19 UCL Semi-Finals First Leg

SUMMARY:

This game posed an interesting tactical puzzle as the slow, methodical football of Barcelona up against the “heavy metal” football of Jurgen Klopp’s men. The first half generally played out as one would expect. Barcelona did anything within their power to keep the ball and play through Liverpool who, as expected, were defending very high up the pitch looking to break-up Barcelona’s build-up. Despite a very early chance for Rakitic, Liverpool were mostly successful in their defensive endeavors. The Catalan men appeared to be rattled in the early minutes of the game having trouble connecting passes with their usual patented crispness and accuracy. Liverpool posed their usual threat on the break with Georginio Wijnaldum playing the false 9 position with Firmino not being fit enough to start the match.

False 9

When Liverpool has the ball, Wijnaldum would drop away from the traditional number nine position and act almost as a number ten. This creates confusion for the Barcelona back line as they are unsure whether to follow him, as that would leave holes for the pace of the Liverpool wingers, or pass him onto one of the midfielders. This could allow Wijnaldum to play balls in behind defense.

First Goal (Barcelona):

Liverpool had their chances, but their former number nine broke the deadlock in the 26th minute. The ball was switched the the left side and found its way to Jordi Alba at the corner of the box. Alba played in an inch-perfect low cross to Suarez at the near-post who did very well to touch it over Alisson who made himself as big as possible.

After the goal, it was Barcelona’s turn to put Liverpool under pressure and put them on their heals. Barcelona gave the Liverpool defenders no time on the ball and they were forced to look for the longer option in behind, but it was all too predictable for the Barcelona defenders.

Second Half:

The second half was off to a quick start when Liverpool created clear opportunity through James Milner whose shot was brillianty saved by Ter Stegen. Barcelona still dominated possession in this half, as was expected, but Liverpool were creating a fair bit of chances making Ter Stegen earn his wages.

Second Goal (Barcelona):

Although Barcelona were in control, there was always the question of whether Liverpool could steal a goal at the other end to level it. Unfortunately for Liverpool, in the 74th minute Lionel Messi was having one of those nights. Messi picked up the ball just in front of the Liverpool back four and played a slicing ball into the path of Roberto in the box. The defender was able to touch it away from, but it fell to Suarez who lobbed it over Alisson. The ball struck the crossbar and Messi was there to control it and walk it into the empty net.

At 2-0 down away from home, Liverpool would have been feeling that if they could just get one goal they could go through to the finals with a 1-0 win at home in the second-leg of the semi-finals.

Third Goal (Barcelona)

In the 82nd minute, Messi was awarded a free-kick roughly 30 yards out. He unleashed an inch-curling effort over the Liverpool wall and into the top left corner.

We are all incredibly privileged witness the player that is Lionel Messi. When he is in the mood that he was in against Liverpool, he is truly unplayable and there is nothing absolutely nothing one can do to defend him. That’s truly incredible.

Liverpool created a late chance that was cleared off the line and the rebound was struck off the post by Salah. The game ended 3-0 to Barcelona.

GOALKEEPERS:

Ter Stegen

The German, in my opinion, is the best in the world at the moment. There is no other goalkeeper with as well rounded of a set of skills than Marc Andre Ter Stegen. There is not one part of Ter Stegen’s game that is inferior to other of his skills and he does everything at a very high level. In the first half, Ter Stegen didn’t have too much to do with his hands except for claiming some crosses and controlling his area which his did very well. The ‘keeper seems to be a mix of the German style of goalkeeping and the Spanish style of goalkeeping and has taken the best of both styles. We see aspects of German goalkeeping in that he is very adept at sweeping behind his defenders, he does not go to ground early and stands strongly in his set, very good positioning, and he uses the German style of the 1v1 set which has been compared to the stance of hockey goalkeepers. He has adopted aspects of the Spanish style of goalkeeping in that he has become very good at playing the ball short with his feet in tight scenarios, and he holds onto many of the shots he faces instead of parrying it away. The result is an extremely reliable and technically sound goalkeeper. In the second half, Ter Stegen was called on to make a few key saves. The first came in the 47th minute when Wijnaldum laid the ball off to Milner at the top of the box to Ter Stegen’s right. The defender was blocking the near-post allowing Ter Stegen to know the ball would be curling to his far-post. Milner did exactly that and Ter Stegen generated great power off his left leg to get his top hand the mid-height effort and touch it around the post. The second save came when Salah picked up the ball at the top of the box and took a shot low to Ter Stegen’s right headed for the bottom left corner. Ter Stegen lowered his center of gravity and pushed with his right foot to effectively slide across the grass to tip to effort around the post with his right hand. So many keepers forget that lowering your body to a low shot is crucial before diving, otherwise you will dive up before you get back down. The third save came again from Milner at the penalty spot. His one time effort from the cut-back went just to the right of Ter Stegen and he did very well to keep the ball in front of his face as he collapsed to his right to hold it.

Alisson

Frustrating game for Alisson. He did not have much to do, mostly because there was nothing he could do about the goals. He came out to claim a few crosses and played some short balls to his defenders and he did that well. Other than that, Alisson had one save of note when Coutinho curled a shot from outside the box and Alison used good footwork to his left to eventually collapse to his left on the ball. In the first goal, Alisson had no real chance other than possibly staying on his feet. This would have been a situation in my opinion to use the point blank set with one knee on the ground. However, spread himself out well and it was a fantastic finish from Suarez, so I don’t give him too much of a chance to save the effort. The second goal left him completely stranded after the lobbed ball struck the cross bar and Messi was allowed to walk the ball into the goal. The free-kick in the third goal was incredible from Messi. Alisson did everything right. As soon ass the shot was struck, he used quick footwork and jumped well to his right. Still, his 6′ 4″ frame could not reach the ball. It is not often that you see a free-kick in which the goalkeeper does absolutely everything right and it still goes in. Such was the quality of the free-kick, such is the quality of Lionel Messi.

Tottenham vs. Ajax 4/30/19 UCL Semi-Final First Leg

SUMMARY:

This semi-final match-up featured two teams that, perhaps may have surprised us at the beginning of the tournament had we been told they would make it as far. The game started out with each team struggling to get into stride as they coped with the opposing teams pressure. Early on, Ajax were able to beat Spurs’ first line of pressure and get Schone on the ball who was playing balls through the Tottenham back-line. This was allowed to happen by Frenkie De Jong dropping between his two center-backs and picking up the ball and the ever-supporting Andre Onana in goal.

When Tottenham attempted to press the back-line of Ajax, Frenkie De Jong dropped in between his two center-backs which pulled one of Tottenhams midfielders out to pick him up (indicated by the black arrows. Often times they did not want to follow De Jong that deep so they laid off of him a little. This allowed space for him to play the ball to Schone who could then play balls in behind the Spurs line.

By the tenth minute, Tottenham decided to let Ajax’s center-backs keep the ball in order to properly mark all of the midfielders. This led to Ajax having a considerable amount of possession.

Goal (Ajax):

The volume of possession that Ajax had meant that they had many chances to move the ball around the Tottenham penalty which means they are only one pass away from being in on goal. This is exactly what happened when a thread of the needle pass from Ziyech went through the Spurs back-line to Van De Beek who had ages to fake-out Lloris and pick his spot to put it home for the visitors.

This goal did not seem to cause much of a reaction from Spurs and Ajax were completely dominant. At around the 22nd minute Tottenham changed from a 3-4-3 system to a 4-3-3 having Danny rose tuck into midfield and Vertonghen play left-back. This tactic was presumably to add another man to midfield to try to control Ajax’s complete domination in midfield.

The rest of the half was largely more of the same with Ajax dominating most of the possession. However, Spurs were able to create a few chances at the end of the half by exploiting the more direct route by giving service to their big physical target man in Llorente who posted himself against the much less physical Daley Blind.

Second Half:

The second half was much more balanced with Spurs realizing their attacking potential by playing the ball directly to Llorente and having Lucas Moura run off of him. They also switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield to have Dele man-mark De Jong to spot Ajax’s possession. The onslaught of Spurs’ balls into the box were ultimately negated by the brilliance of Andre Onana coming off his line to snuff-out any danger. The game ended 1-0 after a dominant first half from Ajax and a second half that will leave Tottenham with some hope for the second-leg in Amsterdam.

GOALKEEPERS

Hugo Lloris

Perhaps a frustrating game from Hugo Lloirs being left stranded by his defenders in the goal, but otherwise Lloris had a good game between the sticks for Spurs. Lloris was forced to go long due to the smothering press from Ajax so there was not too much to observe in terms of his distribution. In the 24th minute Lloris made a save at his near-post when Van De Beeks run into the box was rewarded and it appeared that he would play the ball across goal, but instead mishit it at Lloris who had dove to cut-out the cross and the ball rebounded off of his leg for a corner. Again, I am a big believer in anticipating from goalkeepers, however from this angle I believe Lloris should have stayed on his feet as his first priority should be the near-post, but he was lucky that the ball hit his leg and did not end up in the back of the net. Other than a few high ball claims Lloris did not have a whole lot else to do.

Andre Onana

Perhaps I am way too early in this assessment, but I am beginning to consider Andre Onana as a top 5 goalkeeper in the world. At the beginning of the game the pure quality of Onana’s distribution was clear either playing short under pressure to his defenders or breaking the line of pressure confidently by playing balls to his high full-backs on many occasions. Another option that Onana found brilliantly well was the driven ball straight to the chest of Tadic. The hold-up play has been absolutely crucial to Ajax’s success and he has played the false nine role brilliantly. He receives a great deal of help from the quality of the driven balls that Onana plays to him that allows him to take the ball down and make it stick without giving the defender a chance to win it. Throughout the game I stopped taking notes on how many times Onana came out to claim a ball played into the Ajax penalty area. He put on an absolute clinic in commanding your area as a goalkeeper. Despite being very young for a goalkeeper Onana shows absolutely no hesitation when he sees a ball in the air coming toward his penalty area. He is very athletic and comes out displaying his impressive power and even came out 15 yards on a number of occasion to claim balls. On one occasion in the first half Onana came out to clear a free-kick and punched the ball while clearing out BOTH Tottenham center-backs who were attempting to head the ball. Unfortunately, this led to the injury of Jan Vertonghen and I wish him the best. Not only this, but Onana also cut out a few driven crosses with the technique of taking a very square stance to potential cut-back opportunities in his box. I could not be more impressed with Onana and I look forward to watching his progression further.

Manchester United Vs. Chelsea 4/28/19 Premier League

SUMMARY:

After Tottenham and Arsenal lost to West Ham and Wolves respectively on the weekend, an opportunity presented itself for either Manchester United or Chelsea to make a convincing case for themselves to finalize a spot in the UEFA Champions League. The game started quickly and intensely for both teams, but United had the better of the chances when Lukaku seemed to be in one of those moods in which he was going to have his way with the Chelsea back-line. In the fourth minute, Lukaku created an early chance as his break-away chance was saved by Kepa at a tight angle.

First Goal (Manchester United):

United kept the pressure on until they broke through in the 11th minute through Juan Mata. Luke Shaw made a well timed run deep from the left-back position into the box and was found by a superb dink over the line by Lukaku. Shaw squared the ball to Mata who could tap in from ten yards out.

Jorginho:

A key to understanding this game tactically, is the role of Jorginho in the game and in most Chelsea games. Jorginho acts as the playmaker for Chelsea who looks to be the pivot and distribute the ball to the full-backs who are pushing forward or play direct balls through to the front-three.

Jorginho in defense:

When Chelsea are not in possession of the ball, they press starting with the forwards and look to smother their opposition by pushing Jorginho very high to restrict the space. If they win the ball, they have the luxury of having their playmaker forward up the pitch. This does, however, leave a considerable amount of space behind in between their midfield and defensive lines.

Jorginho in attack:

In possession, Chelsea look to get Jorginho on the ball to take advantage of his superb passing range. They try to get him on the ball as quickly as possible after winning possession as he can exploit gaps in the defense of the opposition by playing through the space to a winger, creating 2v1 situations with their high-playing full-backs or play the direct route to Higuain.

The problem with this tactic for Chelsea, is that they are extremely reliant on the role of Jorginho. Manchester United nullified his presence by having one of their front three, usually Mata and McTominay later in the match, man mark Jorginho when Chelsea were in possession. It became difficult for Chelsea to create opportunities despite having marginally more possession than United in the first half. Manchester United looked very dangerous on the break as Marcus Rashford proved to be a real handful with his intelligent and well timed runs.

Second Goal (Chelsea):

The goal came when the apparent lack of options for Chelsea in possession led to their center-back, Antonio Rudiger, to take a more than 30 yard strike at goal. De Gea made a mess of holding onto the shot and let up a rebound into the path of Marcos Alonso who did well to finish it from the tight angle. Unfortunate for the Red Devils.

Second Half:

The second-half started with largely the same intensity that it ended with and it was a well-balanced back and forth game. As the half progressed, a multitude of injuries to both sets of players created long stoppages in the game and by the 75th minute the pace of the game had slowed considerably. The game ended with both teams having a clear cut chance each in stoppage time when Rojo’s header was cleared off the line by Pedro and De Gea blocked a shot from Higuain in which the whole stadium had assumed he was offside. It was a tightly run affair, but neither team were able to convincing stake their claim to the top four.

GOALKEEPERS:

David De Gea

Another tough night for De Gea. It is clear to me De Gea’s mistakes of late can be broken down technically, but to do so would miss the point completely. The Spaniard is not in the right state of mind as the mistakes all come from saves that he usually routinely makes. Any goalkeeper can tell you that they know exactly what he is going through, because it happens to every goalkeeper and it is a feeling exclusive to goalkeepers. Unless you are a goalkeeper, you cannot fully understand the feeling after making a mistake, but I will tell those who don’t know that it can only be described as isolating. You feel that you have let your team down, you feel that you have let yourself down, and you feel the humiliation of the opposing team begin to shoot from anywhere. I believe this feeling comes from an extreme level of wanting to do well and then letting yourself down in one moment and from feeling the expectations of your teammates to have done better. Each mistake leaves a mental scar on a goalkeeper forever. I cannot remember my best save ever, but I can certainly remember my worst mistake ever and I expect that this is true for all other ‘keepers. After one mistake, the human inclination the next time out is to avoid making mistakes. The problem with this, however, is that playing a game with the objective of not making a mistake is a great way to make one. Overthinking for a goalkeeper is fatal as your visions of making mistakes will surely turn into reality. I still believe that De Gea is one of the best in the world and maybe spending some time on the bench to reflect is not the worst thing for De Gea, this tactic worked earlier in his career to spring him onto being one of the best in the world, and I suspect he will be back.

Kepa Arrizabalaga

If you are a Kepa fan, perhaps this game can be interpreted as foreshadowing of the passing of the guard from De Gea in the Spanish National team in the near or the distant future. Despite his distribution lacking slightly in this game which is typically superb, Kepa had a solid game between the Chelsea sticks. Kepa has been a good replacement for Courtois and I believe that we are only seeing tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential. I good sign of a great goalkeeper is controlling 1v1 situations and Kepa did that brilliantly to deny Lukaku in the fourth minute. Kepa narrowed the angle well and stayed on his feet to force Lukaku wide. Kepa then received aid from his defender cutting off one side allowing Kepa to sprawl to his right to the near-post and take the ball off the chest, very good goalkeeping. Their was very little that Kepa could have done about the goal as he came out and closed the angle on Shaw who was through, but he scared it to Mata who could then tap it in, Kepa was helpless. In the 50th minute the Spaniard made a save from a United free kick in which the top spin on the ball made it bounce directly before getting to Kepa. Kepa took one shuffle to his right and collapsed to hold onto the ball. He tracked the ball very well and did not give up a rebound, this seemed to be in stark contrast to the ball that De Gea had spilled that led to the goal at the other end. In the 76th minute Kepa took up a good angle against a driven cross from inside the box in which he set with his body square to the ball at his near-post. This allowed Kepa to cover the near post angle, but was also able to handle the cross that was hammered in well and, again, avoid the rebound. I am impressed with the young Kepa.

Manchester City vs. Tottenham 4/17/19 UCL Quarter-Finals Second-Leg

SUMMARY:

Having won 1-0 in the first-leg at home, Tottenham Hotpsur were faced with the task of holding off one of the best attacking forces in the world for 90 minutes on their home turf. This game felt less like a football match and more like a Shakespearean drama with a twisting plot line that led both teams to believe they would triumph, but ultimately ended in great tragedy for one of the sides.

First Goal (Manchester City)

This high-octane football match kicked-off and no later than the fourth minute we saw the first goal. A marauding run through midfield from Kevin De Bruyne led to him playing the ball wide to Sterling who cut inside onto his right foot to whip one inside the far post from the top of the box.

Second Goal (Spurs)

Things appeared to be going very well for City until three minutes after scoring a through ball from Dele was intercepted by Laporte, but immediately played into the path of Son who punished City’s mistake by shooting under Ederson’s foot into the back of the net.

Third Goal (Spurs)

Just as Manchester City had begun to wipe the blood from their nose, Son struck again three minutes later, Laporte again, took a heavy touch under no pressure and conceded the ball to Lucas Moura. He played it to Eriksen at the right corner of the box who then squared it to Son at the top of the box to unleash a beautifully caressed effort into the top right corner from 18 yards out. Spurs now leading 3-1 on aggregate.

Fourth Goal (Manchester City)

It is only the 11th minute and this game has turned into an absolute slug-fest. Kun Aguero gets the ball and drives at the Tottenham defense. This prompts the Tottenham defenders to swarm him, but this leaves Bernardo Silva open on the right wing and Aguero plays him into the right side of the box. Bernardo attempts to roll the ball past Lloris to the far post, but the ball deflects off of Danny rose sending it to the opposite corner deceiving Lloris and making the score 3-2 on aggregate and 2-2 on the night.

Everyone has a chance to catch their breath as Manchester City are able to keep hold of the ball preventing Tottenham from being able to spring another quick attack. The game presented a paradox of sorts in that Spurs were most dangerous when they were not in possession of the ball, because it meant when they win the ball Manchester City will be caught with many players very high up the pitch and they can then counter-attack quickly and catch them exposed. At the same time, Manchester City were at their most dangerous with the ball due to their overwhelming quality of ball movement and creativity, thus when Manchester City had the ball both teams were most dangerous and when Tottenham had the ball both teams were at their most tame. Manchester City had most of the ball in the match creating a back and forth fireworks show of a match.

Fifth Goal (Manchester City)

In the 21st minute, Manchester City score again through Raheem Sterling. Bernardo Silva has the ball on the right wing just outside the box. De Bruyne makes an overlapping run and Bernardo rewards his movement by giving him the ball. De Bruyne then plays a perfect ball across the box on the deck to Sterling who had made a run to the far-post to tap it in. 3-3 on aggregate, 3-2 on the night. City need one more to overcome Tottenham’s away goal advantage.

After the fifth goal. Tottenham settle the game down by having the ball for a period and as discussed, this slowed the game down significantly. Each team has their share of half-chances, but the half ends without another goal after a first quarter that resembled a drunken bar brawl.

Second-Half

Manchester City start the second half with apparent urgency to score their needed goal. Tottenham are barely holding on at the start of the second half and Lloris is forced into a couple of brilliant saves to keep his side ahead. Tottenham, however, still look most threatening on the break and create a few opportunities at the other end.

Sixth Goal (Manchester City)

In the 59th minute Manchester City score their third unanswered goal showing that their pressure is paying off and for the first time in the fixture, they are ahead. Again Kevin De Bruyne is at the heart of everything good for City and his powerful midfield run allows him to play Aguero, Manchester City’s all-time top goalscorer, into the Tottenham box who smashes the ball near-post from a tight angle to put City ahead. The ball is driven into the Tottenham goal like a dagger into their hearts and they wear their disappointment on their faces.

Tottenham break again through Son and create a corner for themselves. In the absence of Harry Kane, Tottenham could not have asked for a better performance from Heung Min Son. The corner is swung into the back-post and Ederson comes to claim it, but he can’t read it and the ball goes out for another corner-kick.

Seventh Goal (Spurs)

The corner is served into the near-post over two players and appears to clip Llorente slightly on the arm before hitting his hip to redirect it into the goal. Despite review, the goal stands and Tottenham are back on top due to the away goals rule.

The game ends with City pouring pressure onto Spurs and throwing players forward with reckless abandon. Their tenacity appears to have paid off in late stoppage time. Aguero is played into the box and and squares it to Sterling who hestates before slotting it in. The Etihad Stadium celebrates thunderously and it appears that City have crushed Spurs’ hearts. This game however is not done with providing drama. The goal is disallowed due to Aguero being marginally offside. On one side their was pure despair, on the other, pure ecstasy. It was a spectacle to witness how quickly human emotions can change and the shear tragedy human spirit can endure, such is the drama of football.

GOALKEEPERS:

EDERSON: A tough game for Ederson at the Etihad Stadium. No goalkeeper is content with conceding three goals at home, but it was the manner in which he conceded which, aside from Tottenham’s second goal, the Brazilian will feel as if he should have done better. In the beginning of the game, I noticed that Ederson chose to go long to Aguero despite having shorter options and did it at a few other times during the game. I believe this was a tactic employed by Pep Guardiola to make Tottenham wary of the ball over the top causing them to drop off when Ederson was in possession. This effectively dulled the ferocity of the Tottenham press as they had to keep the direct threat in mind. Ederson will feel he should have done much better to keep out Tottenham’s first goal. Dele was allowed to turn in front of the back-line and play a ball through which Laporte essentially passed into the path of Son. Son then struck the ball which went under Ederson’s foot to go into the goal. Son being completely unmarked at the top of the box I understand why Ederson attempted to read his body shape and I actually think it is the right decision from him given that he was initially out of position due to the unexpected error from Laporte. Son did not strike the ball as cleanly as he would’ve liked and the ball ended up closer to Ederson than he would’ve liked, his his body shape indicated he would find the bottom left corner. The mistake comes from him not making the save with his foot. Although he was leaning in the opposite direction, Ederson was still on his feet and the strike was slow enough that he had plenty of time to judge it and get a foot to it, unfortunate for him. Three minutes later Spurs struck again through Heung Min Son again and another mistake by Laporte. Laporte takes a very heavy touch at midfield under no pressure and the ball is stolen from him by Lucas Moura. Eventually, the ball finds its way to Son at the top of the box who bends it into the top corner viciously, Ederson with no chance. Other than taking command of the space behind his back line and keeping possession for his team which Ederson consistently does well, this match being no exception, he was largely unneeded after the early flurry of goals until the 58th minute when he was forced to make a save from a Fernando Llorente glancing header. Dele sent a ball in from the flank to the right of Ederson, initially the Brazilian thought about claiming it, but retreated after reading he wouldn’t get there and he set his feet. Llorente headed the chance into the ground barely to the right of Ederson and he was in a good position to push it away. In the 73rd minute Spurs score again. Despite the controversy of the ball striking Llorente’s arm before scoring the goal, the corner kick that led to him being in that position could have been prevented by Ederson. Manchester City had conceded a corner-kick and Ederson came out to catch it, but it only grazed his fingertips and he conceded the corner that ultimately led to the goal. Although he can do nothing about the goal directly, had he caught the ball or chose to leave it, perhaps the game would have a different result..

LLORIS: Although his team is now through to the Semi-Finals of the Champion’s League, Lloris would be disappointed with conceding four goals in the match. I felt that defensively Tottenham were very poor in the match and this will need to be addressed before entering the Semi-Finals with Ajax who are all too capable of exploiting faults in your defense. Hugo Lloris was seemingly left exposed early in the game when Sterling scored in the 4th minute. He cut in onto his right foot from the left wing and as he carried the ball across the top of the box, the Spurs defenders failed to stick a tackle on him. He finishes by whipping a shot that started outside the post and bent in leaving Lloris no chance. Again, in the 11th minute City score and again Lloris stranded by his defense. Bernardo receives the ball on the right flank of the box and aims for the far post, but his shot is deflected by Danny Rose into the opposite corner past Lloris who had dove to save the initial trajectory of the ball. In the 21st minute City score again and Lloris still has no chance and the ball is played across his six yard box, too far for him to collect, and Sterling taps it in at the back post. Despite conceding three goals already, in the 45th minute Lloris finally faces a shot he has a chance of saving when Kevin De Bruyne lets loose at the top of the box by hitting across his body with his left foot to Lloris’ near-post. Lloris lowers his center of gravity by bending at the knees and hips and pushes off his left foot to hold the ball low at his near-post. In the 50th minute Lloris is needed again, Bernardo dribbles to the touchline on the left flank and cuts the ball back to Sterling at the penalty spot. Sterling’s one time effort is headed slightly to the left of Lloris on the ground. Lloris then uses what I call the “sweep” technique to push it away before Danny Rose clears the rebound. Instead of a conventional low collapse dive to his left, the ball is moving to rapidly to get down it time, so Lloris takes a step to his left as if he were going to collapse, but subsequently pushes the ball away with his arms in the position of a front smother with his elbows together and thumbs facing away from one another. It is an unconventional technique, but sometimes this is required. Only 4 minutes later Lloris is forced into the save of the match from a mid-range Kevin De Bruyne effort. De Bruyne gets the ball at the top right of the box and strikes across his body with his right foot to Lloris’ far post to his right. Lloris has little time to react, but springs off his right foot and get a very strong top hand to the ball to push it around the post, amazing save. The fourth and final goal for City asked a few questions of Lloris. As Aguero was played into the right flank of the box, his angle was tight. Aguero smashes a ball near-post past Lloris. The French goalkeeper leaned to his right anticipating either a shot or a pass across the box and was off balance preventing him from keeping it out. As I have said in past posts, I am a fan of reading body shape of strikers to determine the direction of the shot, however I must clarify. When the striker has very little angle, he has very little chance of finishing at the back-post therefor it is in the keeper’s best interest to protect the near-post. Lloris is quick enough to react at the near post if he stays solid and sets his feet. Although it was a good finish from the Argentine, perhaps it was a minor error from Lloris that did not impact the outcome of the game in the end.

Juventus vs. Ajax 4/16/19 UCL Quarter-Finals, Second-Leg

SUMMARY:

They said they couldn’t do it at the Bernabeu, and this time Juventus would be too tall an order, now, they couldn’t go all the way could they? Ajax seems to believe so and at this point, so do I. The game ended 1-1 in Amsterdam a week ago with many people feeling appreciative of the effort of the Ajax team, but ultimately feeling that Juventus and Ronaldo would be able to defeat them at home. This young Ajax team, however, does not play with an ounce of fear and showed up to Turin in their patented Dutch attacking 4-3-3 with every intent to display art in the form of football. The opening minutes of the match were very stop and start with neither team seeming to be able to establish themselves into a rhythm. Eventually, Juventus started to take some control of the match by pressing Ajax high up the pitch and playing them at their own game. This proved to be an effective tactic which suppressed Ajax’s quick attacks.

When Andre Onana had the ball, Dybala pressed him leaving his center-back mark open. This prompted the Juventus center-midfielder on the side closest to the ball to press the center-back left open by Dybala. The center-midfielder on the weak side would then tuck in to mark the defensive midfield pivot De Jong. This meant that there was a man open in midfield for Ajax, but he was hard to find. This is, perhaps, the reason that Allegri went with Emre Can in midfield alongside Matuidi as, in the event the open man was found, they would have the athleticism to get back into position.

This tactic led to Juventus having a lot of possession in the first quarter of the match. This possession led to a corner-kick in the 28th minute which was swung into the near-post for Ronaldo who powered home from six yars out, no chance for Onana. This did not seem to deflate the young and fearless Amsterdam side who responded with a goal of their own six minutes later. The goal came from an Ajax build-up starting with their goalkeeper in which all eleven players on the team touched the ball, Johann Cruyff would be proud. Schoene is played wide and his cross was deflected to Ziyech at the top of the box who strikes toward goal, his shot dribbles through to Donny Van de Beek 12 yards out and totally unmarked. He slots home into the bottom right corner. The half ended with Ajax still struggling with the Juve press and doing their best to find quick outlets down the wing, around the midfield blockade.

Second Half

Ajax start the half in sixth gear and are creating lots of opportunities forcing two fantastic saves from Wojciech Szczesny in the space of five minutes. Juve had chances of their own particularly one from the eighteen year old starlet Moise Kean in the 61st minute who had come on for the injuredDybala at the start of the half. By around the 63rd minute Ajax begin slicing through Juventus like warm butter. They have been keeping the ball for most of the half and begin putting it to good use creating glance after glance at goal and the Old Lady apparently on her heals. In the 67th minute this pressure lead to a corner-kick for Ajax. The ball was swung in toward De Ligt, Ajax’s 19 year old captain who power over three Juventus defenders to power it in. At this point with two away goals Juventus would need to score two and Ajax showed no signs of stopping. Although Ronaldo is always a threat and headed two chances straight at Onana, the game ended with the young Amsterdam side going through to the Semi-Finals of the Champions League. Incredible.

GOALKEEPERS:

Wojciech Szczesny: As mentioned in the review of the last game, the Polish international has had a tough road to get to where he is, but it is evident that the road has shaped a fine goalkeeper who has matured at Juventus the way wine matures in a cellar. Other than the Ajax goal, the first half was largely uneventful for the Pole having very little to do aside from playing a few short passes to his center-backs and clearing his lines. The goal left Szczensy stranded by his defender as Van de Beek was completely unmarked behind his back-line. The finish from Van de Beek was very good to slot it to Szczesny’s left and I do not think he had any chance to save it. Szczesny came up very big in the beginning of the half for Juventus and kept them in the game. The first save he made came when Van de Beek played a ball through for Ziyech to Szczesny’s left inside the box. As we saw in the first leg, Szczesny reads the shooter’s body shape and begins leaning toward where his body indicates that the ball will go. In this case, the ball is far closer to Szczesny and he reaches up a left palm to stop it from going in over his head as he leaned to his right. I am a fan of reading a striker’s body position and feel that goalkeepers are in the right to start moving once they have read it. This shows that even if the ball doesn’t go completely in the direction that a goalkeeper anticipates, as long as you are only leaning in that direction you are still able to make the save if it comes more central. The second save he made, only five minutes after the first, came from a curled effort from the top of the box from none other than Donny Van de Beek. The save was very similar to a save Szczesny made in the first leg. Szczesny pulsed his feet as the ball was being passed around the box until he saw Van de Beek pull his leg back and then set his feet. He then used one cross step from right to left before pushing off his left leg and tipping the ball over the bar with his top hand. Szczesny used his bottom hand to make the save in the first leg of the fixture which I think is an important thing to note as the position of the ball made it easier to reach with his top hand in this scenario and it does not have to be one or the other, a keeper can use both. It is also entirely possible that Szczesny is right-hand dominant and chose to use his right hand on both occasions.

ANDRE ONANA: It was a mostly quiet game for Onana. Despite the pressure that Juve applied to Ajax they only had a few clear-cut chances. Onana only had to record 3 saves that I can remember, two of which coming from Ronaldo headers that bounced before heading straight to the African ‘keeper. Juve chose to press Ajax in this match which I felt was the correct tactic as it chose Onana to kick the ball long on multiple occasions in this game, something that he did not do much of in the first leg allowing Ajax to routinely build attacks from the goalkeeper. He was able to find the open man left by the press (as discussed above) on a few occasions, but for the most part Juve forced him into creating a 50-50 ball between Tadic and the Juventus back-line. Onana made one impressive save in the first half from a Dybala volley with the outside of his foot heading for the side-netting to Onana’s left. The ‘keeper again showed how incredibly athletic he is by shuffling once to his left and springing off of his left foot to hold the mid-height volley. The save almost looked easy for him, but it was not a tame effort by any stretch of the imagination. Throughout the match, I noticed how amazingly calm Onana is in the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League. He did not look even a little bit nervous as displayed in the second half when he moaned at De Ligt for clearing a ball that he called to collect with three Juventus players inside his six yard box. He has supreme confidence in himself and does not seem to be bothered by much, this is a gift of the highest quality for a goalkeeper.

Barcelona vs. Manchester United 4/16/19 UCL Quarter-Finals, Second-Leg

SUMMARY:

Having gone down an away goal on aggregate last week, it was crucial that Manchester scored two goals away at the Camp Nou. The early signs were good for the opening 15 minutes or so with United looking threatening and creating a few early chances through the pace of Marcus Rashford. This pressure soon broke as Barcelona started to keep possession of the football, something they struggled to do a week ago in Manchester. Another change that the Catalans implemented was that they gave the United defenders very little time on the ball and close them down quickly to prevent them from playing a ball in behind for the pace of United’s front three.

Manchester United’s plan had remained largely the same from the first leg, looking to catch Barcelona vulnerable on the break.

Manchester United’s Plan was to catch Barcelona high up the field, as when they are in possession they push their full-backs very high up the field leaving gaps in behind for the likes of Rashford or Martial to run into.

This plan was thwarted by Barcelona players immediately swarming the United defenders as soon as they had possession of the ball, thus cutting of the outlet for the Red Devils.

The first goal came when the ball was stolen off of Ashley Young who was a victim of this Barcelona press. The ball found its way to Messi on the right wing who cut inside onto his left and nutmegged a defender before using another defender to bend the ball around and curl it into the bottom left corner of the net to De Gea’s right. Shortly after, Messi was there to terrorize Manchester again when he cut onto is right foot this time to curl a shot toward De Gea’s goal. The ball squeezed underneath the Spanish ‘keeper in a moment to forget for David De Gea. At this point, at 3-0 down on aggregate and having seen the extent of the talents of the greatest player the world has ever seen, Manchester United were left deflated allowing Barcelona to completely dominate the match. Manchester United made minimal chances throughout the rest of the game and were chasing the ball for much of the time. To add insult to injury, the former Liverpool man, Coutinho banged one home in classic Coutinho fashion. None other than Messi played the important ball of the move over the back line to an onrushing Jordi Alba who played it back to Coutinho to strike from 20 yards out. The game ended with Barcelona creating a few more opportunities and Manchester United seeing their late attempt at a consolation goal brilliantly denied by Ter Stegen.

GOALKEEPERS:

DE GEA: A tough night out for the Madrid native having conceded three goals on the night one of which coming from a mistake. The first goal was a very good finish from Leo Messi. Perhaps, De Gea could have set his feet quicker as he had only set his feet after the ball had left Messi’s foot which may have given him more time to reach it. It is very difficult, however, to predict when Messi will shoot the ball and even more difficult to anticipate which direction he will shoot as we often see him shoot to the other side of the goal from similar positions. This brings us back to my statement from last week of anticipation, had De Gea gone early perhaps he could have saved it as most of the time the forward will strike in that direction. If you go early you then risk the forward shooting in the other direction leaving you look foolish. The second goal was one to forget for David De Gea. Messi cut onto his right foot to curl one and De Gea collapsed to his left to collect, but it slipped underneath him into the goal. I won’t spend too much time on it as I believe that the pressure put on ‘keepers to be flawless is completely unreasonable hopefully this will change in the future. The criticism of a goalkeeper who makes one mistake only makes him more likely to make a mistake in the future, therefore becoming preoccupied with a mistake is completely unproductive for everyone. The third goal, created by Messi, came when Messi played a ball over the top for Jordi Alba who laid it to Coutinho to unleash his trademark curling strike from 20 yards out. Despite coming close, it would have been miraculous had De Gea saved it, though he is capable of miracles. He only had time to take a power dive and try to reach it with his top hand, but it was out of reach. De Gea made three saves in this match of note. The first came from a glanced header following an in-swung Messi free-kick which was down slightly to De Gea’s left. He did well to be in the correct position and get two palms down to cushion it and gather at the second attempt. The second save was a bit of a mystery to him. Alba lashed a ball across the 6 yard box to the opposite full-back, Sergi Roberto who attempted to tap it in. De Gea had used cross steps to get across his goal and the ball hit him preventing the goal. A lot of ‘keepers would have gave up on the play, but De Gea decided to cross step just in case and luck was in his favor this time. The final save came from Messi who lashed one toward De Gea from 8 yards out to De Gea’s right and he stood up and got two hands on it to beat it away as it was placed close to his left ear. A tough night for De Gea, but even the best ‘keepers in the world have an off day.

TER STEGEN: The German is everything that you would want out of a modern goalkeeper and appears to have it all. It has become such a regularity that we forget just how good Ter Stegen is with his feet and today had he not been wearing the green goalkeeper kit you would think he was a midfielder. The range of his passing is possibly the best in the world being able to play a ball to any player on the pitch with pinpoint accuracy. There were a number of times I thought he would have to kick long given pressure coming from both his left and right, but proceeded to take a touch a find Busquets in the middle to break the first line of pressure from United. Other times, a United midfielder would step up to mark a defender when the forwards were out of position and Ter Stegen would calmly chip dink a ball to the open man in the middle of midfield. He is what allowed Barcelona to keep the ball on many occasions in this game and was a factor to their dominance. His first save came early on when Rashford was played through, but forced to take an early shot on due to pressure from defenders. It was a fairly easy save to collapse dive to his right to pin down the bouncing ball, but I noticed that Ter Stegen is one of the best in the world at always having his feet set at the time of the shot. As we saw with De Gea today and Ederson last week, some goalkeepers have timed their set in a way that they are landing into their set while the ball is moving towards them. This rarely ever happens with Ter Stegen. His second save came from a long range Paul Pogba effort which bounced in front of him, but Ter Stegen smothered it with a front dive, again having his feet set before the shot. Ter Stegen’s biggest moment was in the 90th minute when a cross was whipped in from his left and a glancing header at the near post turned it towards Ter Stegen’s left and appeared to be creeping just inside the post. Ter Stegen had squared his body thinking that the ball would pass by the first onrushing United forward, but he was able to dive and get his head on it. Again, becuase Ter Stegen set his feet he was able to react and get down at his near post to claw it out of the goal despite being slightly out of position. So many other keepers would still be moving across goal and have no chance. It was a fantastic performance from a goalkeeper who I consider to be the best in the world at the moment.

Tottenham Vs. Manchester City 4/15/19 UCL Quarter – Finals

SUMMARY:

The first UCL game at the newly opened Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the perfect venue for a match between two English giants of epic proportions. The game opened up with Manchester City enjoying a large sum of possession and creating a chance early on in the game due to a patented build-up constructed by the brilliant mind of Pep Guardiola. Manchester City were able to build their way into the Spurs final third using Pep’s tactic of tucking in the full-backs.

In this situation, the left center back for Manchester City, in this case Aymeric Laporte, has the ball and Tottenham would not press him if when he received the ball he had time to pick his next pass as this would be a waste of energy for them.

Although most of the passing options for Laporte seem to be cut-off, Pep Guardiola showed a tactic that he has developed to create overloads in the midfield and break lines of pressure.

Here we see the same image, however the left-back, Fabian Delph in this instance, has pinched into midfield and dragging his defender with him. This opens up a passing lane for Laporte to play the ball to the left-winger, Raheem Sterling. If the full-back tucks inside and is not followed by the Tottenham right winger who is marking him, then the full-back can receive the ball himself unmarked in midfield.

Here we see another option for Laporte in the event that the left winger is heavily marked and was shown in the early stages of the game. As the left-back tucks into midfield, one of the midfielders, in this case Gundogan, drifts out wide into the lane opened up by the fullback who tucked into midfield. This allows the midfielder to pick balls to play in behind the Tottenham defenders.

City being allowed to play created a penalty chance from Sterling cutting in from the left and having his shot illegally blocked by the hand of Danny Rose prompting a penalty of review by VAR. The Sergio Aguero penalty was ultimately saved by Hugo Lloirs who sprung to his left. Eventually, Tottenham did not allow the back line of Manchester city any time to pick up their heads and play a pass, thus City stopped tucking in the full-backs and found it very difficult to get out of their half. When Tottenham would inevitably win the ball back, they broke very quickly and directly creating a number of chances, but the half ended goalless with Tottenham having more quality in their chances .

SECOND-HALF

The second half proved to be more of the same with both sides creating some chances and the game well-balanced between the two sides in a tug of war. This changed when in the 78th minute Christian Eriksen played a ball through for Son who cut in onto his left foot from the touchline and was able to sneak his effort past Ederson. The half ended with City making a few attacking changes to try to reestablish the balance in the match, but ultimately it ended 1-0 to Spurs.

GOALKEEPERS:

HUGO LLORIS: It was a solid game for the Frenchman who was able to ensure a clean-sheet for his side. Lloris was needed early in the game when his side conceded a penalty in the 12th minute from a handball. Lloris took a power step with his left foot to spring to his left to deny the mid-level shot from Aguero from the spot. It was a good height for Lloris to save it, but it was a hard penalty to read. Aguero’s body shape indicated he would strike it to the left of Lloris which often means he will swing his leg across his body and go the other way in an effort to deceive the ‘keeper. Perhaps Lloris read that Aguero would go for the double-deception and go exactly where his body shape indicated. The next significant save Lloris made was from a volleyed effort from Raheem sterling from the right corner of Lloris’ 6 yard area. Lloris got down well to his left to keep it out. It was not the hardest of shots and perhaps Lloris could have held it or parried it into a better area, but that proved irrelevant as his defenders were there to clear. Other than these to saves it was pretty uneventful for Lloris having to collect one or two crosses and allowed to play short on most occasions as Manchester City were allowing Spurs to play for most of the match.

EDERSON: This game showed much of the quality of Ederson despite conceding the goal to Son that perhaps should have been kept out. Ederson was brought into City largely on the basis that he is superb with the ball at his feet, but for most of this game he also showcased how fundamentally sound he is as a goalkeeper. Ederson was essential to the City build-up always offering an outlet to his defenders and having composure to find the free city man under considerable pressure from Tottenham. Ederson also had to make a few key interventions to deny Tottenham. In the 24th minute Ederson made a brilliant save from Harry Kane roughly 8 yards out to Ederson’s left. Kane took his touch from Eriksen’s cutback then attempted to curl one around the Brazilian. Ederson used a power set by slightly hopping and landing on his feet by the time the ball was struck while swinging his arms back to generate momentum. When the shot came, Ederson sprung to his left to parry the ball away from the goal denying Kane from close range. The other save of note Ederson made was from Son when Harry Kane played him through and the Korean attempted to catch Ederson out by taking the shot early, but Ederson was able to get down low to his right to hold it. Again we see Ederson use the power set technique before making this save allowing him to generate a good push to the ball. Aside from these saves the thing that stuck out to me was the way that Ederson controlled his area in the game. He took pressure off of his defenders on many occasions by coming to claim balls into his area. The one in particular that stood out to me was from a Harry Kane ball sent over the back line which Ederson came rushing out to claim taking out anything in front of him and putting his body on the line in the process. It was down to his starting position just outside of his 6 yard box which gave him the ability to cut out a pass that would’ve seen Dele through on goal. He took a few powerful strides and used his arms to swing and generate force to propel himself into the air and through any players that stood in front of him including his own. It was truly brave and fantastic goalkeeping. Unfortunately for Ederson in the 78th minute a shot from Son was able to sneak by him which he probably should have saved. As Son cut in from the touchline onto his left foot he stood at about the left corner of Ederson’s 6 yard box. In my opinion, this was too close for Ederson to use the power set that we talked about earlier and I believe the momentum of his feet landing while the shot is coming at him caused him to be in two minds of whether to get down with his hand or save with his foot and he ended up doing neither. I think he could have taken a step forward and set in something more like a breakaway set and reacted with his feet.

Manchester United Vs. Barcelona 4/10/19 UCL Quarter-Finals

SUMMARY

Given the injuries for Manchester United including: Valencia, Bailly, Darmian, Matic, Herrera, and Alexis it seemed as though the Red Devils faced an uphill battle at home against an in-form Barcelona side. This appeared to be true in the opening minutes of the match with Barcelona enjoying most of the ball, although United were always a threat on the break with the pace of Marcus Rashford. It only took 12 minutes for Barcelona to open up the scoring when a Sergio Busquets played a good ball over the heads of the Manchester defense to Messi who had made a penetrating run. Messi’s first touch took him wide to the left of the box allowing him to use his famous left-foot to find Suarez at the back posts whose close range header glanced off Luke Shaw and found the back of the net for the own goal. When the goal was scored you would be forgiven to assume that the weakened line-up for Manchester United were in for a long night. Uncharacteristically, Barcelona struggled to keep the ball after the goal seeing some key experienced players of theirs give the ball away incredibly cheaply on a number of occasions, it was an extremely rare sight of Barcelona. Their sloppy play in the half still yielded their share of chances, one of which produced a heroic save from David De Gea in the 36th minute. Most of the United chances came from unforced errors from Barcelona which forced them to cease trying to build-out from goal kicks and instead choose the longer route which is borderline sacrilegious to the Blaugrana side. The half ended with the game opening up and both sides showing that they still possess a threat, particularly Manchester United on the break. At the start of the second half, Barcelona looked rattled by the pressure of Manchester United. The renewed energy and most likely an energetic half-time talk from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer allowed united to unleash a press on Barcelona who struggled to get out. The Red Devils had most of the ball, but seemed to lack some creativity in the final third to reward them for their pressure. It seemed that their only game plan was to allow a well-marked Pogba to do his best to create a chance or get the ball wide and swing it into the box. They chose the latter on most occasions which yielded little fruit and became very predictable for Barcelona to defend. It was a game that was crying out for the quality and experience of Juan Mata. The game changed for the better from a Barcelona perspective when Arturo Vidal came on for Coutinho and Sergi Roberto replaced Arthur, perhaps to try to establish a foothold in midfield. After a few hot-headed minutes from Vidal due to watching his side give the ball away, the substitutions seemed to work and the new midfield duo were able to help establish some consistent possession for Barcelona and ultimately see the game to its finish at 1-0 to the away side.

GOALKEEPERS:

DE GEA: The Spaniard had no chance in saving the Barcelona goal due to the quality of the Leonel Messi cross to Luis Suarez. He did prove his worth in this game, despite conceding, by keeping the deficit to one on three occasions. The first was a brilliant save following a Coutinho blast at the top of the box after being laid the ball by Luis Suarez. After coming out to close the angle on Luis Suarez, De Gea’s defenders were able to recover allowing him to get back to his line, set his feet, and produce a fantastic reaction to save the low shot by stretching out his left-foot. We see De Gea make saves with his feet often. His coordination is very impressive having very little time to react and get good contact with his weaker left foot. The second save was from a Leonel Messi free kick. Messi struck the ball underneath the wall from the top-left of the box to De Gea’s left and Dea Gea took one shuffle step toward the balls trajectory. The ball took a deflection and was now headed to the other side of the goal now to De Gea’s right. De Gea does well to shift his weight going in one direction to collapse low to his right to hold onto the ball. The third save came from another save with his feet in which Rashford strikes the ball at his feet as he stood up at the near post from a very tight angle, again, good coordination.

TER STEGEN: Like De Gea, the German was not very busy in this match and I do not believe he had to make a significant save. As always, Ter Stegen was very good with his feet allowing his side to keep possession (or try) on many occasions throughout the game. As it became apparent to Ter Stegen that his side was struggling to string together passes he did well to push them up-field and play good driven balls to Luis Suarez from goal kicks. On a few occasions he played very good low driven balls to the feet for Luis Suarez slicing through two lines of United defenders. The other notable contribution Ter Stegen made was commanding his area by punching away two Manchester United services into the box. Ter Stegen utilized an open stance to crosses and, on both occasions the cross came from the Manchester United right wing to Ter Stegen’s left. The first was a vital intervention in which his open, 45 degree angle stance allowed him take one shuffle and reach the ball with his right fist. He was under pressure and showed good bravery knowing very well that he could be clattered into. The second was similar to the first, although he had less time to react to the flight of the ball due to its flight and could only punch it straight down into the path of Rashford who couldn’t turn it on goal. He got enough power on the punch to put off the United striker.

Liverpool Vs. Porto 4/9/19 UCL Quarter – Finals

SUMMARY

The night at Anfield turned out to be a very dominant Liverpool performance against a Porto side who has never won against English opposition drawing three times, losing fifteen and winning none. The very early stages of the game looked promising for Porto opening the first few minutes of the game with a couple half-chances and putting Liverpool on their heals. Liverpool before long found their footing in the match and opened the scoring in the 5th minute. Porto loses the ball in midfield and James Milner plays a lovely one-touch ball to Sadio Mane on the left wing. Mane takes it down the wing and squares it to Firmino in the box who lays it off to Naby Keita whose shot toward the left corner of the goal is deflected by Oliver Torres and sent into the opposite top corner leaving Casillas helpless. The next stages of the game saw Liverpool keeping the majority of the ball and forcing Porto to look for the fruitless longer option due to the tenacious Gegen pressing of Jugen Klopp’s men. All season the defensive tactics of the Reds has been their foundation for all-out attacking football allowing Virgil van Dijk to search for the ever-present diagonal ball or for the midfielders to play balls into the channels for the pace of their wingers. Although Porto started to find escape routes through their big Malian center-forward in Moussa Marega, Liverpool struck again in the 26th minute. The goal came from a Liverpool build-up that ended with Jordan Henderson playing a slide-rule pass through the Porto defense like a knife through butter to Alexander-Arnold who squares the ball across goal to Firmino who taps in at the back post. A sophisticated attacking move that was finished by the man who provided the assist for the first goal. Despite the deficit, Porto created a few chances by using the athleticism of Marega to escape Liverpool’s press. Their biggest chances of the half came from the Malian when a chipped ball over the Liverpool back-line from Oliver Toress to Marega was fired at goal from a tight angle, but Alisson was able to get a left foot to it to deny the Porto talisman. The second chance came from an effort from a bouncing ball inside the 6-yard area which Marega turned goalward straight at Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper, in truth, he should have scored. The second-half was like a possession drill for Liverpool who created a few chances one of which was a goal for Mane which was ruled offside. Again, Marega looked the most likely for Porto throughout the half, but ultimately the game was killed off by Liverpool keeping the ball and Porto struggling to get a grip on the midfield.

GOALKEEPERS

ALISSON: Although he had very little to do in the game, the Brazilian answered the call when called upon and kept the clean-sheet. Most of Alisson’s contributions came in the form of collecting crosses with no pressure using his feet which he has appeared very comfortable with using all season and wasn’t put under much pressure in this game when receiving a pass-back. His major involvement in this game came in the 30th minute when Porto broke the press with a bit of luck and Marega was played through on goal. When the shot eventually came, it came from the top right corner of Alisson’s 6-yard area and Alisson saved it with his left foot. The Brazilian made this save look very easy by stealing space when the striker took a touch and closed the angle by taking a step forward and setting in the low breakaway stance. It was a good save in the end at a point in the game that would’ve gave Porto a lot of confidence had they scored.

CASILLAS: A legend in the game having played well over 100 games in the Champion’s League, Casillas showed his experience despite conceding two goals. Casillas could do absolutely nothing about either goal as the first came from a wicked deflection and the second came from a ball across his goal that was too far to claim and tapped in by a wide- open Firmino at the back post. Casillas was only called upon to make one significant save when he was forced to get down to his right from a Mo’ Salah volley which he gathered on the second attempt with no pressure. There were two things that I noticed about Casillas in this game that struck me note-worthy. The first was controlling the space behind his back-line. In the modern day, when we think of a goalkeeper controlling the space behind their back line we think of the long strides of Manuel Neuer sprinting out of his area to clear a through-ball. However, there is another effective method that Casillas showcased brilliantly well. Casillas is always talking to his back line giving orders on their positioning and ensuring they stay together as a unit. We see this in the late stages in the second-half when we see Casillas actually push one of his defenders up into line with the rest of the line following a free kick and letting him hear about his laziness afterward. Once Casillas has his line in place, he is very good reading and mopping up any balls that are played behind the deep line which tend to fall inside the box. His positioning is what allowed him to close down the Salah chance in the 22nd minute which came from a Porto back-pass that was intercepted by Salah, but by the time he picked up his head the goal became very small eclipsed by the figure of the Spaniard. The other thing I found interesting about Casillas in this game was his distribution. The Spaniard a pillar of the game, but is not known for his distribution in particular. Casillas was forced to go long for most of the match due to the Liverpool press, but there has been a clear progression in the drive, distance, and accuracy of Casillas’ services from the beginning of his career. He was able to drive balls into center-forwards and wingers which allowed them to flick-on or bring the ball down with facility. This, in my opinion, further elevates his legendary status as he is showing that he is able and willing to adapt his game to modern times and add longevity to his career. Although he lost the game, it was an experienced performance for one of the best goalkeepers the world has ever seen.

Ajax Vs. Juventus 4/11/19 UCL Quarter-Finals

SUMMARY:

Despite the routine brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, this was a match-up that showcased the pure class of this fairy-tale Ajax side. The first half opened with both sides seeming to be feeling the quarter-final nerves in the opening minutes and couldn’t string together a comprehensive string of passes. Juventus opened the game by startling Ajax with an early chance in the 3rd minute after a charging run from Bernardeschi through midfield who then blasted his strike over. Following this, Juventus could not seem to keep a hold of the ball and gave it away cheaply on a number of occasions. This sloppy pattern soon broke and from it spurred a young, fearless Ajax side that displayed exactly what has taken them to this stage in the biggest competition in the world. As Juventus started to keep a small bit of possession of the ball, the home side unleashed a ferocious high-press which effectively pinned Juventus in their own half with little hope of playing their way through. Due to Juventus being forced to play the long ball, Ajax was able and determined to keep a considerable amount of possession which they could immediately put to attacking use making chance after chance with the insurance policy of the press in the event that their attack broke down. The match turned into a modern-day siege, the Amsterdam side akin to the battering ram persistently banging on the castle door and the Turin side like the castle holding steadfast to the barrage. In the late stages of the first-half however, Juventus found a way to break through the press by way of the long outlet, a surging run from deep midfield, or Ajax being caught in possession. In accordance with this vulnerability, just before the half-time whistle none other than Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock. Betancur was able to dribble through the Ajax press starting a counter-attack and play a ball to Ronaldo who was occupying the center-forward position. Ronaldo then played the ball wide to Cancelo and started a powerful run from a deep position. Cancelo dinked the ball over the back line and Ronaldo was their to power the header home from 6 yards out. Cristiano had done it again. When the second-half started, the scene was set for a half of Juventus defending deep in a compact 4-4-2 formation and allow Ajax to try to break them down. This plan was promptly scrapped when in the 46th minute Neres curled one home. The attack came from Ajax playing out of the back from a goal-kick and playing a ball into the channel for Neres. Cancelo was there to intercept, but made a mess of his first-touch allowing Neres to take the ball from him, cut in onto his right foot, and stroke the ball past Szczesny. The game continued in, more or less, the same fashion as it did in the first-half and Szczesny was by far the busier of the two ‘keepers. Despite a flurry of attacks from the substitute, Douglas Costa who provided a pacey escape route for Juventus and struck a low effort against the post in the 85th minute, the game ended level in the first leg of the quarter-final in Amsterdam.

GOALKEEPERS:

ONANA: Andre Onana has emerged as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world at the moment. He is extremely sound and well-rounded as one would expect of a keeper that spent many years in La Masia and has been at a club now for almost four years with one of the best track records of producing young talent. One thing that, as always impresses me about Onana is his distribution and the ice-cold composure he has on the ball. I can only recall one instance in which Onana took only one touch in clearing the ball when receiving a back pass from his defenders which struck as unusual enough to write it down in bold letters in my game notes. There were multiple occasions in the game that the Cameroonian receive a ball inside his 6 yard area with pressure less than 10 yards away and still took a touch and found a teammate with either foot. The incredible thing is how routinely he does this. I believe that he is up in the mix with Ter Stegen when it comes to taking a first touch away from a forward and distributing to teammates. Andre Onana uses a technique when distributing mid to long range balls in which he swings at the ball quickly, but has a short follow-through and almost fades away from the ball after striking it. This appears to be a very efficient technique that not enough goalkeepers use. Another thing that impresses me about Onana is his confidence which seems to be a theme in this Ajax side. He came out to punch a ball in the first half from a corner that many goalkeepers would leave, although it was headed before him by his teammate, you could see that he was confident enough to even come for that ball and might have got their had De Ligt not headed it away. Lastly I am struck by the focus of a young goalkeeper like Onana for 90 minutes. Having had very little to do throughout the game, with the exception of the Ronaldo goal in which he had no chance due to the range and power of the effort, Onana finished the game by making a few interventions that kept Juve from earning the win. The first came from a cross from Cancelo from the right that was headed toward the far-post. Onana waits until the ball passes by all the traffic then springs off of his right foot to push it wide. This is a situation that any goalkeeper knows requires an intense amount of focus and having done virtually nothing all game, Onana pulled it off in the 88th minute. He then collected the driven cross from Douglas Costa on the other side which came from the rebound of the initial save. The second instance was another cross from Cancelo from inside the box which Onana gathered low to his right. It was a driven ball and Onana did well to hold it under pressure. Onana often takes a wide stance a considerable distance from his near post when facing a close range potentially crosser which shows his intent to control his area and his confidence in his apparent athleticism to cover his near-post.

SZCZESNY: Across the field between the sticks for Juventus, Szczesny is a contrast to Onana in that he does not possess the prowess to play out from the back which perhaps Juventus could have used when dealing with the Ajax press. This was highlighted by two stray balls early on in search of his left-back which were played out of bounds. Despite this, Szczesny has really come into his own for the Old Lady. From showing inconsistent flashes of his potential at Arsenal, to proving that he may be able to fill that potential at Roma, I believe that we are finally seeing Szczesny fulfilling his potential. The Polish international was tested early on when Dusan Tadic unleashed a swerving effort from the top of the box. The ball seemed to be heading towards Szczesny’s right and he shuffled towards it. The trajectory of the ball ended up taking a swerve to Szczesny’s left forcing him to collapse to his left to collect. This showed, for me, showed his progression as the Szczesny of old may have spilled it. In the 18th minute Szczesny was tested again by a curling shot from the top left of the box by Ziyech which was arguably the save of the match. As the ball headed toward the top left corner, Szczesny took a cross-step from left to right then took his push-step with his right foot and tipped the ball over with his bottom hand (right hand). I was impressed with how quickly and sharply Szczesny was able to execute the footwork that ultimately allowed him to make the save. He chose to go with the bottom hand as the ball seemed to be dipping and landing almost behind him which presents a better opportunity to go with the bottom hand. Other than this save Szczesny did not have to make any other saves of note in the first half. He was tested very early on in the second half though. I do not believe that Szczesny had any chance with the Neres goal, because he was being screened by a few defenders and the shot was well placed, perhaps he could have taken a shuffle and dove on this occasion instead of cross-stepping as that would be quicker, but that would be asking a lot. Szczesny made a good save in the 65th minute from an effort from Veltman, the right back for Ajax. Ziyech had the ball at the top of the box and played the ball wide to the right where Veltman had made a run into the box. The Juve back line was able to cut off half of the goal which allowed Szczesny to take a step forward to cut the angle. As Veltman strikes the ball, you can see Szczesny anticipating that the ball will be struck to his left by reading the body posture and the position of the defenders cutting of the the other side of the goal. The big polish goalkeeper leans toward the direction that he has read the shot will be taken, allowing him to make the save low to his left. I do not understand the stigma behind a goalkeeper anticipating the direction of a shot. Many goalkeeper coaches would tell young goalkeepers to wait and react, but in some instances a good goalkeeper can read the body posture of a forward and make a save that would not be able to be made had they not anticipated and started their movement in that direction. It would have been extremely unlikely that Veltman could have struck the ball through defenders across his body into the far corner, so why not begin leaning in the other direction? A situation as such reminds me of an interview with Edwin Van der Sar in which he described a free-kick at the top of the box. He stated that 9/10 of the time the shooter will go over the wall, so if he’s playing the odds and wants the highest percentage of success for his team he should anticipate moving in that direction, right?. However, in the one time out of ten the ball goes to the goalkeeper’s side and he is beaten, he has made a mistake. I have the upmost respect for a ‘keeper that chooses to go with the odds and potentially sacrifice himself.