Champions League performance insights: The power of Liverpool's press

In beating AC Milan at San Siro this week, Liverpool produced a display as notable for their intensity without the ball as the quality of their work with it.

With it, they impressed UEFA's technical observers with their penetrative passing while without, it was their aggressive pressing, and the following analysis will delve into both these aspects.

To start with their approach in possession, this video displays the excellent movement of players into areas to receive – such as when Luis Díaz cleverly moves inside to collect. Similarly, we see Ryan Gravenberch find Dominik Szoboszlai in space between the lines and the graphic below highlights the Hungarian’s prominence in getting into attacking positions to receive.

This map of line-breaking receptions by Liverpool players in Milan's half shows that Szoboszlai – who, with eight, had twice as many as the next player – was especially active in making runs to get onto passes in the final third.

To shift the focus to Liverpool's play out of possession, Rafa Benítez, the former Reds manager and UEFA observer at Tuesday's match, identified not just the intensity of their pressing but the way it was focused.

He explained: "Liverpool had a clear idea to press high from the start, from Milan's goal kicks and even in open play. They were very well organised in how they looked to send the ball to one side and press there. They saw it as an opportunity to regain the ball and attack from there."

In this second video, we see Liverpool pressing at a Milan goal kick in the first clip, with three players positioned centrally. One of them, Diogo Jota, presses goalkeeper Mike Maignan in an attempt to force him to play out to his left. Although Milan manage to work the ball to the other side, there they find Cody Gakpo closing down quickly, highlighting his anticipation of the pass and immediate response.

In the second clip, Maignan does play out to his left to Strahinja Pavlović but with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold applying pressure on that flank, he plays longer towards Rafael Leão. As the clip shows, to target that area of the pitch, Liverpool have been prepared to leave Ibrahima Konaté 1v1 with the Milan attacker.

As a measure of the right-sided focus of Liverpool's pressing, this graphic shows that Salah and Alexander-Arnold made 11 final-third pressures between them. While it is no surprise to see eight from Salah, Alexander-Arnold – a full-back – has got high up the pitch to contribute three of his own.

Finally, this map of pressures in the opposition half underlines the extent of Liverpool's work on the right in the final third. They made six pressures in the right-hand square at the top of the pitch, yet only one on the opposite side. In short, as Benítez said, it was highly targeted pressing, carried out with a clear purpose – and it ensured an uncomfortable evening for their hosts.