
8.2 23.5
24 1 21 1
GOALS
SAVES
12%
21%
25.6 Savić v Monaco (h) GOALS
SAVES
13%
26%
27.2 Umtiti v PSV (h)
WOODWORK 3%
KEY FEATURES Expected goals (xG) give an indication of how many goals a player or team should have
WOODWORK 3%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 35%
• 1-4-4-2, switching to 1-4-4-1-1 when defending • 1-4-3-3; shifting to 1-4-4-1-1 with Messi
• Experienced goalkeeper Oblak with outstanding behind Suárez, or 1-4-4-2
PLAYER STATISTICS all-round game PLAYER STATISTICS • Build play from goalkeeper Ter Stegen, via
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Drop deep out of possession, with narrow Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value short and long passes
back four • Attacking full-backs, notably Alba breaking
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP down left and supplying crosses
• Good organisation and discipline, allied with
1 Koke 499 438 88 1 Antoine Griezmann 2 11 1 Sergio Busquets 995 927 93 1 Luis Suárez 5 19
know-how and mental strength • One-touch combinations; collective press
2 Rodri 461 422 92 2 Koke 1 11 2 Ivan Rakitić 927 854 92 2 Jordi Alba 5 18 on losing ball, seeking high regains
• Compact midfield shape; width from
3 Saúl Ñíguez 330 274 83 3 Filipe Luís 1 7 overlapping full-backs (Filipe Luís) 3 Jordi Alba 921 798 87 3 Lionel Messi 3 24 • Piqué bringing defensive leadership at back
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• Rodri controller of tempo in midfield • Balanced midfield with Busquets sitting deep
• Counter with fast pass forward and wide players • Suárez stretching defenders to make space
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG joining attack DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG for match-winner Messi’s diagonal runs
1 Rodri 46 7 12 1 Antoine Griezmann 4 22 11 2.7 • Mobility of Griezmann pivotal to attacking game 1 Gerard Piqué 74 8 12 1 Lionel Messi 12 54 26 6.5 • Messi playing inside width of penalty box;
2 Diego Godín 37 2 9 2 Koke 2 6 2 0.6 2 Sergio Busquets 70 20 15 2 Philippe Coutinho 3 33 14 2.8 dribbles, changes of direction, finishing
3 Filipe Luís 36 10 16 3 José María Giménez 2 3 2 0.4 3 Jordi Alba 68 8 17 3 Ousmane Dembélé 3 18 8 2.5
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals
FC BAYERN COACH NIKO KOVAČ
BORN: 15/10/1971, BERLIN (GER)
COACH RUI VITÓRIA
BORN: 16/04/1970, Alverca do Ribatejo (POR)
MÜNCHEN SL BENFICA
NATIONALITY: Croatian NATIONALITY: Portuguese
HEAD COACH: Since 01/07/2018 HEAD COACH: 11/06/2015 to 03/01/2019
GER EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 POR EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP E ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP E ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
SLB AJX AEK AEK SLB AJX LIV LIV UEFA Champions League 8 4 3 1 BAY AEK AJX AJX BAY AEK UEFA Champions League 29 10 4 15
W 0-2 D 1-1 W 0-2 W 2-0 W 5-1 D 3-3 D 0-0 L 1-3 matches (Group stage to final) L 0-2 W 2-3 L 1-0 D 1-1 L 5-1 W 1-0 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Liverpool (h) Example: v AEK (h)
POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION App Min G A POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION App Min G A
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 64% v AEK (a) 1 Manuel Neuer 8 720 Max. 57% v AEK (h) 99 Odisseas Vlachodimos 6 540
Min. 45% v Ajax (a) Final third 17% Min. 39% v AEK (a) Final third 18%
UCL rank: 6 UCL rank: 25=
DEFENDERS DEFENDERS
4 Niklas Süle 6 451 2 German Conti 3 270
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 3 Alex Grimaldo 6 540 2
5 Mats Hummels 6 539 1
112,222m Max. 115,561m v Benfica (h)
Min. 108,687m v AEK (a)
UCL rank: 8 8 Javi Martínez 6 520 1 111,150m Max. 115,785m v Bayern (h)
Min. 105,608m v Ajax (a)
UCL rank: 16
6 Rúben Dias 5 405
14 25 Cristian Lema 1 45
13 Rafinha 6 367 1
79 14 27 33 Jardel 4 360
594 87% 9
9
17 Jérôme Boateng 5 450
440 82% 21
83 34 André Almeida 6 540
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 7 22 27 David Alaba 7 630 2 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 79 27
7 11 16 21
Max. 704 v AEK (a) Max. 90% v AEK (a), Benfica (h) 11 22 Max. 550 v AEK (h) Max. 87% v AEK (h) 3
83 34
MIDFIELDERS
Min. 469 v Ajax (a) Min. 83% v Ajax (a) Min. 338 v AEK (a) Min. 77% v Ajax (h)
UCL rank: 7 UCL rank: 6=
MIDFIELDERS UCL rank: 22 UCL rank: 21=
16 5 Ljubomir Fejsa 5 436
6 88 33 6
6 6 Thiago Alcántara 5 388 1 3 34 8 Gabriel 4 219
27 13 33 6
27 7 Franck Ribéry 7 440 1
PASS DISTANCE* 13
PASS DISTANCE 16 Alfa Semedo 3 132 1
5 4
Long 76 (13% of total) UCL rank: 3 5
4 10 Arjen Robben 4 314 2 1 Long 61 (14% of total) UCL rank: 20= 17 Andrija Živković 2 70
18 Eduardo Salvio 4 245 1
11 James Rodríguez 5 336 1
Short 134 (23%) UCL rank: 12 Short 124 (28%) UCL rank:16=
18 Leon Goretzka 6 326 21 Pizzi 6 322 1
99
BYPASSED** Total Average BYPASSED* Total Average 99 27 Rafa Silva 6 369
Opponents 3491 436 UCL rank: 5 1 20 Wooyeong Jeong 1 9 Opponents 1869 312 UCL rank: 23
1 79 João Félix 1 77
Defenders 532 67 UCL rank: 2 32 Joshua Kimmich 7 630 2 Defenders 328 55 UCL rank: 14
*Decimal points account for the extra 1% *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
83 Gedson Fernandes 6 465 1 1
35 Renato Sanches 6 125 1 before and after a successful pass is made and received.
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
before and after a successful pass is made and received. FORWARDS
FORWARDS 10 Jonas 2 114 1 1
2 Sandro Wagner 3 20
16 6
11 Franco Cervi 6 308
ATTEMPTS GOALS (1 own goal)
9 Robert Lewandowski 8 713 8
ATTEMPTS GOALS
2 per match; UCL rank: 4= 1 per match; UCL rank: 20= 14 Haris Seferović 6 426 1
22 Serge Gnabry 7 446 2 30 Nicolas Castillo 1 13
109 ATTEMPTS
25 Thomas Müller
29 Kingsley Coman
6
3
353
129 1
80 ATTEMPTS
45 ON TARGET
5.6 per match; UCL rank: 7= 32 ON TARGET
15.5 6.4
12 1 15 1
GOALS
SAVES
14%
28%
28 Müller v Ajax (a) GOALS
SAVES
8%
30%
25.4 Dias v AEK (a)
WOODWORK 0%
WOODWORK 3%
WIDE 41%
• Variations of 1-4-2-3-1
• Calm distribution from Neuer, feeding ball
PLAYER STATISTICS to central defenders or midfield pivot PLAYER STATISTICS
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Compact defensive unit with narrow back four Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value
• Attacking full-backs, but alternating to
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP
maintain balance
1 Joshua Kimmich 499 456 91 1 Joshua Kimmich 2 14 1 Alex Grimaldo 297 257 87 1 Pizzi 1 15
• Two midfield pivots; one stays deep, other
2 Mats Hummels 450 407 90 2 Serge Gnabry 2 5 2 André Almeida 261 219 84 2 Eduardo Salvio 1 4
steps forward; diagonal balls to wings
3 Jérôme Boateng 426 379 89 3 David Alaba 2 4 3 Rúben Dias 258 229 89 3 Gedson Fernandes 1 4
• Wide attackers stay out on flanks to provide A = Assists; KP = Key passes
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Attempted; C = Completed
width; pace, 1 v 1 ability
• High press, with fast transitions after regains
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG in opposition half DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG
1 David Alaba 47 6 16 1 Robert Lewandowski 8 26 17 6.9 • Strong set-piece threat, with penalty-box 1 André Almeida 42 11 14 1 Alex Grimaldo 2 12 6 0.9
2 Mats Hummels 46 16 11 2 Arjen Robben 2 13 7 1.5 instincts of Lewandowski 2 Ljubomir Fejsa 37 14 6 2 Haris Seferović 1 14 5 1.5
3 Niklas Süle 44 5 9 3 Franck Ribéry 1 8 5 1.1 3 Alex Grimaldo 35 17 7 3 Gedson Fernandes 1 7 3 0.9
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Swiss striker Haris Seferović
COACH IVAN LEKO
BORN: 07/02/1978, Split (CRO)
FK CRVENA COACH VLADAN MILOJEVIĆ
BORN: 09/03/1970, Aranđelovac (SRB)
CLUB BRUGGE ZVEZDA

NATIONALITY: Croatian NATIONALITY: Serbian
BEL EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 SRB EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP A ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP C ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
BVB ATL MON MON BVB ATL UEFA Champions League 6 1 3 2 NAP PAR LIV LIV NAP PAR UEFA Champions League 6 1 1 4
L 0-1 L 3-1 D 1-1 W 0-4 D 0-0 D 0-0 matches (Group stage to final) D 0-0 L 6-1 L 4-0 W 2-0 L 3-1 L 1-4 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Monaco (h) Example: v Paris (h)
POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION* App Min G A POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION* App Min G A
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 55% v Monaco (h) 1 Karlo Letica 3 270 Max. 39% v Liverpool (a) 82 Milan Borjan 6 540
Min. 30% v Dortmund (a) Final third 19% Min. 31% v Paris (a) Final third 13%
UCL rank: 29= 22 Ethan Horvath 3 270 UCL rank: 32
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS 5 Miloš Degenek 6 540
DISTANCE COVERED 4 Luan Peres 1 21 DISTANCE COVERED 15 Srđan Babić 3 225
112,073m Max. 114,510m v Dortmund (h)
Min. 105,989m v Atlético (h)
UCL rank: 9
5 Benoit Poulain 6 540 112,941m Max. 119,626m v Napoli (a)
Min. 104,305m v Paris (a)
UCL rank: 5
23 Milan Rodić 5 450
10 15 Matej Mitrović 1 90 30 Filip Stojković 5 419
7
42 20 21 Dion Cools 2 118 77 Marko Gobeljić 4 301 1
425 82% 325 75%
25 19
10 24 Stefano Denswil 6 540 90 Vujadin Savić 3 225
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 35 Saulo Decarli 1 1 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 9
Max. 538 v Monaco (h) 7 18 Max. 466 v Napoli (a) 31 MIDFIELDERS
Max. 91% v Monaco (h) Max. 83% v Napoli (a)
Min. 361 v Dortmund (a) Min. 75% v Atlético (h) 24 20 5 44 Brandon Mechele 5 450 Min. 245 v Paris (a) Min. 66% v Liverpool (h) 14 9
UCL rank: 24 UCL rank: 21= 42 25 UCL rank: 31 UCL rank: 32
17 3 Branko Jovičić 4 238
44 77 Clinton Mata 4 208 7 29
18 19 17 7 Nenad Krstičić 5 433
14 31 30
23
PASS DISTANCE 24 MIDFIELDERS PASS DISTANCE 29 11 Lorenzo Ebecilio 4 113 1
44 5 5 7
90
Long 64 (15% of total) UCL rank: 17 6 Sofyan Amrabat 2 180 Long 54 (17% of total) UCL rank: 30= 14 Slavoljub Srnić 3 244
23 30
Medium 262 (62%) UCL rank: 23
11 Krépin Diatta 2 7 Medium 183 (56%) UCL rank: 32 5 90 17 Marko Marin 5 417 1 2
Short 99 (23%) UCL rank: 26 Short 88 (27%) UCL rank: 30
16 Siebe Schrijvers 2 72 20 Goran Čaušić 5 311
BYPASSED** Total Average 1 18 Marvelous Nakamba 5 394 BYPASSED** Total Average 21 Veljko Simić 5 207
Opponents 1923 321 UCL rank: 21 Opponents 1355 226 UCL rank: 32
1 19 Thibault Vlietinck 4 208 82 29 Dušan Jovančić 5 265
Defenders 292 49 UCL rank: 24 Defenders 230 38 UCL rank: 31 82
*Decimal points account for the extra 1%
20 Hans Vanaken 6 540 2 1 *Decimal points account for the extra 1% FORWARDS
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 25 Ruud Vormer 6 540 1 **Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
before and after a successful pass is made and received. before and after a successful pass is made and received.
9 Milan Pavkov 4 216 2
26 Mats Rits 5 270 2
19 Nikola Stoiljković 1 45
6 5
28 Dejan Joveljić 2 49
ATTEMPTS GOALS FORWARDS
ATTEMPTS GOALS
1 per match; UCL rank: 20= 7 Wesley 6 521 2 0.83 per match; UCL rank: 27= 31 El Fardou Ben Nabouhane 6 513 1
9 Jelle Vossen 1 82 99 Richmond Boakye 3 189
48 ATTEMPTS
8 per match; UCL rank: 30
10 Rezaei Kaveh
42 Emmanuel Bonaventure
2
3
97
179
43 ATTEMPTS
47 Arnaut Groeneveld 2 166 1
16 ON TARGET
2.7 per match; UCL rank: 28= 80 Loïs Openda
89 Cyril Ngonge
5
1
109
69
16 ON TARGET
5.5 2.9
AGE AGE
8 0 17 0
GOALS
SAVES
12%
20%
23.9 GOALS
SAVES
12%
26%
26.4
WOODWORK 0% WOODWORK 0%
Expected goals (xG) give an indication of how many goals a player or team should have Expected goals (xG) give an indication of how many goals a player or team should have
WIDE 45%
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS

Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value

1 Benoit Poulain 356 301 85 1 Mats Rits 2 0 1 Milan Borjan 205 132 64 1 Marko Marin 2 6
2 Stefano Denswil 324 285 88 2 Hans Vanaken 1 8 2 Miloš Degenek 185 145 78 2 Lorenzo Ebecilio 1 1
3 Hans Vanaken 266 229 86 3 Ruud Vormer 0 5 3 Marko Marin 158 124 78 3= Goran Čaušić 0 3
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes A = Attempted; C = Completed 3= Milan Rodić 0 3
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG

1 Stefano Denswil 43 4 9 2 Hans Vanaken 2 9 2 1.8 1 Nenad Krstičić 37 6 16 1 Milan Pavkov 2 2 2 0.4
2 Benoit Poulain 42 4 15 1 Wesley 2 7 4 0.8 2 Miloš Degenek 27 4 13 3 Marko Marin 1 6 4 0.4
3 Brandon Mechele 33 8 15 3 Ruud Vormer 1 5 2 0.5 3 Filip Stojković 25 6 13 2 El Fardou Ben Nabouhane 1 6 3 0.6
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Hans Vanaken played every minute in the group stage BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Marko Marin scored once and had two assists during the group stage
COACH VIKTOR GONCHARENKO
BORN: 10/06/1977, Khoyniki (BLR)
BORUSSIA COACH LUCIEN FAVRE
BORN: 02/11/1957, Saint-Barthélemy (SUI)
PFC CSKA MOSKVA DORTMUND

NATIONALITY: Belarusian NATIONALITY: Swiss
RUS EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 GER EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP G ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP A ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
PLZ RM ASR ASR PLZ RM UEFA Champions League 30 7 6 17 BRU MON ATL ATL BRU MON TOT TOT UEFA Champions League 9 4 1 4
D 2-2 W 1-0 L 3-0 L 1-2 L 1-2 W 0-3 matches (Group stage to final) W 0-1 W 3-0 W 4-0 L 2-0 D 0-0 W 0-2 L 3-0 L 0-1 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Real Madrid (h) Example: v Atlético (h)
POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION* App Min G A POSSESSION POSSESSION POSITION App Min G A
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 55% v Plzeň (a) 1 Ilya Pomazun 1 90 Max. 70% v Club Brugge (h) 1 Roman Bürki 7 630
Min. 30% v Real Madrid (h) Final third 21% Min. 45% v Tottenham (a) Final third 19%
UCL rank: 20= 22 Georgi Kyrnats 1 1 UCL rank: 3 35 Marwin Hitz 1 90
35 Igor Akinfeev 5 450
DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 2 Dan-Axel Zagadou 4 347
DEFENDERS
112,035m Max. 117,488m v Real Madrid (h)
Min. 109,477m v Roma (a)
UCL rank: 10
2 Mário Fernandes 6 462 1 114,346m Max. 117,561m v Monaco (a)
Min. 108,346m v Atlético (a)
UCL rank: 3
4 Abdou Diallo 7 620
3 Nikita Chernov 5 353 5 Achraf Hakimi 5 370 3
14 Kirill Nababkin 6 540 10 13 Raphaël Guerreiro 6 284 4
419 81% 23 Hördur Magnússon 3 236 726 90% 34
11 22 16 Manuel Akanji 5 450
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 9 42 Georgi Schennikov 3 213 1 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 10 26 Łukasz Piszczek 5 450
Max. 478 v Roma (h) Max. 86% v Plzeň (a) Max. 1029 v Club Brugge (h) Max. 93% v Club Brugge (h) 5
Min. 314 v Real Madrid (h) Min. 75% v Real Madrid (h) 50 Rodrigo Becão 6 540 Min. 542 v Atlético (h) Min. 85% v Atlético (h) 28 11 29 Marcel Schmelzer 3 193
UCL rank: 25 UCL rank: 23= 8 9 10 UCL rank: 1 UCL rank: 1= 6 26
22 36 Ömer Toprak 3 270
MIDFIELDERS 34 2
98
8 77 29 10 2 28 64
PASS DISTANCE* 77 8 Nikola Vlašić 6 540 3 2 PASS DISTANCE* 5 MIDFIELDERS
29 26
Long 68 (16% of total) UCL rank: 12 98
14 10 Alan Dzagoev 3 172 Long 63 (9% of total) UCL rank: 18= 2 4 6 Thomas Delaney 6 297
3 50 2
Medium 239 (57%) UCL rank: 26 14 3 50 15 Dmitri Efremov 3 115 Medium 462 (64%) UCL rank: 1
11 Marco Reus 6 524 1 1
Short 113 (27%) UCL rank:22 Short 201 (28%) UCL rank: 2
17 Arnór Sigurdsson 6 355 2 1 17 Sergio Gómez 1 1
1
BYPASSED** Total Average 20 Konstantin Kuchaev 2 19 BYPASSED** Total Average 19 Mahmoud Dahoud 5 317
Opponents 1851 309 UCL rank: 25 Opponents 3467 433 UCL rank: 6 1
35 25 Kristijan Bistrovic 2 180 22 Christian Pulišić 7 454 1
Defenders 337 56 UCL rank: 13
35
Defenders 434 54 UCL rank: 18
*Decimal points account for the extra 1%
29 Jaka Bijol 3 270 *Decimal points account for the extra 1%
23 Shinji Kagawa 1 28
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 77 Ilzat Akhmetov 4 301 1 *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 28 Axel Witsel 7 629 1
80 Khetag Khosonov 2 47 33 Julian Weigl 4 289
98 Ivan Oblyakov 6 488 34 Jacob Bruun Larsen 5 150 1 1
ATTEMPTS
8 GOALS
1.33 per match; UCL rank: 15= FORWARDS
ATTEMPTS
10 GOALS
1.25 per match; UCL rank: 17 FORWARDS
9 Fedor Chalov 6 503 2 7 Jadon Sancho 7 438 1 1
77 ATTEMPTS
11 Abel Hernández
19 Takuma Nishimura 2
1 6
2
94 ATTEMPTS
9 Paco Alcácer
10 Mario Götze
5
6
356
437
1 1
75 Timur Zhamaletdinov 2 26 20 Maximilian Philipp 2 86 1
30 ON TARGET
5 per match; UCL rank: 14 32 ON TARGET
4 per match; UCL rank: 20 27 Marius Wolf 4 211
7.1 12.4
AGE Sent off: AGE
16 2 11 0
GOALS
SAVES
12%
26%
23.3 Akinfeev v Real Madrid (h);
Magnússon v Roma (h)
GOALS
SAVES
11%
22%
25.3
WOODWORK 0%
WOODWORK 1%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 43%
• Variations on 1-4-2-3-1, including
1-4-3-3/1-4-1-4-1 v Tottenham
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Compact defensive lines; at Spurs dropped
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value to mid-block before starting pressure
• Defensively solid in group stage with five
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP clean sheets
1 Ivan Oblyakov 243 202 83 1 Nikola Vlašić 2 16 1 Axel Witsel 620 593 96 1 Achraf Hakimi 3 3
• Effective use of full-backs to provide width
2 Kirill Nababkin 230 203 88 2 Mário Fernandes 1 9 2 Manuel Akanji 567 544 96 2= Jadon Sancho 1 9
• Balance from screening midfielder Witsel,
3 Rodrigo Becão 229 197 86 3= Ilzat Akhmetov 1 3 3 Abdou Diallo 535 492 92 2= Marco Reus 1 9 dropping back to build from deep
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3= Arnór Sigurdsson 1 3 A = Attempted; C = Completed 4 Raphaël Guerreiro 1 8
• Quick passing game; swift counterattacks
A = Assists; KP = Key passes A = Assists; KP = Key passes
after regaining possession
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG • Youthful, energetic individuals; fast winger
1 Rodrigo Becão 41 8 10 1 Nikola Vlašić 3 15 8 2.1 1 Abdou Diallo 44 8 8 1 Raphaël Guerreiro 4 10 4 2.7 with dribbling, crossing ability in Sancho
2 Kirill Nababkin 40 8 7 2 Fedor Chalov 2 10 7 0.6 2 Manuel Akanji 42 7 9 2 Marco Reus 1 10 3 1.5 • Runs from deep from attacking midfielders
3 Nikita Chernov 30 4 4 3 Arnór Sigurdsson 2 10 5 0.6 3 Axel Witsel 37 9 7 3 Axel Witsel 1 10 3 0.4 Götze and Reus
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Nikola Vlašić after scoring the winner against Real Madrid BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals
COACH FATIH TERIM
BORN: 04/09/1953, Adana (TUR)
TSG 1899 COACH JULIAN NAGELSMANN
BORN: 23/07/1987, Landsberg am Lech (GER)
GALATASARAY AŞ HOFFENHEIM
NATIONALITY: Turkish NATIONALITY: German
TUR EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 1 GER EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP D ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP F ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
LMO POR SCH SCH LMO POR UEFA Champions League 47 14 9 24 SHK MC OL OL SHK MC UEFA Champions League 6 0 3 3
W 3-0 L 1-0 D 0-0 L 2-0 L 2-0 L 2-3 matches (Group stage to final) D 2-2 L 1-2 D 3-3 D 2-2 L 2-3 L 2-1 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Porto (a) Example: v Man. City (a)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 62% v Porto (h) 1 Fernando Muslera 6 540 Max. 58% v Shakhtar Donetsk (h) 1 Oliver Baumann 6 540
Min. 45% v Porto (a) Final third 19% Min. 36% v Man. City (h) Final third 19%
UCL rank: 8= UCL rank: 20=
DEFENDERS DEFENDERS
2 Mariano Ferreira 3 182 2 Joshua Brenet 2 135
DISTANCE COVERED 3 Maicon 4 287 DISTANCE COVERED 3 Pavel Kadeřábek 6 540 1
102,172m Max. 103,332m v Porto (a)
Min. 100,366m v L. Moskva (h)
UCL rank: 32
4 Serdar Aziz 4 360 114,997m Max. 116,877m v Lyon (h)
Min. 113,619m v Man. City (h)
UCL rank: 2
4 Ermin Bičakčić 3 253
14 Martin Linnes 5 403 15 Kasim Adams Nuhu 2 141
11 19 Ömer Bayram 2 53 16 Nico Schulz 5 445 1
476 83% 428 84%
7 21
43 Ozan Kabak 4 360 34 27 2
21 Benjamin Hübner 1 90
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 10 11 55 Yuto Nagatomo 5 442 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 24 Justin Hoogma 1 90
Max. 592 v Schalke (a) Max. 88% v Schalke (a) Max. 631 v Shakhtar Donetsk (h) Max. 87% v Lyon (h) 13
15 25 8
Min. 297 v Porto (a) Min. 70% v Porto (a) 55 7 21 14 Min. 287 v Shakhtar Donetsk (a) Min. 79% v Man. City (h) 16 34 27 3
25 Kevin Akpoguma 2 180
UCL rank: 17 UCL rank: 17= 10 MIDFIELDERS UCL rank: 23 UCL rank: 13= 11
2 38 Stefan Posch 2 180
4 25 3 8 Selçuk İnan 5 101 1
15 21 13
10 Younès Belhanda 4 327 11 15
PASS DISTANCE 55
14
PASS DISTANCE* 8 MIDFIELDERS
4 16
Long 72 (15% of total) UCL rank: 6= 3 15 Ryan Donk 6 473 Long 59 (14% of total) UCL rank: 22= 3 6 Håvard Nordtveit 3 185 1
Medium 300 (63%) UCL rank: 13= Medium 272 (64%) UCL rank: 22 21 15
17 Badou Ndiaye 5 425 8 Dennis Geiger 1 63
Short 103 (22%) UCL rank: 24 Short 97 (23%) UCL rank: 28=
20 Emre Akbaba 1 90 10 Kerem Demirbay 5 370 2
1
BYPASSED* Total Average
1 25 Fernando 4 325 BYPASSED** Total Average 11 Florian Grillitsch 6 415 1
1 35 Yunus Akgün 1 4 13 Leonardo Bittencourt 3 142 1
Defenders 212 35 UCL rank: 32 Defenders 317 53 UCL rank: 19
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
89 Sofiane Feghouli 3 137 1 *Decimal points account for the extra 1%
17 Steven Zuber 3 102 1
before and after a successful pass is made and received.
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 18 Nadiem Amiri 1 27
FORWARDS before and after a successful pass is made and received.
22 Kevin Vogt 4 360
7 Garry Rodrigues 6 513 1 1
32 Vincenzo Grifo 1 5
5 11
9 Eren Derdiyok 4 332 2
ATTEMPTS GOALS ATTEMPTS GOALS 37 Robin Hack 1 5
0.83 per match; UCL rank: 27= 11 Sinan Gümüş 3 223 1.83 per match; UCL rank: 8=
21 Henry Onyekuru 5 323 FORWARDS
71 ATTEMPTS
88 Muğdat Çelik 3 39
92 ATTEMPTS
9 Reiss Nelson
19 Ishak Belfodil
5
5
113
347 1 1
27 Andrej Kramarić 6 481 5 1
22 ON TARGET
3.7 per match; UCL rank: 22 32 ON TARGET
5.3 per match; UCL rank: 10= 28 Ádám Szalai
34 Joelinton
5
5
272
390 1 1
9.9 11.2
15 1 15 2
GOALS
SAVES
7%
22%
28.7 Ndiaye v Lokomotiv Moskva (h) GOALS
SAVES
12%
23%
25.1 Nuhu v Lyon (a);
Szalai v Shakhtar Donetsk (h)

WIDE 41%


1 Ozan Kabak 290 263 91 1 Garry Rodrigues 1 9 1 Kevin Vogt 256 237 93 1 Kerem Demirbay 2 6
2 Serdar Aziz 250 229 92 2 Sofiane Feghouli 0 7 2 Ermin Bičakčić 229 208 91 2 Andrej Kramarić 1 8
3 Ryan Donk 249 219 88 3 Henry Onyekuru 0 6 3 Florian Grillitsch 215 178 83 3 Ishak Belfodil 1 6

1 Serdar Aziz 28 4 3 1 Eren Derdiyok 2 8 3 2.5 1 Kevin Vogt 38 1 3 1 Andrej Kramarić 5 18 8 2.4
2 Martin Linnes 27 10 1 2 Garry Rodrigues 1 15 7 1.6 2 Kerem Demirbay 28 4 4 2 Ishak Belfodil 1 9 5 1.8
3 Maicon 27 6 6 3 Sofiane Feghouli 1 6 1 1.7 3 Florian Grillitsch 26 5 11 3 Florian Grillitsch 1 5 1 0.5
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Garry Rodrigues runs at the Porto defence BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Andrej Kramarić struck five group stage goals
FC INTERNAZIONALE COACH LUCIANO SPALLETTI
BORN: 07/03/1959, Certaldo (ITA)
COACH MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI
BORN: 11/08/1967, Livorno (ITA)
MILANO JUVENTUS
NATIONALITY: Italian NATIONALITY: Italian
HEAD COACH: 09/06/2017 to 30/05/2019 HEAD COACH: 16/07/2014 to 30/06/2019
ITA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 ITA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP B ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP H ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
TOT PSV BAR BAR TOT PSV UEFA Champions League 57 24 12 21 VAL YB MU MU VAL YB ATL ATL AJX AJX UEFA Champions League 86 39 25 22
W 2-1 W 1-2 L 2-0 D 1-1 L 1-0 D 1-1 matches (Group stage to final) W 0-2 W 3-0 W 0-1 L 1-2 W 1-0 L 2-1 L 2-0 W 3-0 D 1-1 L 1-2 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Barcelona (h) Example: v Ajax (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 60% v PSV (h) 1 Samir Handanovič 6 540 Max. 62% v Atlético (a) 1 Wojciech Szczęsny 10 900
Min. 37% v Barcelona (a) Final third 19% Min. 42% v Ajax (a) Final third 20%
UCL rank: 18 UCL rank: 7
DEFENDERS DEFENDERS
2 Šime Vrsaljko 2 97 2 Mattia De Sciglio 4 309
DISTANCE COVERED 6 Stefan de Vrij 5 442 1 DISTANCE COVERED 3 Giorgio Chiellini 6 540
111,742m Max. 116,257m v Barcelona (h)
Min. 108,092m v Tottenham (h)
UCL rank: 11
18 Kwadwo Asamoah 6 519 1 109,763m Max. 115,890m v Young Boys (a)
Min. 104,061m v Valencia (a)
UCL rank: 20
4 Medhi Benatia 1 90
23 João Miranda 3 188 12 Alex Sandro 9 742
7 10
33 Danilo D'Ambrosio 4 360 15 Andrea Barzagli 3 106
488 83% 9 37 Milan Škriniar 6 540 540 87% 14 7
33
19 Leonardo Bonucci 10 900 2
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 44 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 10
9 16
5
20 João Cancelo 7 479 2
Max. 676 v PSV (h) Max. 87% v PSV (a) 14
MIDFIELDERS Max. 666 v Man. United (a) Max. 90% v MU (a), (h), ATL (a) 12 2
Min. 387 v Barcelona (h) Min. 77% v Barcelona (a) Min. 392 v Ajax (a) Min. 78% v Ajax (h) 23 24 Daniele Rugani 4 271
UCL rank: 14 UCL rank: 17= 8
8 Matías Vecino 5 450 1 1 UCL rank: 8 UCL rank: 6= 33
44 14 16 14 5
11 Keita Baldé 4 72 24
23
19 MIDFIELDERS
77
77 8 2
18 14 Radja Nainggolan 4 282 1 5 Miralem Pjanić 10 813 2 1
PASS DISTANCE PASS DISTANCE 12 2
18 2 24 19
Long 72 (15% of total) UCL rank: 6= 37 6 16 Matteo Politano 6 454 1 Long 72 (13% of total) UCL rank: 6= 6 Sami Khedira 4 105
37 6
20 Borja Valero 6 231 Medium 340 (63%) UCL rank: 8
14 Blaise Matuidi 9 683 1
Short 124 (25%) UCL rank: 16= Short 128 (24%) UCL rank: 13=
44 Ivan Perišić 6 501 23 Emre Can 6 335
BYPASSED** Total Average 77 Marcelo Brozović 6 535 BYPASSED* Total Average 30 Rodrigo Bentancur 7 550
1 87 Antonio Candreva 5 137 1 33 Federico Bernardeschi 8 552 1
*Decimal points account for the extra 1% *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
37 Leonardo Spinazzola 1 67
**N
umber of players closer to their own goal than the ball 9 Mauro Icardi 6 540 4
before and after a successful pass is made and received. FORWARDS
10 Lautaro Martínez 3 53 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 9 749 6 2
6 14
10 Paulo Dybala 9 518 5
ATTEMPTS GOALS ATTEMPTS GOALS
1 per match; UCL rank: 20= 1.4 per match; UCL rank: 13 11 Douglas Costa 5 157
16 Juan Cuadrado 5 329 1
92 ATTEMPTS
15.3 per match; UCL rank: 7= 151 ATTEMPTS
17 Mario Mandžukić
18 Moise Kean
8
3
579
67
1
27 ON TARGET
8.7 19.3
AGE AGE Sent off:
15 0 16 1
GOALS
SAVES
7%
22%
28.1 GOALS
SAVES
9%
18%
28.5 Ronaldo v Valencia (a)
WOODWORK 0%
WOODWORK 3%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 44%
• 1-4-3-3 in possession; out of it, 1-4-4-2
and 1-4-4-1-1 (at Ajax)
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Solid goalkeeper Szczęsny an able
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value replacement for departed Buffon
• Compact defensive block; deny opposition
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP space between lines
1 Marcelo Brozović 443 388 88 1 Matteo Politano 1 11 1 Leonardo Bonucci 697 626 90 1 Cristiano Ronaldo 2 15
• High tempo, instant pressing, and
2 Milan Škriniar 345 320 93 2= Kwadwo Asamoah 1 4 2 Miralem Pjanić 667 595 89 2 João Cancelo 2 5 aggression in fightback v Atlético
3 Kwadwo Asamoah 282 233 83 2= Matías Vecino 1 4 3 Alex Sandro 447 387 87 3 Leonardo Bonucci 2 3 • Lots of crosses from attacking full-backs,
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3 Stefan de Vrij 1 0 A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
notably Alex Sandro down left
• On regain, look for quick pass to striker or
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG wide players, then play in behind
1 Milan Škriniar 49 18 2 1 Mauro Icardi 4 21 8 3.6 1 Miralem Pjanić 59 10 16 1 Cristiano Ronaldo 6 48 13 4.9 • Aerial power in opposition box from Ronaldo,
2 Marcelo Brozović 38 7 9 2 Matías Vecino 1 12 1 1.2 2 Leonardo Bonucci 57 5 12 2 Paulo Dybala 5 21 10 3.7 Mandžukić
3 Kwadwo Asamoah 38 5 8 3 Radja Nainggolan 1 8 3 0.3 3 Alex Sandro 40 8 11 3 Miralem Pjanić 2 16 5 2.1 • Desire, winning mentality and scoring threat
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Marcelo Brozović attempted the most passes for Inter BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals of Ronaldo
COACH JÜRGEN KLOPP
BORN: 16/06/1967, Stuttgart (GER)
FC LOKOMOTIV COACH YURI SEMIN
BORN: 11/05/1947, Orenburg (RUS)
LIVERPOOL FC MOSKVA
NATIONALITY: German NATIONALITY: Russian
ENG EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 2 RUS EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP C ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP D ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
PAR NAP CRV CRV PAR NAP BAY BAY POR POR BAR BAR TOT UEFA Champions League 61 31 11 19 GAL SCH POR POR GAL SCH UEFA Champions League 39 10 7 22
W 3-2 L 1-0 W 4-0 L 2-0 L 2-1 W 1-0 D 0-0 W 1-3 W 2-0 W 1-4 L 3-0 W 4-0 W 2-0 matches (Group stage to final) L 3-0 L 0-1 L 1-3 L 4-1 W 2-0 L 1-0 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away, blue = neutral; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names

Example: v Napoli (h) Example: v Porto (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 65% v Crvena zvezda (a) 13 Alisson Becker 13 1170 Max. 52% v Galatasaray (a) 1 Guilherme 6 540
Min. 39% v Tottenham (n) Final third 22% Min. 39% v Porto (h) Final third 24%
UCL rank: 13= UCL rank: 24
DEFENDERS DEFENDERS
4 Virgil van Dijk 12 1080 2 1 3 Bryan Idowu 3 270
DISTANCE COVERED 6 Dejan Lovren 3 181 DISTANCE COVERED 5 Benedikt Höwedes 5 450
110,370m Max. 118,767m v Napoli (h)
Min. 104,196m v Paris (h)
UCL rank: 18
12 Joe Gomez 9 525 106,467m Max. 110,557m v Schalke (a)
Min. 101,950m v Galatasaray (a)
UCL rank: 28
14 Vedran Ćorluka 3 270
18 Alberto Moreno 1 8 28 Boris Rotenberg 1 1
10 11 26 Andy Robertson 12 1008 2 31 Maciej Rybus 2 180
9
526 81% 413 77%
24
32 Joël Matip 8 720 1 59 33 Solomon Kverkvelia 5 436
10 9 5 11
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 7 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 11
66 Trent Alexander-Arnold 11 921 4 27
Max. 678 v Crvena zvezda (h) Max. 85% v C. zvezda (a), Paris (a) 66 Max. 458 v Galatasaray (a) Max. 85% v Galatasaray (a) 24
6 4 MIDFIELDERS
Min. 280 v Tottenham (n) Min. 68% v Tottenham (n) 26 14 5 Min. 379 v Porto (h) Min. 70% v Porto (a)
UCL rank: 9 UCL rank: 23= 7 MIDFIELDERS UCL rank: 26 UCL rank: 30
5 59 20 4 Manuel Fernandes 4 292
11
14 427
4 32 66 3 Fabinho 11 727 6 Dmitri Barinov 4 283
26 6
7 33
PASS DISTANCE 4 32 5 Georginio Wijnaldum 12 971 2 PASS DISTANCE 5 20 7 Grzegorz Krychowiak 6 540 1
Long 74 (14% of total) UCL rank: 4 7 James Milner 12 901 2 2 Long 59 (14% of total) UCL rank: 22= 7 33 8 Jefferson Farfán 4 304 1
8 Naby Keïta 6 244 1 Medium 218 (53%) UCL rank: 28
11 Anton Miranchuk 6 391 1
10 Sadio Mané 13 1152 4 1 20 Vladislav Ignatyev 6 519 1
13
13 14 Jordan Henderson 11 799 2 BYPASSED* Total Average 27 Igor Denisov 6 468
20 Adam Lallana 3 104 1 59 Aleksei Miranchuk 6 516 2
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
23 Xherdan Shaqiri 4 176 2 *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
84 Mikhail Lysov 1 9
FORWARDS FORWARDS
9 Roberto Firmino 12 749 4 1 9 Fedor Smolov 3 117 1
24 4
11 Mohamed Salah 12 1058 5 2 24 Éder 6 310
ATTEMPTS GOALS ATTEMPTS GOALS (1 own goal)
1.85 per match; UCL rank: 7 15 Daniel Sturridge 7 163 1 1 0.67 per match; UCL rank: 29= 96 Rifat Zhemaletdinov 2 31
27 Divock Origi 8 217 3
186 ATTEMPTS
14.3 per match; UCL rank: 13 77 ATTEMPTS
57 ON TARGET
29.6 7.1
AGE AGE Sent off:
21 0 16 1
GOALS
SAVES
13%
17%
25.7 GOALS
SAVES
5%
14%
29.1 Kverkvelia v Porto (h)
WOODWORK 1%
WOODWORK 4%
WIDE 40%
• 1-4-3-3
• Dynamic, high-energy football fuelled by
PLAYER STATISTICS resilience, defiance and belief. PLAYER STATISTICS
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Defensive leadership of Van Dijk; composure Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value
and strong 1v1 defending
• Attacking threat from full-backs, well-timed
1 Virgil van Dijk 716 646 90 1 Trent Alexander-Arnold 4 19 1 Grzegorz Krychowiak 286 237 83 1 Aleksei Miranchuk 2 17
runs, plenty of crosses
2 Andy Robertson 653 520 80 2 James Milner 2 17 2 Aleksei Miranchuk 283 222 78 2 Grzegorz Krychowiak 1 6
• Good organisation out of possession;
3 James Milner 584 472 81 3= Jordan Henderson 2 15 coordinated effort to regain ball in 3 Igor Denisov 252 219 87 3 Fedor Smolov 1 1
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3= Mohamed Salah 2 15 opposition areas A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• Quick counterattacks, with longer passes
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG exploiting speed of three forwards DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG
1 Virgil van Dijk 93 8 10 1 Mohamed Salah 5 52 15 7.1 • Athletic, hard-working midfield, usually 1 Grzegorz Krychowiak 53 7 7 1 Jefferson Farfán 1 11 2 0.9
2 Joël Matip 67 8 14 2 Sadio Mané 4 25 8 8.6 supporting from behind ball (if not v Barcelona) 2 Benedikt Höwedes 37 9 7 2 Anton Miranchuk 1 7 3 0.3
3 Andy Robertson 64 14 7 3 Roberto Firmino 4 17 8 2.4 • Mané, Salah, Firmino play in width of penalty 3 Vladislav Ignatyev 32 11 17 3 Vladislav Ignatyev 1 4 1 0.8
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals box; speed, technique, movement BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Aleksei Miranchuk on the ball in the game at Schalke
OLYMPIQUE COACH BRUNO GENESIO
BORN: 01/09/1966, Lyon (FRA)
MANCHESTER COACH JOSEP GUARDIOLA
BORN: 18/01/1971, Santpedor (ESP)
LYONNAIS CITY FC
NATIONALITY: French NATIONALITY: Spanish
FRA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 ENG EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 5
GROUP F ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP F ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
MC SHK HOF HOF MC SHK BAR BAR UEFA Champions League 14 3 8 3 OL HOF SHK SHK OL HOF SCH SCH TOT TOT UEFA Champions League 113 69 23 21
W 1-2 D 2-2 D 3-3 D 2-2 D 2-2 D 1-1 D 0-0 L 5-1 matches (Group stage to final) L 1-2 W 1-2 W 0-3 W 6-0 D 2-2 W 2-1 W 2-3 W 7-0 L 1-0 W 4-3* matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names *Tottenham win on away goals

Example: v Barcelona (h) Example: v Hoffenheim (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 51% v SHK (h), HOF (h) 1 Anthony Lopes 8 664 Max. 66% v Schalke (h) 31 Ederson 10 900 1
Min. 37% v Man. City (a) Final third 18% Min. 50% v Shakhtar Donetsk (a) Final third 22%
UCL rank: 20= 30 Mathieu Gorgelin 1 56 UCL rank: 1=
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS 2 Kyle Walker 10 746
DISTANCE COVERED 4 Rafael 3 240 DISTANCE COVERED 3 Danilo 2 119
110,692m Max. 115,194m v Man. City (a)
Min. 105,459m v Barcelona (a)
UCL rank: 17
5 Jason Denayer 8 720 109,220m Max. 113,804m v SHK (a)
Min. 103,560m v Schalke (h)
UCL rank: 22
4 Vincent Kompany 4 205
6 Marcelo 8 720 5 John Stones 6 421
33
14 Léo Dubois 5 285 1 19 7 14 Aymeric Laporte 10 882 2
467 85% 11
9
15 Jérémy Morel 1 90 655 90% 47
20
22 Benjamin Mendy 2 174
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 7 10 20 Fernando Marçal 3 270 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 33
7 30 Nicolás Otamendi 5 402
Max. 545 v Shakhtar Donetsk (h) Max. 88% v Man. City (h) Max. 794 v Schalke (h) Max. 93% v Schalke (h) 35 19 8
9 20
Min. 317 v Man. City (a) Min. 75% v Man. City (a) 22 Ferland Mendy 8 707 1 Min. 526 v Hoffenheim (h) Min. 88% v Tottenham (a)
UCL rank: 20 UCL rank: 10= 8 11 UCL rank: 5 UCL rank: 1= 47 5 MIDFIELDERS
28 23 Kenny Tete 3 196 14 30
22 7 Raheem Sterling 10 871 5 2
14 8
7
8 28 10 35 8 İlkay Gündoğan 8 590 1
PASS DISTANCE* 6 MIDFIELDERS PASS DISTANCE 14
5
5 30
Long 58 (12% of total) UCL rank: 25
22 7 Martin Terrier 3 159 Long 54 (8% of total) UCL rank: 30= 17 Kevin De Bruyne 4 247 4
5 6 14
8 Houssem Aouar 7 630 1 Medium 446 (68%) UCL rank: 2
18 Fabian Delph 6 257
Short 128 (27%) UCL rank: 13= Short 156 (24%) UCL rank: 7
12 Jordan Ferri 1 8 19 Leroy Sané 8 395 4 5
BYPASSED** Total Average
1 24 Pape Cheikh 5 102 BYPASSED* Total Average 31 20 Bernardo Silva 8 578 4 1
Opponents 2485 311 UCL rank: 24 Opponents 4661 466 UCL rank: 3
27 Maxwel Cornet 5 214 3 31 21 David Silva 9 719 3 1
*Decimal points account for the missing 1%
28 Tanguy Ndombele 8 637 2 *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
25 Fernandinho 8 643
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 29 Lucas Tousart 7 482 1 26 Riyad Mahrez 6 388 1 4
35 Oleksandr Zinchenko 5 337 1
FORWARDS
47 Phil Foden 4 120 1
13 30
9 Moussa Dembélé 6 296 1
ATTEMPTS GOALS ATTEMPTS GOALS
1.63 per match; UCL rank: 11 10 Bertrand Traoré 8 320 1 1 3 per match; UCL rank: 1 FORWARDS
11 Memphis Depay 8 618 1 3 10 Sergio Agüero 7 510 6 1
116 ATTEMPTS
18 Nabil Fekir 6 506 3 2
181 ATTEMPTS
33 Gabriel Jesus 6 375 4
41 ON TARGET
12.6 23.4
AGE AGE Sent off:
13 0 16 1
GOALS
SAVES
11%
25%
23.7 GOALS
SAVES
17%
21%
26.3 Otamendi v Schalke (a)
WOODWORK 3%
WOODWORK 3%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 36%
• 1-4-2-3-1; also used 1-4-3-3, 1-4-4-1-1 • Flexible 1-4-3-3
• Influential goalkeeper Lopes; good • High pressing with high defensive line;
PLAYER STATISTICS shot-stopping ability PLAYER STATISTICS compact shape with back four
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Strong centre-backs (Denayer, Marcelo) Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Always looking to build from the back and
in narrow back four through the middle before playing wide
• Open, attractive football; good attacking • Strong attacking threat down left with overloads
1 Marcelo 429 384 90 1 Memphis Depay 3 22 1 Aymeric Laporte 831 772 93 1 Leroy Sané 5 9
combinations • One sitting midfielder; other two play at back
2 Tanguy Ndombele 387 341 88 2 Nabil Fekir 2 12 2 Kyle Walker 587 544 93 2 Riyad Mahrez 4 9
• Powerful Ndombele able to break lines of opposition midfielders
3 Jason Denayer 375 349 93 3= Houssem Aouar 1 7 with dribbling, passing ability 3 İlkay Gündoğan 522 482 92 3 Kevin De Bruyne 4 6
• Excellent in possession; plenty of creativity
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3= Bertrand Traoré 1 7 A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• High pressing by midfielders and forwards; in midfield
lots of pace to counterattack • Preference for short passing but also hit
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG • Quick, direct, energetic attacking players DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG longer pass to get players in behind or wide
1 Jason Denayer 47 7 11 1 Nabil Fekir 3 26 11 1.8 • No conventional front man; fluid attacking 1 Aymeric Laporte 60 9 16 1 Sergio Agüero 6 30 16 5.6 • Very wide attackers; come inside to join
2 Lucas Tousart 46 14 4 2 Maxwel Cornet 3 7 4 1.5 shape; Depay dropping between lines 2 Fernandinho 46 9 19 2 Raheem Sterling 5 23 10 3.0 world-class striker Agüero
3 Marcelo 45 4 18 3 Tanguy Ndombele 2 9 2 0.6 3 Kyle Walker 37 1 6 3 Gabriel Jesus 4 21 10 3.9
MANCHESTER COACH* OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJÆR
BORN: 26/02/1973, Kristiansund (NOR)
COACH* THIERRY HENRY
BORN: 17/08/1977, Les Ulis (FRA)
UNITED FC AS MONACO FC
NATIONALITY: Norwegian NATIONALITY: French
ENG EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 FRA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP H ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP A ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
YB VAL JUV JUV YB VAL PAR PAR BAR BAR UEFA Champions League 4 1 0 3 ATL BVB BRU BRU ATL BVB UEFA Champions League 4 0 1 3
W 0-3 D 0-0 L 0-1 W 1-2 W 1-0 L 2-1 L 0-2 W 1-3* L 0-1 L 3-0 matches (Group stage to final) L 1-2 L 3-0 D 1-1 L 0-4 L 2-0 L 0-2 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names * Man. United win on away goals Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names

Example: v Paris (h) Example: v Dortmund (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 61% v Young Boys (h) 1 David de Gea 9 810 Max. 61% v Club Brugge (h) 1 Danijel Subašić 1 45
Min. 32% v Paris (a) Final third 22% Min. 40% v Dortmund (h) Final third 19%
UCL rank: 20= 22 Sergio Romero 1 90 UCL rank: 19 16 Diego Benaglio 5 405
40 Loïc Badiashile 1 90
DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED 2 Victor Lindelöf 7 630 DISTANCE COVERED DEFENDERS
3 Antonio Barreca 1 90
105,825m Max. 112,306m v Paris (a)
Min. 99,559m v Valencia (h)
UCL rank: 31
3 Eric Bailly
4 Phil Jones
4
3
306
270
111,205m Max. 119,593m v Dortmund (h)
Min. 100,455m v Atlético (h)
UCL rank: 15
5 Jemerson 5 450
12 Chris Smalling 8 720 6 Kévin N'Doram 1 90
10
16 Marcos Rojo 1 45 19 Djibril Sidibé 4 334
468 86% 11
6
10 14 20 Diogo Dalot 4 243 474 84% 9
9
21 Julien Serrano 1 12
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 39 24 Andrea Raggi 4 360
11 23 Luke Shaw 8 720 36
Max. 662 v Young Boys (h) Max. 89% v Young Boys (h) Max. 680 v Club Brugge (h) Max. 88% v Atlético (a)
36 25 Kamil Glik 5 436
Min. 282 v Paris (a) Min. 80% v Paris (a) 23 6 21 14 18 25 Antonio Valencia 3 252 Min. 373 v Club Brugge (a) Min. 78% v Atlético (h) 8
UCL rank: 19 UCL rank: 9 31 21 UCL rank: 18 UCL rank: 13= 4242 8 39 32 Benoît Badiashile 2 180
31 MIDFIELDERS 46 38 Almamy Touré 1 14
24 15
15
23 2 3 18 6 Paul Pogba 9 729 2 1 24 46 39 Benjamin Henrichs 4 296
PASS DISTANCE 2
PASS DISTANCE 32 25
Long 56 (12% of total) UCL rank: 28
3 8 Juan Mata 6 275 1 Long 67 (14% of total) UCL rank: 13= 32 25 46 Giulian Biancone 2 168
Medium 274 (59%) UCL rank: 21 14 Jesse Lingard 6 296 Medium 300 (63%) UCL rank: 13= MIDFIELDERS
Short 138 (29%) UCL rank: 10 15 Andreas Pereira 4 190 Short 107 (23%) UCL rank: 23 4 Jean-Eudes Aholou 3 176
17 Fred 6 461 8 Youri Tielemans 6 540
BYPASSED* Total Average BYPASSED* Total Average
18 Ashley Young 7 582 1 11 Adama Traoré 1 21
Opponents 3439 344 UCL rank: 17 1
1 Opponents 2074 346 UCL rank: 16 16
16
Defenders 499 50 UCL rank: 23 21 Ander Herrera 2 169 Defenders 292 49 UCL rank: 25 15 Youssef Ait Bennasser 3 248
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 27 Marouane Fellaini 5 302 1 *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 17 Aleksandr Golovin 3 230 1
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 31 Nemanja Matić 6 540 before and after a successful pass is made and received.
20 Nacer Chadli 5 314
39 Scott McTominay 3 270 29 Samuel Grandsir 3 187 1
54 Mason Greenwood 1 3 36 Sofiane Diop 4 268
ATTEMPTS
10 GOALS (1 own goal)
1 per match; UCL rank: 20= FORWARDS
7 Alexis Sánchez 4 211
ATTEMPTS
2 GOALS
42 Han-Noah Massengo
45 Kephren Thuram-Ulien
3
2
181
48
9 Romelu Lukaku 9 546 2 1 FORWARDS
118 ATTEMPTS
11.8 per match; UCL rank: 20= 10 Marcus Rashford
11 Anthony Martial
10
8
724
506
2
1
1 60 ATTEMPTS
9 Radamel Falcao
10 Stevan Jovetić
5
1
340
12
44 Tahith Chong 1 10 22 Jordi Mboula 1 32
32 ON TARGET
34 Moussa Sylla
41 Gobe Gouano
6
1
344
29
1
10.5 5.1
EXPECTED GOALS (xG) *José Mourinho was in charge for matchdays 1 to 6 EXPECTED GOALS (xG) Leonardo Jardim was in charge for matchdays 1 and 2
*
AGE Sent off: AGE
21 1 13 0
GOALS
SAVES
9%
19%
25 Pogba v Paris (h) GOALS
SAVES
3%
28%
24.9
WOODWORK 3%
WOODWORK 0%
WIDE 51%
• 1-4-3-3; also deployed three centre-backs
v Paris and Barcelona
PLAYER STATISTICS • Use of deep block in Paris; compact shape PLAYER STATISTICS
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value with little space for opponents Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value
• Attacking full-backs provide supply of
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP crosses (Young) PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP
1 Paul Pogba 458 393 86 1 Paul Pogba 1 17 1 Youri Tielemans 357 303 85 1 Aleksandr Golovin 1 3
• Passing and technical ability of midfielders
2 Nemanja Matić 425 385 91 2 Marcus Rashford 1 8 Pogba, McTominay 2 Jemerson 245 226 92 2= Youri Tielemans 0 6
3 Luke Shaw 405 350 86 3 Ashley Young 1 5 3 Youssef Ait Bennasser 204 181 89 2= Radamel Falcao 0 6
• Speed on transitions; strong counterattacking
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
threat with Rashford, Lukaku A = Attempted; C = Completed 3 Moussa Sylla 0 4
• Impressive resilience in away wins at
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG Juventus, Paris DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG
1 Luke Shaw 45 10 9 1 Marcus Rashford 2 31 10 3.0 • Danger in 1v1 situations due to quick, 1 Youri Tielemans 39 9 10 1 Moussa Sylla 1 6 3 0.7
2 Chris Smalling 42 8 9 2 Paul Pogba 2 15 8 1.8 talented forwards 2 Kamil Glik 27 6 7 2 Samuel Grandsir 1 2 1 0.6
3 Fred 38 7 5 3 Romelu Lukaku 2 10 4 1.8 3 Jemerson 27 4 6 3 Youri Tielemans 0 12 7 0.4
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Youri Tielemans was the heartbeat of the Monaco midfield
COACH CARLO ANCELOTTI
BORN: 10/06/1959, Reggiolo (ITA)
PARIS COACH THOMAS TUCHEL
BORN: 29/08/1973, Krumbach (GER)
SSC NAPOLI SAINT-GERMAIN

NATIONALITY: Italian NATIONALITY: German
ITA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 6 FRA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP C ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP C ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
CRV LIV PAR PAR CRV LIV UEFA Champions League 160 88 38 34 LIV CRV NAP NAP LIV CRV MU MU UEFA Champions League 18 9 4 5
D 0-0 W 1-0 D 2-2 D 1-1 W 3-1 L 1-0 matches (Group stage to final) L 3-2 W 6-1 D 2-2 D 1-1 W 2-1 W 1-4 W 0-2 L 1-3* matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names *Man. United win on away goals

Example: v Paris (a) Example: v Man. United (a)
GOALKEEPERS
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 65% v Crvena zvezda (a)
25 David Ospina 6 540 Max. 69% v Crvena zvezda (h) 1 Gianluigi Buffon 5 450
Min. 44% v Paris (h) Final third 19% Min. 47% v Liverpool (h) Final third 19%
UCL rank: 8= UCL rank: 4= 16 Alphonse Areola 3 270
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED 6 Mário Rui 6 520 DISTANCE COVERED
2 Thiago Silva 7 616
111,562m Max. 116,607m v CRV (h)
Min. 106,121m v Paris (h)
UCL rank: 13
19 Nikola Maksimović 5 436 1
105,848m Max. 112,607m v Napoli (h)
Min. 101,287m v Liverpool (a)
UCL rank: 30
3 Presnel Kimpembe 8 647 1
23 Elseid Hysaj 3 149
4 Thilo Kehrer 7 488
26 Kalidou Koulibaly 6 540
5 Marquinhos 7 630 1
666 85% 614 89%
7
31 Faouzi Ghoulam 1 20 11
14
7 23 12 Thomas Meunier 5 363 1 2
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 24
14 24 33 Raúl Albiol 6 495 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 13
Max. 866 v Crvena zvezda (h) Max. 89% v Liverpool (h) 8 7 Max. 759 v Man. United (h) Max. 92% v Man. United (h) 13 Dani Alves 3 204
Min. 494 v Paris (h) Min. 77% v Liverpool (a) Min. 417 v Liverpool (h) Min. 85% v Liverpool (h) 14 11 5 23
UCL rank: 3 UCL rank: 10= 7 UCL rank: 6 UCL rank: 3=
8 17 MIDFIELDERS 6 14 Juan Bernat 8 675 3
6 5 5 13
17 6
5 Allan 6 511 5 4 31 Colin Dagba 1 9
19 14 3
PASS DISTANCE* 6 26 19 PASS DISTANCE 2
26 33 8 Fabián Ruiz 6 471 1 4
Long 89 (13% of total) UCL rank: 1 Long 51 (8% of total) UCL rank: 32 3 2 MIDFIELDERS
Medium 408 (61%) UCL rank: 4 11 Adam Ounas 2 22 Medium 385 (63%) UCL rank: 6
6 Marco Verratti 7 601
17 Marek Hamšík 6 456 1 1 8 Leandro Paredes 2 35
BYPASSED** Total Average 20 Piotr Zieliński 6 181 BYPASSED* Total Average 1 11 Ángel Di María 8 661 2 3
Opponents 2855 476 UCL rank: 2 25 Opponents 3337 417 UCL rank: 7
1
Defenders 436 73 UCL rank: 1 25 30 Marko Rog 2 8 Defenders 455 57 UCL rank: 12 23 Julian Draxler 7 284 1
*Decimal points account for the 1% difference *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 25 Adrien Rabiot 5 282
**N
umber of players closer to their own goal than the ball
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 7 José Callejón 6 517 2 FORWARDS
9 Simone Verdi 1 22 7 Kylian Mbappé 8 701 4 4
ATTEMPTS
7 GOALS
14 Dries Mertens
24 Lorenzo Insigne
6
6
375
490
3
3
ATTEMPTS
9 Edinson Cavani
10 Neymar
7
6
415
532
2
5
2
1
94 ATTEMPTS
99 Arkadiusz Milik 4 187
117 ATTEMPTS
17 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 4
27 Moussa Diaby 1
50
7
32 ON TARGET
11.2 17.8
AGE AGE
13 0 18 0
GOALS
SAVES
8%
27%
27.1 GOALS
SAVES
17%
32%
26.2
WOODWORK 3%
WOODWORK 1%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 31%
• 1-4-2-3-1, morphing to 1-3-4-3 when
building attacks
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Patient build-up through lines; Draxler
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value in midfield dictates tempo
• Support for attacks from left-back Bernat
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP pushing high in build-ups
1 Kalidou Koulibaly 468 413 88 1 José Callejón 2 15 1 Marco Verratti 594 557 94 1 Kylian Mbappé 4 11
• Leadership and experience in back line
2 Marek Hamšík 455 408 90 2= Marek Hamšík 1 6 2 Thiago Silva 560 528 94 2 Ángel Di María 3 18 with Buffon, Thiago Silva
3 Raúl Albiol 420 387 92 2= Fabián Ruiz 1 6 3 Presnel Kimpembe 510 477 94 3= Thomas Meunier 2 2 • Good defensive discipline at Old Trafford,
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3 Nikola Maksimović 1 4 A = Attempted; C = Completed 3= Edinson Cavani 2 2 defending with low block, condensing space
A = Assists; KP = Key passes A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• Tactically aware team, switching formations
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG to good effect
1 Kalidou Koulibaly 68 9 12 1 Dries Mertens 3 19 10 3.5 1 Marco Verratti 55 16 5 1 Neymar 5 24 16 3.4 • Fast, direct counters after regains, with running
2 Allan 56 22 5 2 Lorenzo Insigne 3 18 6 3.0 2 Presnel Kimpembe 53 8 12 2 Kylian Mbappé 4 29 11 5.8 power of Di María and Mbappé
3 Raúl Albiol 34 1 8 3 Marek Hamšík 1 2 1 0.8 3 Thiago Silva 51 4 11 3 Juan Bernat 3 9 5 1.6 • Dangerous set plays; aerial power and
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Dries Mertens after scoring in the 2-2 draw away to Paris BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals free-kick specialists
COACH PAVEL VRBA COACH SÉRGIO CONCEIÇÃO
BORN: 06/12/1963, Přerov (CZE) BORN: 15/11/1974, Coimbra (POR)
FC VIKTORIA PLZEŇ FC PORTO

NATIONALITY: Czech NATIONALITY: Portuguese
CZE EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 POR EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP G ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP D ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
CSM ASR RM RM CSM ASR UEFA Champions League 18 4 3 11 SCH GAL LMO LMO SCH GAL ASR ASR LIV LIV UEFA Champions League 18 9 3 6
D 2-2 L 5-0 L 2-1 L 0-5 W 1-2 W 2-1 matches (Group stage to final) D 1-1 W 1-0 W 1-3 W 4-1 W 3-1 W 2-3 L 2-1 W 3-1* L 2-0 L 1-4 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names *after extra time

Example: v CSKA Moskva (a) Example: v Liverpool (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 46% v CSKA Moskva (a) 1 Matúš Kozáčik 2 180 Max. 61% v Lokomotiv Moskva (a) 1 Iker Casillas 10 930
Min. 37% v Real Madrid (a) Final third 20% Min. 38% v Galatasaray (a) Final third 20%
UCL rank: 29= 16 Aleš Hruška 4 360 UCL rank: 8=
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS 2 Maxi Pereira 8 634
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 3 Éder Militão 9 823 2
2 Lukáš Hejda 6 451 1
109,647m Max. 114,049m v Real Madrid (h)
Min. 104,775m v Roma (a)
UCL rank: 21
4 Roman Hubník 6 540 111,596m Max. 143,008m v Roma (h)
Min. 102,761m v Schalke (a)
UCL rank: 12
4 Diogo Leite 1 90
8 David Limberský 6 495 1 13 Alex Telles 10 930 1 3

18 17 11 18 Jorge 1 17
14 Radim Řezník 5 450
374 80% 19
25
11
24 Milan Havel 4 224
463 80% 8
1711
25
28 Felipe 10 930 1
18 16
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 33 Pepe 3 300
14 8
Max. 405 v Real Madrid (h) Max. 83% v Real Madrid (h) 44 Luděk Pernica 1 90 1 Max. 603 v Lokomotiv Moskva (a) Max. 85% v LMO (a), ASR (h)
Min. 341 v Roma (h) Min. 76% v CSKA Moskva (h) 25 6
17 Min. 310 v Galatasaray (a) Min. 71% v GAL (a), LIV (a) 13
22
16 25
3
UCL rank: 30 UCL rank: 27= 8
19 11 UCL rank: 21 UCL rank: 27= 22 MIDFIELDERS
2 MIDFIELDERS 5 Chidozie Awaziem 1 8
4 13 33 28 3
17 6 6 Roman Procházka 5 425 1
PASS DISTANCE 14 PASS DISTANCE 33 28 6 Bruno Costa 2 26
8
Long 71 (19% of total) UCL rank: 9= 4 2 7 Tomáš Hořava 5 215 Long 71 (15% of total) UCL rank: 9= 8 Yacine Brahimi 9 624 2
9 Martin Zeman 1 71 Medium 277 (60%) UCL rank: 20
10 Óliver Torres 5 351 2
Short 98 (26%) UCL rank: 27 Short 116 (25%) UCL rank: 20=
10 Jan Kopic 4 296 2 16 Héctor Herrera 9 834 2 1
11 Milan Petržela 4 227 BYPASSED** Total Average
1 22 Danilo 10 930
16
16 17 Patrik Hrošovský 6 540 1 1 24 Riechedly Bazoer 1 7
25 Otávio 8 516 2 1
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 19 Jan Kovařík 4 360 1 1 *Decimal points account for the extra 1%
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 27 Sérgio Oliveira 4 97 1
25 Aleš Čermák 5 349 1 before and after a successful pass is made and received.
26 Daniel Kolář 2 90 FORWARDS
7 20
7 Hernâni 6 124 1
ATTEMPTS GOALS 90 Ubong Ekpai 2 33 ATTEMPTS GOALS
1.17 per match; UCL rank: 18= 2 per match; UCL rank: 4= 9 Vincent Aboubakar 1 60
FORWARDS 11 Moussa Marega 9 840 6 2
68 ATTEMPTS
15 Michael Krmenčík
18 Tomáš Chorý
3
3
242
247
2
1 134 ATTEMPTS
17 Jesús Corona
20 Adrián López
8
4
561
119
3
1
2
37 Jakub Řezníček 6 55 21 André Pereira 4 62
21 ON TARGET
5.4 per match; UCL rank: 9 29 Francisco Soares
37 Fernando
4
4
275
143
1 1
8.6 17.3
AGE AGE
10 0 20 0
GOALS
SAVES
11%
20%
29.4 GOALS
SAVES
15%
24%
27.3
WOODWORK 0%
WOODWORK 2%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 41%
• 1-4-4-2 with fluid diamond, morphing
to 1-2-4-2-2 when attacking
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Aggressive, intense, high pressing game
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value (Herrera); compact defensive line
• Strong attacking full-back (Alex Telles);
PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP PASSES A C % CHANCE CREATION A KP 1v1 ability; excellent set-piece delivery
1 Patrik Hrošovský 304 279 92 1 Jan Kopic 2 4 1 Felipe 574 476 83 1 Alex Telles 3 19
• Build up from defence through midfield;
2 David Limberský 253 207 82 2= Aleš Čermák 1 6 2 Danilo 517 463 90 2 Jesús Corona 2 8 occasional use of longer balls
3 Roman Hubník 190 156 82 2= Jan Kovařík 1 6 3 Héctor Herrera 440 370 84 3 Yacine Brahimi 2 6 • Fluid approach, lots of movement,
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3 Patrik Hrošovský 1 5 A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
interchanging of positions in opposition half
• Wide forwards stay narrow, combining well
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG with full-backs for flow of crosses
1 Roman Hubník 51 10 12 1 Michael Krmenčík 2 8 3 1.5 1 Felipe 97 8 23 1 Moussa Marega 6 26 15 5.7 • Influential individuals with skill, intelligence
2 Patrik Hrošovský 29 9 5 2= Roman Procházka 1 8 5 1.1 2 Danilo 67 8 14 2 Jesús Corona 3 11 5 1.1 (Brahimi, Otávio)
3 Lukáš Hejda 26 7 11 2= Jan Kovařík 1 5 2 1.2 3 Éder Militão 60 14 17 3 Héctor Herrera 2 14 6 1.1 • Speed and running power of Marega in
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Both Michael Krmenčík’s goals came on matchday one BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals attack, offering option of going deep
COACH MARK VAN BOMMEL COACH* SANTIAGO SOLARI
BORN: 22/04/1977, Maasbracht (NED) BORN: 07/10/1976, Rosario (ARG)
PSV EINDHOVEN REAL MADRID CF

NATIONALITY: Dutch NATIONALITY: Argentinian
NED EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 ESP EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP B ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP G ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
BAR INT TOT TOT BAR INT UEFA Champions League 6 0 2 4 ASR CSM PLZ PLZ ASR CSM AJX AJX UEFA Champions League 5 3 0 2
L 4-0 L 1-2 D 2-2 L 2-1 L 1-2 D 1-1 matches (Group stage to final) W 3-0 L 1-0 W 2-1 W 0-5 W 0-2 L 0-3 W 1-2 L 1-4 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Tottenham (h) Example: v Roma (a)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 44% v Internazionale (h) 1 Jeroen Zoet 6 540 Max. 70% v CSKA Moskva (a) 1 Keylor Navas 3 270
Min. 32% v Barcelona (a) Final third 19% Min. 50% v Ajax (a) Final third 25%
UCL rank: 31 UCL rank: 1= 25 Thibaut Courtois 5 450
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS
2 Nicolas Isimat-Mirin 1 24
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 2 Dani Carvajal 6 419 1
4 Nick Viergever 6 516
110,286m Max. 112,582m v Tottenham (h)
Min. 106,251m v Barcelona (a)
5 Daniel Schwaab 5 450
109,005m Max. 116,272m v Plzeň (a)
Min. 104,127m v CSKA Moskva (h)
3 Jesús Vallejo 1 90
UCL rank: 19 UCL rank: 23 4 Sergio Ramos 5 419
6 Angeliño 6 540 1 5 Raphaël Varane 4 360
322 76% 14
9 11 20 Trent Sainsbury 2 99 663 88% 11
99
6 Nacho 5 450
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 7 22 Denzel Dumfries 6 540 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 17 12 Marcelo 4 344 1 1
Max. 426 v Internazionale (h) Max. 81% v Barcelona (h) Max. 815 v CSKA Moskva (a) Max. 91% v Plzeň (h) 11
Min. 196 v Tottenham (a) Min. 64% v Tottenham (a)
11
Min. 539 v Ajax (h) Min. 80% v Ajax (h) 10 17 19 Álvaro Odriozola 3 227
9 18 12 8 8
UCL rank: 32 UCL rank: 31 MIDFIELDERS UCL rank: 4 UCL rank: 5 10
8 22 23 Sergio Reguilón 4 360 1
14 7
6 7 Gastón Pereiro 6 393 1 12 18
18 2
31 Javier Sánchez 2 121
4 5
8 18 2
PASS DISTANCE 8 Jorrit Hendrix 6 521 PASS DISTANCE* 4
4 5
5
Long 61 (19% of total) UCL rank: 20= 6
22 Long 81 (12% of total) UCL rank: 2 MIDFIELDERS
4 5 18 Pablo Rosario 6 532 1 1 Medium 393 (59%) UCL rank: 5 8 Toni Kroos 8 645 1 1
Short 74 (23%) UCL rank: 32 25 Érick Gutiérrez 4 96 Short 189 (28%) UCL rank: 3
10 Luka Modrić 6 467 1
BYPASSED** Total Average 32 Michal Sadílek 1 25 BYPASSED** Total Average 14 Casemiro 6 505 1
1 15 Federico Valverde 4 139
Defenders 235 39 UCL rank: 29 FORWARDS Defenders 488 61 UCL rank: 7
17 Lucas Vázquez 6 386 1 1
*Decimal points account for the extra 1% 9 Luuk de Jong 6 531 3 *Decimal points account for the missing 1%
18 Marcos Llorente 2 148
**N
umber of players closer to their own goal than the ball **Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 10 Maximiliano Romero 1 11 before and after a successful pass is made and received. 20 Marco Asensio 7 301 2
11 Hirving Lozano 6 540 2 1 22 Isco 4 251 1
ATTEMPTS
6 GOALS
1 per match; UCL rank: 20=
14 Donyell Malen
17 Steven Bergwijn
6
5
172
404 1
ATTEMPTS
15 GOALS
24 Dani Ceballos 3 185
FORWARDS
74 151
19 Cody Gakpo 1 7 7 Mariano Díaz 5 73 1
ATTEMPTS ATTEMPTS
12.3 per match; UCL rank: 19 18.9 per match; UCL rank: 1 9 Karim Benzema 8 587 4 2
11 Gareth Bale 7 489 3 2
26 ON TARGET
28 Vinícius Júnior 4 234 2
7.4 17.0
EXPECTED GOALS (xG) EXPECTED GOALS (xG) Julen Lopetegui was in charge for matchdays 1 to 3
*
AGE AGE Sent off:
14 0 14 1
GOALS
SAVES
8%
27%
23.9 GOALS
SAVES
10%
28%
27.5 Nacho v Ajax (h)
WOODWORK 7%
WOODWORK 5%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 37%
• 1-4-3-3
• Experienced team with patience, composure,
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS tournament know-how
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Strong, determined leader Ramos providing
authority and aerial power
• Forward-minded full-backs; rapid transitions
1 Nick Viergever 200 177 89 1 Hirving Lozano 1 15 1 Toni Kroos 692 641 93 1 Karim Benzema 2 7
from defence to attack
2 Pablo Rosario 200 164 82 2= Steven Bergwijn 1 6 2 Casemiro 405 366 90 2 Gareth Bale 2 6
• One screening midfielder Casemiro, albeit
3 Jeroen Zoet 192 123 64 2= Angeliño 1 6 3 Luka Modrić 377 333 88 3 Vinícius Júnior 2 3 less effective than in previous years
A = Attempted; C = Completed 3 Gastón Pereiro 1 5 A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• Clever midfield pair of Kroos and Modrić
with skill to construct
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG • Talented individuals with 1v1 ability, including
1 Nick Viergever 37 2 6 1 Luuk de Jong 3 14 7 2.1 1 Casemiro 52 9 13 1 Karim Benzema 4 21 10 3.1 pacy Vinícius Júnior on left flank
2 Daniel Schwaab 35 4 10 2 Hirving Lozano 2 19 4 1.9 2 Sergio Ramos 50 8 13 2 Gareth Bale 3 23 12 3.2 • Influential forward Benzema dropping deep
3 Denzel Dumfries 34 5 8 3 Pablo Rosario 1 6 3 0.2 3 Toni Kroos 38 10 9 3 Marco Asensio 2 20 8 2.4 to link play
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Hirving Lozano scored in both of PSV’s draws BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals
COACH EUSEBIO DI FRANCESCO COACH DOMENICO TEDESCO
BORN: 08/09/1969, Pescara (ITA) BORN: 12/09/1985, Rossano (ITA)
AS ROMA FC SCHALKE 04
NATIONALITY: Italian NATIONALITY: Italian/German
HEAD COACH: 13/06/2017 to 07/03/2019 HEAD COACH: 09/06/2017 to 14/03/2019
ITA EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 GER EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP G ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP D ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
RM PLZ CSM CSM RM PLZ POR POR UEFA Champions League 20 10 2 8 POR LMO GAL GAL POR LMO MC MC UEFA Champions League 8 3 2 3
L 3-0 W 5-0 W 3-0 W 1-2 L 0-2 L 2-1 W 2-1 L 3-1* matches (Group stage to final) D 1-1 W 0-1 D 0-0 W 2-0 L 3-1 W 1-0 L 2-3 L 7-0 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names *after extra time Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names

Example: v Real Madrid (h) Example: v Man. City (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 62% v Plzeň (h), Plzeň (a) 1 Robin Olsen 6 570 Max. 57% v Lokomotiv Moskva (h) 1 Ralf Fährmann 6 540
Min. 41% v Real Madrid (a), Porto (a) Final third 20% Min. 34% v Man. City (a) Final third 18%
UCL rank: 16= 83 Antonio Mirante 2 180 UCL rank: 25= 35 Alexander Nübel 2 180
DEFENDERS
DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED 3 Hamza Mendyl 6 367
2 Rick Karsdorp 2 76
5 Matija Nastasić 6 540
114,156m Max. 141,773m v Porto (a)
Min. 105,511m v Plzeň (a)
UCL rank: 4
3 Luca Pellegrini 2 26 106,987m Max. 112,806m v L. Moskva (h)
Min. 99,261m v Man. City (a)
UCL rank: 27
13 Sebastian Rudy 4 240
5 Juan Jesus 3 212 14 Abdul Rahman Baba 1 74
14 11 Aleksandar Kolarov 8 661 1 24 Bastian Oczipka 2 180
482 84% 14 17
15 Iván Marcano 2 167 376 26 Salif Sané 6 540
80%
92
22 19
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 22 18 Davide Santon 4 258 1 PASSES ATTEMPTED 36 27 Jeffrey Bruma 2 180
92 17 11
Max. 733 v Plzeň (h) Max. 91% v Plzeň (h) Max. 537 v Lokomotiv Moskva (h) PASS ACCURACY 19 29 Naldo 4 360
Min. 346 v Porto (h) Min. 76% v Porto (h) 42 4 20 Federico Fazio 6 540 Min. 298 v Porto (h) Max. 84% v GAL (h), LMO (h)
UCL rank: 15 UCL rank: 13= 42 4 UCL rank: 29 8
11 Min. 69% v Porto (h) 11 10 36 2
24 44 Kostas Manolas 7 660 1 UCL rank: 27= 24 MIDFIELDERS
810
11 20
20 44 24 2 Weston McKennie 6 373 1 1
PASS DISTANCE 44 MIDFIELDERS PASS DISTANCE 17
24
27
26 2 6 Omar Mascarell 3 225
Long 67 (14% of total) UCL rank: 13= 4 Bryan Cristante 7 515 Long 59 (16% of total) UCL rank: 22= 27 26 17
8 Suat Serdar 7 503 1
7 Lorenzo Pellegrini 6 395 1 3 Medium 234 (62%) UCL rank: 27
Short 116 (24%) UCL rank: 20= Short 83 (22%) UCL rank: 31 10 Nabil Bentaleb 6 422 3
16 Daniele De Rossi 4 305 1 15 Ahmed Kutucu 1 18
BYPASSED* Total Average 17 Cengiz Ünder 6 437 3 2 BYPASSED* Total Average 17 Benjamin Stambouli 5 431
1
Opponents 3151 394 UCL rank: 8 1 Opponents 2102 263 UCL rank: 30
19 Ante Ćorić 1 26 1
1
18 Daniel Caligiuri 6 512
22 Nicolò Zaniolo 7 385 2 25 Amine Harit 5 140
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball *Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
24 Alessandro Florenzi 8 618 1 before and after a successful pass is made and received. 28 Alessandro Schöpf 4 298 1
39 Benjamin Goller 1 59
27 Javier Pastore 1 59
42 Steven Nzonzi 8 610 FORWARDS
ATTEMPTS
14 GOALS
1.75 per match; UCL rank: 10 FORWARDS
ATTEMPTS
8 GOALS
7 Mark Uth
9 Franco Di Santo
5
1
395
90
1
8 Diego Perotti 2 148 11 Yevhen Konoplyanka 6 462 1
128 ATTEMPTS
9 Edin Džeko
14 Patrik Schick
6
6
570
250
5 4
82 ATTEMPTS
19 Guido Burgstaller
22 Steven Skrzybski
6
4
231
92
1 1
34 Justin Kluivert 5 319 1 23 Cedric Teuchert 2 83
55 ON TARGET
6.9 per match; UCL rank: 3= 92 Stephan El Shaarawy 4 263 1 27 ON TARGET
36 Breel Embolo 5 385 1
15.5 10.8
AGE Sent off: AGE
13 1 17 0
GOALS
SAVES
11%
31%
27.1 Pellegrini v Plzeň (a) GOALS
SAVES
10%
25%
25.9
WOODWORK 2%
WOODWORK 0%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 31%
• 1-4-3-3; also 1-3-4-3, 1-4-5-1, 1-4-2-3-1 • 1-3-4-3, morphing to 1-5-4-1 out of possession
• Tactically disciplined team, sticking tightly • Compact defence, with deep block;
PLAYER STATISTICS to framework PLAYER STATISTICS well-organised in defensive set plays
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Compact defence and high pressing; hard- Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value • Power and leadership of Sané in central defence;
working, athletic players ball-playing ability
• Experience of De Rossi in final campaign for club • Wing-backs (Caligiuri) pushing up and
1 Steven Nzonzi 430 388 90 1 Edin Džeko 4 4 1 Matija Nastasić 290 265 91 1 Yevhen Konoplyanka 1 8
• Aerial power in both boxes through Džeko and providing crosses
2 Aleksandar Kolarov 372 291 78 2 Lorenzo Pellegrini 3 16 2 Benjamin Stambouli 262 203 77 2 Weston McKennie 1 5
centre-backs • Skilful, influential playmaker in Bentaleb
3 Federico Fazio 361 322 89 3 Cengiz Ünder 2 7 3 Salif Sané 257 223 87 3 Suat Serdar 1 3
• Attacking full-backs provide width; crossing A = Assists; KP = Key passes
• In possession, look to construct play through
A = Attempted; C = Completed A = Attempted; C = Completed
ability of Kolarov middle of pitch
• Two narrow wide forwards, feeding off Džeko, • Quick, direct counters on regains; use of
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG attacking space behind DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG diagonal balls
1 Kostas Manolas 52 8 10 1 Edin Džeko 5 29 14 3.5 • Threat of Zaniolo, coming inside with 1v1 ability 1 Benjamin Stambouli 47 13 11 1 Nabil Bentaleb 3 5 3 2.4 • Lightning pace of Embolo a weapon for
2 Federico Fazio 46 7 8 2 Cengiz Ünder 3 14 6 1.9 • Džeko the experienced target man; makes well- 2 Salif Sané 46 5 12 2 Breel Embolo 1 9 5 2.4 penetrating defences
3 Alessandro Florenzi 45 9 9 3 Nicolò Zaniolo 2 7 3 0.8 timed runs 3 Naldo 32 2 5 3 Mark Uth 1 9 4 0.9
FC SHAKHTAR COACH PAULO FONSECA
BORN: 05/03/1973, Nampula (MOZ)
TOTTENHAM COACH MAURICIO POCHETTINO
BORN: 02/03/1972, Murphy (ARG)
DONETSK HOTSPUR FC
NATIONALITY: Portuguese NATIONALITY: Argentinian
UKR EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 ENG EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP F ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP B ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
HOF OL MC MC HOF OL UEFA Champions League 20 7 5 8 INT BAR PSV PSV INT BAR BVB BVB MC MC AJX AJX LIV UEFA Champions League 27 13 5 9
D 2-2 D 2-2 L 0-3 L 6-0 W 2-3 D 1-1 matches (Group stage to final) L 2-1 L 2-4 D 2-2 W 2-1 W 1-0 D 1-1 W 3-0 W 0-1 W 1-0 L 4-3* L 0-1 W 2-3* L 0-2 matches (Group stage to final)
Matches: Green = home, white = away; see page 5 for full club names Matches: Green = home, white = away, blue = neutral; see page 5 for full club names *Tottenham win on away goals

Example: v Man. City (a) Example: v PSV (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 62% v Hoffenheim (h) 30 Andriy Pyatov 6 540 Max. 67% v PSV (h) 1 Hugo Lloris 11 979
Min. 41% v Man. City (a) Final third 18% Min. 37% v Man. City (a) Final third 20%
UCL rank: 13= UCL rank: 12 13 Michel Vorm 2 99
DEFENDERS
22 Paulo Gazzaniga 1 90
2 Bogdan Butko 3 136
DISTANCE COVERED DISTANCE COVERED
4 Sergii Kryvtsov 5 450 DEFENDERS
116,039m Max. 117,550m v Man. City (a)
Min. 111,901m v Hoffenheim (h)
UCL rank: 1 5 Davit Khocholava 3 225 112,816m Max. 120,399m v Barcelona (a)
Min. 103,370m v Liverpool (n)
UCL rank: 6
2 Kieran Trippier 8 626 2
10
3 Danny Rose 8 529
22 Mykola Matviyenko 5 450 7 20
27 4 Toby Alderweireld 12 1080
514 87% 31 Ismaily 6 540 2 3
512 84% 10
23
24
5 Jan Vertonghen 10 849 1 1
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 10 44 Yaroslav Rakits'kyy 4 360 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 10
7 20 27 6 Davinson Sánchez 8 631
33
Max. 560 v Lyon (h) Max. 90% v Hoffenheim (h) 10 Max. 706 v PSV (a) Max. 89% v Dortmund (h) 8
Min. 464 v Hoffenheim (a) Min. 83% v Man. City (a)
50 94 Oleg Danchenko 1 90 Min. 322 v Man. City (a) Min. 74% v Ajax (h) 23 16 Kyle Walker-Peters 1 61
UCL rank: 10 UCL rank: 6= 7 7 74 UCL rank: 12 UCL rank: 13= 6
4 8 24 21 Juan Foyth 2 100
31 50 74 22 MIDFIELDERS 33
6 27 4 6 24 Serge Aurier 5 435 1
6 27 6 Taras Stepanenko 6 527
PASS DISTANCE 31
PASS DISTANCE*
22 33 Ben Davies 9 567 1
Long 57 (11% of total) UCL rank: 26= 44 44 4 4 7 Taison 5 437 2 1 Long 73 (14% of total) UCL rank: 5
9 Dentinho 2 11 MIDFIELDERS
11 Marlos 3 267 1 8 Harry Winks 10 676
BYPASSED** Total Average BYPASSED** Total Average 22 11 Erik Lamela 9 333 1 1
Opponents 2122 354 UCL rank: 14 30
30
21 Alan Patrick 5 205 1 Opponents 4918 378 UCL rank: 11 22
12 Victor Wanyama 6 292
Defenders 325 54 UCL rank: 16 23 Wellington Nem 2 82 Defenders 741 57 UCL rank: 10
*Decimal points account for the extra 1% *Decimal points account for the missing 1%
15 Eric Dier 6 267
27 Maycon 6 451 1
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball **Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball 17 Moussa Sissoko 10 730 1
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 50 Serhiy Bolbat 4 171 before and after a successful pass is made and received.
19 Mousa Dembélé 2 164
Decimal points account for the extra 1% 74 Viktor Kovalenko 6 368 20 Dele Alli 8 708 3
ATTEMPTS
8 GOALS
99 Fernando 2 85 ATTEMPTS
20 GOALS
23 Christian Eriksen
27 Lucas Moura
12 1003 2
12 725 5
3
FORWARDS
71 ATTEMPTS
8 Olarenwaju Kayode
10 Júnior Moraes
3
6
41
506 3 1
199 ATTEMPTS
FORWARDS
7 Heung-Min Son 12 906 4 1
10 Harry Kane 9 778 5 1
26 ON TARGET
5.6 per match; UCL rank: 7= 18 Fernando Llorente 9 235 2 1
6.9 21.5
AGE AGE Sent off:
10 0 23 1
GOALS
SAVES
12%
25%
27.5 GOALS
SAVES
10%
27%
26.5 Lloris v PSV (a)
WOODWORK 3%
WOODWORK 2%
KEY FEATURES
WIDE 31%
• 1-4-3-2-1, but tactically flexible with
switches to three-man defence
PLAYER STATISTICS PLAYER STATISTICS • Influential goalkeeper Lloris; series of
Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value Where totals are equal, rank is decided by next value important saves
• Compact defence; well-organised at set pieces
• Vertonghen’s aerial power and passing ability
1 Taras Stepanenko 334 297 89 1 Ismaily 3 5 1 Toby Alderweireld 723 646 89 1 Christian Eriksen 3 24
from the back
2 Ismaily 283 247 87 2 Taison 1 10 2 Christian Eriksen 636 509 80 2 Dele Alli 3 10
• Power and energy of Sissoko; breaking lines
3 Taison 282 246 87 3 Alan Patrick 1 8 3 Davinson Sánchez 512 466 91 3 Kieran Trippier 2 23 with strong running
• Patient build-up; also used long passes to
Llorente to great effect
DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG DEFENDING BR TW I GOALS G A OT xG • Danger on counter with speed and movement
1 Mykola Matviyenko 36 5 13 1 Júnior Moraes 3 13 6 1.8 1 Toby Alderweireld 75 7 12 1 Harry Kane 5 32 15 3.2 of Son, Lucas; goals of Kane
2 Taras Stepanenko 32 11 6 2 Ismaily 2 13 7 1.2 2= Kieran Trippier 57 10 11 2 Lucas Moura 5 26 10 3.4 • Spirit, resilience, mental toughness; finding
3 Ismaily 31 12 7 3 Taison 2 10 7 1.9 2= Jan Vertonghen 57 3 18 3 Heung-Min Son 4 33 17 3.1 different ways to win
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Left-back Ismaily supplied two goals and three assists BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals
COACH MARCELINO COACH GERARDO SEOANE
BORN: 14/08/1965, Villaviciosa (ESP) BORN: 30/10/1978, Lucerne (SUI)
VALENCIA CF BSC YOUNG BOYS

NATIONALITY: Spanish NATIONALITY: Swiss
ESP EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0 SUI EUROPEAN TROPHIES WON: 0
GROUP H ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL GROUP H ROUND OF 16 QUARTER-FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINAL
JUV MU YB YB JUV MU UEFA Champions League 6 2 2 2 MU JUV VAL VAL MU JUV UEFA Champions League 6 1 1 4
L 0-2 D 0-0 D 1-1 W 3-1 L 1-0 W 2-1 matches (Group stage to final) L 0-3 L 3-0 D 1-1 L 3-1 L 1-0 W 2-1 matches (Group stage to final)

Example: v Juventus (a) Example: v Juventus (h)
GOALKEEPERS
Max. 55% v Young Boys (a) 1 Jaume Doménech 1 90 Max. 47% v Valencia (a) 1 Marco Wölfli 2 180
Min. 44% v Juventus (a) Final third 21% Min. 39% v Man. United (a) Final third 20%
UCL rank: 13= 13 Neto 5 450 UCL rank: 27 26 David von Ballmoos 4 360
DEFENDERS
DISTANCE COVERED 3 Rúben Vezo 3 150 DISTANCE COVERED
DEFENDERS
107,644m Max. 113,029m v Man. United (h)
Min. 101,062m v Young Boys (h)
4 Jeison Murillo 1 90
111,510m Max. 117,570m v Juventus (h)
Min. 103,701m v Valencia (a) 4 Mohamed Ali Camara 4 348
UCL rank: 26 5 Gabriel 5 450 UCL rank: 14
5 Steve von Bergen 5 405
12 Mouctar Diakhaby 3 270
479 85% 22 19
14 José Gayà 5 450 407 81% 99
13
21 Ulisses Garcia
22 Gregory Wüthrich
2
1
135
1
PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 7 15 Lato 1 51 PASSES ATTEMPTED PASS ACCURACY 16
22 19 17
Max. 519 v Juventus (h) Max. 87% v Juventus (h) Max. 439 v Juventus (a) Max. 84% v Juventus (a)
Min. 448 v Juventus (a) Min. 82% v YB (a), JUV (a)
21 Cristiano Piccini 3 270 Min. 339 v Man. United (a) Min. 78% v Man. United (a) 21
99 43 23 Loris Benito 6 540
UCL rank: 16 UCL rank: 10= 7 UCL rank: 27 UCL rank: 23= 13
6 10 24 Ezequiel Garay 3 219 20 8
16 43 Kevin Mbabu 5 450
17
14 10 18
6 23
20 8
MIDFIELDERS 4 MIDFIELDERS
PASS DISTANCE 5
PASS DISTANCE 21 30 43
Long 57 (12% of total) UCL rank: 26=
14 12
12 5 18 6 Geoffrey Kondogbia 5 409 Long 65 (16% of total) UCL rank: 16 6 Leonardo Bertone 3 105
23
30 4
Medium 306 (64%) UCL rank: 12 7 Gonçalo Guedes 4 317 Medium 240 (59%) UCL rank: 25
7 Miralem Sulejmani 5 345
8 Carlos Soler 6 390 2 4
8 Djibril Sow 6 509
BYPASSED* Total Average 10 Daniel Parejo 5 450 BYPASSED** Total Average
13 Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu 6 198 1
Opponents 2307 385 UCL rank: 9
13 11 Denis Cheryshev 3 107 Opponents 1782 297 UCL rank: 28 1
Defenders 343 57 UCL rank: 11 13 Defenders 229 38 UCL rank: 30 1 16 Christian Fassnacht 6 385 1
17 Francis Coquelin 4 278
*Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball *Decimal points account for the extra 1%
before and after a successful pass is made and received. 18 Daniel Wass 3 270 19 Thorsten Schick 2 95
**Number of players closer to their own goal than the ball
20 Ferrán Torres 3 105 before and after a successful pass is made and received. 20 Michel Aebischer 4 226
30 Sandro Lauper 5 405
FORWARDS
ATTEMPTS
9 Kevin Gameiro
19 Rodrigo
5
6
128
427
ATTEMPTS
4 GOALS
35 Sékou Sanogo 4 302
FORWARDS
71 70
ATTEMPTS 22 Santi Mina 4 223 2 ATTEMPTS 17 Roger Assalé 5 380 1
11.8 per match; UCL rank: 20= 23 Michy Batshuayi 5 346 1 11.7 per match; UCL rank: 25
18 Jean-Pierre Nsame 4 138
99 Guillaume Hoarau 5 409 3
18 ON TARGET
3 per match; UCL rank: 26 16 ON TARGET
7.1 6.6
AGE AGE Sent off:
20 0 16 2
GOALS
SAVES
9%
19%
25.7 GOALS
SAVES
5%
18%
25.6 Camara v Juventus (a);
Sanogo v Valencia (a)

WIDE 49%


1 Daniel Parejo 403 362 90 1 Carlos Soler 4 4 1 Djibril Sow 286 256 90 1 Christian Fassnacht 1 5
2 Geoffrey Kondogbia 265 232 88 2 Rodrigo 0 11 2 Loris Benito 267 213 80 2 Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu 1 0
3 Gabriel 254 230 91 3 Daniel Parejo 0 9 3 Sandro Lauper 197 170 86 3 Kevin Mbabu 0 12

1 Gabriel 56 7 9 1 Carlos Soler 2 12 5 0.7 1 Sandro Lauper 48 10 11 1 Guillaume Hoarau 3 12 5 2.1
2 Geoffrey Kondogbia 36 10 13 2 Santi Mina 2 5 5 1.9 2 Loris Benito 43 7 7 2 Roger Assalé 1 9 1 0.9
3 Mouctar Diakhaby 24 5 5 3 Michy Batshuayi 1 13 3 1.5 3 Djibril Sow 28 6 9 3 Christian Fassnacht 0 11 4 0.6
BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Carlos Soler had a hand in all six Valencia goals BR = Balls recovered; TW = Tackles won; I = Interceptions G = Goals; A = Attempts; OT = On target; xG = Expected goals Guillaume Hoarau (left) celebrates victory against Juventus
ROLL OF HONOUR UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TECHNICAL REPORT 2018/19
ROLL OF HONOUR
2019 Liverpool FC 1987 FC Porto
2018 Real Madrid CF 1986 FC Steaua Bucureşti
2017 Real Madrid CF 1985 Juventus
2016 Real Madrid CF 1984 Liverpool FC
2015 FC Barcelona 1983 Hamburger SV
2014 Real Madrid CF 1982 Aston Villa FC
2013 FC Bayern München 1981 Liverpool FC
2012 Chelsea FC 1980 Nottingham Forest FC
2011 FC Barcelona 1979 Nottingham Forest FC
2010 FC Internazionale Milano 1978 Liverpool FC
2009 FC Barcelona 1977 Liverpool FC
2008 Manchester United FC 1976 FC Bayern München
2007 AC Milan 1975 FC Bayern München
2006 FC Barcelona 1974 FC Bayern München
2005 Liverpool FC 1973 AFC Ajax
2004 FC Porto 1972 AFC Ajax
2003 AC Milan 1971 AFC Ajax
2002 Real Madrid CF 1970 Feyenoord
2001 FC Bayern München 1969 AC Milan
2000 Real Madrid CF 1968 Manchester United FC
1999 Manchester United FC 1967 Celtic FC
1998 Real Madrid CF 1966 Real Madrid CF
1997 Borussia Dortmund 1965 FC Internazionale Milano
1996 Juventus 1964 FC Internazionale Milano
1995 AFC Ajax 1963 AC Milan
1994 AC Milan 1962 SL Benfica
1993 Olympique de Marseille 1961 SL Benfica
1992 FC Barcelona 1960 Real Madrid CF
1991 FK Crvena zvezda 1959 Real Madrid CF
1990 AC Milan 1958 Real Madrid CF
1989 AC Milan 1957 Real Madrid CF
1988 PSV Eindhoven 1956 Real Madrid CF
97
CREDITS
Editorial
David Gough, Simon Hart, Andrew Sam, Tom Cooper, Jozef Záhorský
UEFA technical observers
Packie Bonner, Cristian Chivu, Roberto Martínez, Ginés Meléndez, David Moyes,
Michael O’Neill, Mixu Paatelainen, Peter Rudbaek, Thomas Schaaf, Gareth Southgate
UEFA head of football education services
Frank K Ludolph
UEFA publications manager
Emmanuel Deconche
Managing editor
Michael Harrold
Art director
Oliver Meikle
Design
Darlene Cossentino, Daniel Nutter, Fernando Pires
Sub-editors
Chris Burke, Andrew Haslam, Rebecca Hopkins, Anthony Naughton
Statistics
Rob Esteva, UEFA Data Services, Opta, Statsbomb, SBG Sports Software, The Stats Zone
Production
Tessanna Macleod, Kat Rickards
Translation
French: Barbara Mazotti, Patrick Pfister, Cécile Pierreclos, Estefania Pio, Sébastien Plader,
Anna Simon
German: Sandra Wisniewski, Frédéric Wyler
Photography
Getty Images, UEFA
Printing
Artgraphic Cavin, Grandson
With thanks to
Graham Turner (UEFA), Branimir Ujević and Chris Loxston (FIFA), Simon Cuff and
Jack Heggie (SBG Sports Software), Ted Knutson and James Yorke (Statsbomb)
Statistics have been provided by a number of different sources, which may lead to
minor variations and discrepancies. The report aims to provide an appropriate mix
of qualitative opinion and quantitative data and the statistics used have been
carefully chosen with the intention of provoking investigation and discussion by
the coaching community.
Designed and produced by TwelfthMan on behalf of UEFA. www.twelfthman.co

©UEFA 2019. All rights reserved. The UEFA word, the UEFA Champions League logo
and trophy are protected by trade marks and/or copyright of UEFA. No use for
commercial purposes may be made of such trade marks.
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CONTENTS

UEFA’s technical observers

This review of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions

THE ACTION GROUP E GROUP F

Lucas Moura (right)

as at home in the round of 16 (seven apiece) and

Donny van de Beek helps

QUARTER-FINALS Héctor Herrera, matched their hosts for

night’s very last kick in front of Alisson Becker.

If the knockout phase of the 2018/19 UEFA

PLAY-OFFS – LEAGUE PATH PLAY-OFFS – CHAMPIONS PATH

*Crvena zvezda win on away goals

GROUP E P W D L F A Pts GROUP F P W D L F A Pts GROUP G P W D L F A Pts GROUP H P W D L F A Pts

Manchester United 3-3 Paris

Lyon 1-5 Barcelona Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool

KEVIN FRENKIE RAHEEM

TANGUY GEORGINIO CRISTIANO

LYON LIVERPOOL AJAX LIVERPOOL JUVENTUS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

TACTICAL FLEXIBILITY, THE INTENSITY OF THE throughout matches, making tweaks

TECHNICAL OBSERVERS IN MADRID Mauricio Pochettino, for instance, “always has

PREMIER LEAGUE NEVER SAY DIE KEEPING AHEAD

APPLAUSE FOR AJAX A SQUAD GAME VAR’S SUDDEN

– but it was still the fourth-highest 366 goals 159 206 1 1

Paris Saint-Germain recorded the 11

WHILE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF GOALS DROPPED FOR THE

GOALS PER SEASON SOLO ARTISTS

Seven of the season’s 12 comebacks featured a winning goal scored

RISKY BUSINESS MESSI BACK ON TOP

Lionel Messi 12 6.47 54 26 22.2% 69.8

Mohamed Salah 5 7.08 52 15 9.6% 211.6

SET PLAYS Of the 366 goals scored in the 2018/19 UEFA

Liverpool’s defenders, similarly, held a line on the

CORNERS: ZONAL AND MIXED DEFENDING INSWINGER CORNERS

OUTSWINGER CORNERS 16 (38%)

the lowest corners-to- conceded ratio (but one of the lowest

Porto had the highest

Virgil van Dijk’s goal at Porto was a header

is that defending teams are vulnerable in

TOTTENHAM PRESSING LIVERPOOL PRESSING LIVERPOOL PRESSING BARCELONA PRESSING

Liverpool v Tottenham Liverpool v Tottenham Liverpool v Barcelona Liverpool v Barcelona

*Pressures: the numbers of times a player pressures an oppostition player per 90

AJAX v TOTTENHAM: TOTTENHAM PRESSING

SPURS’ BIG PUSH WITH THE COUNTER PRESS

Ajax v Tottenham Ajax v Real Madrid Ajax v Real Madrid

TOTTENHAM PRESSING AJAX PRESSING

Tottenham v Dortmund Real Madrid v Ajax

GOALKEEPING ALISSON BECKER

40 63% 33 64% 31 69% 32 71%

SAVES SAVES SAVES SAVES

SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON

SAVES SAVES SAVES SAVES

SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS ON

SAVES SAVES SAVES SAVES

David de Gea and Robin

Data provided by Statsbomb

SPEED MOST SPRINTS

Sadio Mané (Liverpool) 54.38 Marcelo Brozović (Internazionale) 137.3

Matías Vecino (Internazionale) 137.0

Breel Embolo Schalke 33.5 v Galatasaray (a)

Real Madrid, featuring