Be Quick, Press High, Cut Back: How to Score in the Champions League

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MANCHESTER, England — Every year, on the day of the Champions League final, European soccer’s governing body gathers a handful of coaches, former players and all-purpose grandees to reflect on that season’s competition: the patterns, the trends, the developments, the warning signs.

This is UEFA’s technical committee, and it is made up of a dozen or so experts from across the continent — Ryan Giggs, Roberto Martínez, Cristian Chivu and Gareth Southgate have been members in recent years — and supported by data from the analytics firm Stats Zone. Together, they try to map out where club soccer’s showpiece tournament stands, and where it might be going. And then, just for fun, they pick a goal of the season.

A few months later, UEFA publishes the committee’s findings in a report: part review of the previous year’s Champions League, part glossy blueprint for the state of European soccer on the field. It is rife with graphs and data points, designed to be flicked through by specialists, rather than consumed by a mass audience.

As Europe’s elite churn through the knockout stages of the Champions League, though, it is a valuable resource, filled with clues and hints and tips as to what sort of ingredients are required to master club soccer’s most exclusive tournament. Reading through the last few editions, in fact, offers not just an insight into what sort of style brings success, but how, precisely, teams should be focusing their energies when it comes to scoring goals.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/sports/soccer/messi-ronaldo-champions-league-liverpool.html