Taras Dmitrik disassembles the tactical in-depth fight of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League between Shakhtar and Roma.
Yesterday there was a very cool tactical confrontation, in which the emphasis was placed on not giving chances to the opponent in the attack. For both teams, this turned out, as indicated by the xG account (the overall quality factor of created scoring chances) - 0. 63 - 0. 22. In other words: that Roma, that Shakhtar had not scored even one goal in the sharpness of moments.
It's not a weak attack (look at the effectiveness in recent matches, and those and others), but in a very pragmatic and precise to the smallest detail on the game from both specialists.
The plan in attack Di Francesco released the same lineup as in Kharkov - the classic 4-3-3, imprisoned for more defensive football, as in the defense they transformed into 4-5-1.
In the attack, the center of the field remained virtually empty. Nainggolan and Strootman went high on the half-flanks, and De Rossi stayed behind more to secure the opponent's counterattack than for the draw.
All attacks Roma spent through the flanks, with the usual roll to the left, where the combined Kolarov, Perotti and Strootman. Raja again fell out of the attacking actions, but at the same time he performed a very important defensive function. At the bottom of the map and middle positions - an illustration of all of the above.
Fonseca also did not change anything, except for Ordets instead of injured Krivtsov. The usual formation 4-2-3-1, which many respected foreign experts call one of the best in Europe right now.
From the very beginning of the meeting, the ball went under the control of Shakhtar, and it was rather the plan of Di Francesco, who counted on quick attacks of his players - in the positional defense Shakhtar in this draw almost does not make mistakes.
Paulo focused on the left flank - Tyson helped Ismaili and Bernard to create triangles. At the bottom of the card is Tyson's ball, which clearly demonstrates its location on the field.
Marlos fell out of the game, taking the ball in half as much as Bernard - 31 times against 61. Now to the most interesting and the most important - to protect.
Defensive master-class Shakhtar used all his usual and very effective techniques. For example, the potentially most dangerous players Perotti and Kolarova miners were deprived of the ball with the help of pressure traps. Marlos deliberately gave a pass from the flank to the semi-flank, where the Perotti zone was also not meaningfully closed. Thus, at the time of receiving the ball, Diego was trapped between Fred and Butko, who entered the selection. Marlos continued to work with Kolarov, depriving Perotti of the opportunity to throw the ball on the flank.
When the player received the ball at the very edge, he was inside a triangle formed by all the same players, who immediately began to taper.
The third option is a rare attack through the center. In such cases, one of Shakhtar's favorite tricks is to create a space in the center where the player will receive the ball from the depths, but at the same time place it so that the only option for the transfer is to pass back to the base.
In other cases, the defense was a typical 4-4-2 scheme with a maximum closed center and a small space between the center of the field and the defense. If, nevertheless, the opponent managed to get the ball there, this space narrowed as much as possible, literally squeezing it out from there.
Fatal became one moment, which seemed very strange to me, both for coaching. There were episodes when the CZ line was very high, enticing Roma players to run. At a time when someone from the Italian attack was making a breakthrough, Rakytskyi stepped forward to let the other defenders understand that it was necessary to keep the line of offside. In the first half, it worked fine. In the second, a similar moment led to a goal.
Rakytsky lost concentration and let Jack down the back. At the same time, only Yaroslav was to blame - between him and the Order there was an unacceptably long distance, into which Edin ran in. The fault lies on the shoulders of both.
Roma used a high block in defense, which was aimed at neutralizing Fred and Rakytsky. Responsible for this Jack and Nainggolan, who were pulled into the pressure when getting the ball Yaroslav.
When Fred was helping him with the build-up, the same thing was applied to him as well.
The defense of Roma was very quickly upset, depending on who has the ball from the Tender of the Miner during the attack.
As a result, I want to say that Shakhtar was the main discovery of this Champions League among the underdogs. Fonseke managed to build a tactical very strong and flexible team that attracted the attention of many foreign experts. It was a confrontation, in which very much the implementation decided. Alas, but in this regard, Roma is now trivial head and shoulders.
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