How to watch football: Part Two
These are four great Champions League games, and you can learn something from every single one of them. With highlights on BT Sport’s Youtube channel, watch them back and see what you can notice with help from a few pointers in each game.
Chelsea vs Manchester United - 2008 Champions League Final:
United managed to dominate possession in this game due to the influence of their two deep lying central midfielders.. While Chelsea would aim to man mark them with their dual central midfield partnership, they would get around this by swapping positions to confuse Chelsea’s attempts to mark them out of the game.
Chelsea’s attempts to play out from the midfield were thwarted by Tevez’s pressing of Makelele in his deep lying role; United would defend with two banks of four behind their strikers.
Note Lampard’s equaliser - a trademark late run into the box highlighted in our earlier blog post on Lampard as a goalscoring midfielder.
Chelsea vs Bayern Munich - 2012 Champions League Final
Firstly note Petr Cech’s performance - he was arguably their star player in the game.
Secondly, note the battle between Robben and Cole; arguably the best winger in the world and the best left back in the world at the time.
Di Matteo would try to thwart Muller’s attacking influence - Muller aimed to find space around a front three of Robben, Ribery and Gomez. Bertrand would play at left wing to counter this - note how when he was substituted for Malouda, Muller would grow into the game.
Lampard and Mikel would also shift out to the flanks to nullify these threats.
Note how Bayern thwarted Mata’s attempts to find space on the flanks on the counter - their full backs would not extensively push forward.
Jack Wilshere’s performance Arsenal vs Barcelona - UCL 2011 Group Stages
The most impressive aspect of this performance is his spatial awareness; if you read our post on decision making, this performance becomes even more impressive.
Wilshere would successfully drive through Barcelona’s midfield (Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets) providing a platform for Arsenal’s attack.
The moment to watch - Wilshere bursting through the most revered midfield in the world. Swerving with his body, he would stream past Messi. Xavi and Iniesta attempt to block his passing lanes to the left and right, so he instead spots the space between them and surges forward. A one two with Fabregas around Busquets would place him at the edge of the Barcelona box.
Liverpool vs Barcelona - 2019 Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg
Note how Liverpool try to exploit the space left between Pique and his right back, sending long balls in for Mane to chase, with Robertson advancing to support.
Suarez and Messi would not offer help as the first line of defence, allowing Fabinho to dictate the game as a single pivot in the midfield.
Liverpool’s use of long diagonal passes to get the opposite full back further up the pitch (both of whom offer substantial attacking threat) and into space, caused real problems for Barcelona.
Liverpool defended in two overarching ways - Mane and Shaqiri would look to press the Barcelona centre backs when higher up the pitch, but when sitting deep they would settle into a 4-5-1, with Mane and Shaqiri tucking in along the midfield three. This would allow the team to rest before continuing their high intensity press.
The age old question of how to deal with Lionel Messi - swamp him with players.
How does watching these games back through a different lense change your understanding of how teams, and individual players play, and what can you take away from it to improve your own game?