Expert analysis in 2023/24 UEFA technical reports

Covering over 180 matches across the three competitions, technical observers gave their input to help identify and explore the key trends that shaped UEFA's club competitions in 2023/24.

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA technical observers' analysis of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League season includes Borussia Dortmund's threat in behind, the impact of Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid's compact defending.

For all the excitement over Madrid's late goals, their strategy out of possession also gave the UEFA technical observers and performance analysis unit cause for reflection as they assessed Carlo Ancelotti's champions.

In the quarter-final against Manchester City, Madrid maintained a compact shape as they shifted across the pitch, showing excellent positional awareness as they forced City to play around them. "The angles of the wide players and covering of City's No8s was generally excellent," said match observer Gareth Southgate. "There were some moments of excellent low-block defending by Madrid when City were circulating the ball and they were able to apply pressure without committing fouls or allowing long-range shots."

In the semi-final first leg against Bayern in Munich, Madrid spent more than a third of their overall time out of possession (38%) defending in a mid-block.

As identified by UEFA's technical observers, this involved the marking of spaces rather than players, which is a trend in the Champions League generally. "When the ball moves, the team moves," said Giovanni van Bronckhorst, another member of the observers group. "If you're in a mid-block you're defending the space, so normally you're very narrow and compact. It is very important to block the lines, especially to the midfield players who are moving in between the defence and midfield lines."

UEFA Women's Champions League

The UEFA technical observers' review of the 2023/24 UEFA Women's Champions League season highlights a campaign of competitiveness and unpredictability, and Barcelona's outstanding individuals.

The 48-match group stage hinted strongly that the Women's Champions League is heading towards a new era of competitivity and unpredictability. Teams were prepared to challenge the form book. Pre-tournament favourites fell by the wayside; Ajax, Benfica and Brann earned debut appearances in the quarter-finals and, for the first time in the 23-year history of the competition right back to the days of the UEFA Women's Cup, there was no German team among the top eight.

On the other side of the coin, there were two Nordic representatives in the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2016/17 season, though the technical observers were fascinated to see that Brann and Häcken achieved their objectives by very different means.

UEFA Europa League

The UEFA technical observers' review of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League season features Atalanta's man-for-man pressing and Leverkusen's flexible approach to build-up play as part of their in-depth analysis.

To highlight the observers' assessment of the final, they focused on how Atalanta's aggressive man-for-man defensive approach in the final restricted Leverkusen's options to build play from the back.

For Atalanta to apply pressure high up the pitch, Gian Piero Gasperini's side were willing to play 1v1 across their back line. "With Atalanta playing man for man high up the pitch, there were huge spaces in other areas and 1v1 at the back," said technical observer Packie Bonner. "However, even though it was 1v1 across the back line, the individual qualities of the Atalanta defenders meant that Leverkusen couldn't exploit them. All the Atalanta defenders had power, pace and strength."

Atalanta's willingness to play without cover and support across the back line was in contrast to many popular defensive systems that involve a spare defender. "Most teams who use man-for-man marking let the weakest central defender have the ball and that gives them a 'plus one' on the back line,” said technical observer David Adams. "With Atalanta, every single player is 'locked on'. Even the striker will go from pressing the centre-back to the goalkeeper and leave 1v1 at the back. Not many teams play like that."