Youth League semi-finalists: Tactical analysis of the role of full-backs, building through the keeper and defending the box

Attacking down the wings, goalkeepers' kicking and defending the box. These emerged as three of the key talking points when UEFA's Technical Observer Group and analysis unit got together to review the action from the UEFA Youth League quarter-finals ahead of Friday's last four in Nyon.

For an insight into the approach of semi-finalists AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona, Salzburg and Trabzonspor, read on…

1 – Full-backs and wingers connect to create space behind

A recurring theme identified by UEFA's analysts was the way that teams made the most of space in the wide areas.

To illustrate the point, across the four quarter-final matches more than half (52%) of all passes into the final third were played into the widest channels (lanes 1 and 5) and passes of this kind directly contributed to two-thirds (66%) of goalscoring opportunities from final-third entries.

The connection between full-backs and wingers was pivotal to this wide attacking threat. The video below, from Barcelona's 2-1 win at Stuttgart, offers an example of that connection down the Spanish team's right flank, showing how winger Jan Virgili makes a movement back towards his right-back, Xavi Espart, to draw the Stuttgart full-back forward, before spinning to receive Espart's pass into the space behind.

UEFA Technical Observer Steve Cooper said this first clip illustrated how players could combine without needing to be tight to one another. "They can connect when they are close to each other but can also connect when they're far from each other," he said.

The Barcelona wide players combined in various ways – and in clip two, we see Arnau Pradas receive on the touchline with his back to goal and create space for Espart to make an underlapping run for the return pass.

Trabzonspor exploited the wide areas to similarly good effect in their 1-0 home victory over Inter, with right-back Oğuzhan Yılmaz a constant threat with his runs forward to receive passes in the attacking third. Winger Onuralp Çakiroğlu (No20) made movements inside the pitch, attracting opposition attention and creating space for Oğuzhan Yılmaz to run in behind. Clip one above shows that pair in action and this highlights the importance of recognising how the timing of individual movements can affect the opposition as well as the players on, around and away from the ball.

For another example of a clever combination, we return to Barcelona and a clip above in which winger Virgili receives a pass high and wide in a 2v3 underload situation. By No10 Quim Junyent holding his space, he can receive a pass on his back foot, allowing time for Virgili to run in behind.

Coaching point – Steve Cooper on the full-back/winger relationship

"The relationship between the full-back and winger is not just about the top end of the pitch, with overlaps or underlaps. It's also worth considering what it looks like in the build-up and in the middle of the pitch. At the top end, you'd say a full-back is there to support the winger, as the winger is normally the prominent attacker. Therefore, you use the full-back to help the attacker get into the best positions possible. But in the build-up, the full-back is the prominent player so think about what the winger is doing to help – which could be holding their width or height so an opposition full-back cannot get out, or making space for a midfield player to drop in and receive a pass, or dropping wide to receive a pass."

2 – Different ways to build through the goalkeeper

The use of the goalkeeper in the build-up phase is the second aspect explored by UEFA's analysts, who saw that the vast majority of goalkeepers' passes were played short, with teams often looking to invite the opposition press or simply to maintain controlled possession.

Interestingly one-third (33%) of all goal kicks were taken by a centre-back and played directly to the goalkeeper, with six of the eight competing teams at the quarter-final stage having at least one goal kick taken by an outfield player. Stuttgart adopted this strategy the most with five of their seven (71%) goal kicks taken by an outfield player.

For distribution, AZ Alkmaar's Kiyani Zeggen was arguably the most prominent goalkeeper – he made 65 passes in the 1-0 home win over Manchester City, and was a calm and steady option as his team built from the back. As the clips above display, rather than rushing possession, he was comfortable staying on the ball and waiting for pressure from City's forward line before selecting and executing his pass and immediately then moving into a position to support from behind. In their 4-2-3-1 shape, the two AZ holding midfield players would drop deep, providing extra options for Zeggen to link the play.

On AZ's approach, Cooper said: "They are committed to a patient build-up and using the goalkeeper as an extra man and waiting for the moment for City to press." And is the goalkeeper taking a risk by delaying and enticing pressure? As ever, this is about risk and reward, explained Cooper: "If a team's game plan is to trigger the press, then the goalkeeper – by enticing the opposition – might create more space to make a pass and the opposition's press can be played through comfortably."

As the game progressed, AZ varied their approach. While 76% of Zeggen's first-half passes were played within the defensive third, that figure fell to 9% in the last 15 minutes, with 64% of his passes now played longer into the attacking third as both teams sought a late breakthrough.

In contrast to Zeggen, Trabzonspor goalkeeper Erol Can Çolak took a more varied approach. He kept 52% of his passes within the defensive third yet, when Inter pressed high, he looked to bypass this with clever passes into the full-back or by playing higher into the front line where players around the ball could compete for possession in more advanced areas. As is discussed in the coaching point below, this ability to recognise when to play over or around the opposition press in order to reduce the risk of losing possession in dangerous areas is essential for players aspiring to the elite level.

Meanwhile, despite not having any goal kicks in their 1-0 defeat of defending champions Olympiacos, Salzburg were the team who adopted the most direct approach with their goalkeeping distribution, with 60% of Christian Zawieschitzky's passes directed into the middle or attacking third – as illustrated below.

A successful strategy, this relied on the ability of centre-forward Alexander Murillo to stretch the Olympiacos back line before dropping deeper to create an option to play into.

As we see in the clips above, receiving lofted passes allowed Murillo to maximise his strength in protecting the ball with his back to goal. The movement and relationship of Salzburg's midfielders is then important to provide a passing option behind the ball for Murillo to set the ball back to, with the forward players making attacking runs ahead of the ball.

Coaching point – Steve Cooper on goalkeepers’ distribution

"Teams should try to provide a variety of options to be less predictable, meaning distances that are short, medium and long. If at times they play short and really build up and then have a medium-range pass and then a longer pass, think about what that might do to their opponents' defensive line – they might not squeeze up as much as they may be thinking 'This goalkeeper might put one down the side of us or in behind us'."

3 – Defending the box

The final topic from a low-scoring quarter-final round which contained three 1-0s is the ability of the teams to defend their penalty box. To underline its importance, consider that Salzburg were the only winning side who had a higher expected goal (xG) value (0.97) than their opponents. The other three semi-finalists advanced to Nyon despite having a lower xG than the opposition, notably AZ whose xG of 0.59 was dwarfed by City's 2.45.

Much of AZ's success without the ball was due to their organisation and intensity when defending around the box. As seen in the first clip of the video above, when City gained controlled possession in the AZ half, they defended with all outfield players behind the ball, looking to deny them the space in which to play their penetrative passes.

While AZ would generally defend in a 4-2-3-1 when their opponents had the ball, the priority when defending in deeper areas was to apply pressure and prevent central passes. Holding a particular shape gave way to simply being compact between and within units, making it difficult for City to play through and forcing them to move the ball into wide areas; then, with high numbers defending their box, they were well placed to defend crosses.

As for Trabzonspor, centre-backs Taha Emre İnce and Arda Öztürk caught the eye against Inter with their ability to read the game and choose the right moment to break up attacks. We see an example in the first clip above when, as the ball gets played across, İnce recognises a heavy first touch from the Inter forward and uses that as his trigger to make the tackle.

UEFA Technical Observer Michael O'Neill said that it was crucial for players at this level to learn patience as "sometimes for a young player, the nearer the opposition get to their goal the more impatient they get and greater they feel the danger". Getting this right is pivotal and Trabzonspor's patience and ability to time their interventions were notable factors in their clean sheet.

 Coaching point – Steve Cooper on defenders’ decision-making 

"A controlled, composed mindset allows a defender a better opportunity to make the decision and get a good outcome, and the ones at the top level always seem in control of the moment. Therefore, decision-making is really important: How quickly do you get up to the ball? What body positions do you take? Where do you show your opponent? When are you making that decision of delaying and showing patience or are you committing to the defensive action? Whether it's a tackle or a block, knowing when to delay and when to commit to the defensive action is very important."

Click here to learn more about this season’s UEFA Youth League semi-finalists.