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.

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.

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.