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Tactics

Tactical Analysis: Bayern Munich’s continued dominance against Barcelona shows just how far the Catalans have fallen

Just under 13 months after that historic 8-2 demolition in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich were back at it – this time for the blockbuster Matchday 1 Group E clash of the 2021/22 campaign of the tournament. A few things changed after that, most notably for Barcelona who saw new manager Ronald Koeman taking charge, Lionel Messi leaving, and a few more notable departures taking place including those of Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann, both of whom went to Atlético Madrid. Bayern’s core squad, meanwhile, remained relatively unchanged, though, key defenders Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba departed while the likes of Dayot Upamecano and Marcel Sabitzer came in from RB Leipzig, along with new manager Julian Nagelsmann. Still, old wounds remained unlicked, and...

Performance Analysis: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Dream Manchester United Return against Newcastle United

Over 12 years after his last match for Manchester United – the 2009 UEFA Champions League final which saw Barcelona emerge with the coveted trophy – Cristiano Ronaldo was back in a red shirt at the club level. In that time away, he had gone and basically won everything he possibly could with Real Madrid and later Juventus alongside his Euro 2016 success for Portugal, establishing himself as one of the best football players in the world. Eventually, though, his gargantuan salary became too much to handle for Juventus, who were happy to move him on this summer. A bit of a transfer saga developed as Manchester City seemingly declined to sign him initially but after failing to land Harry Kane looked all set to bring him to the Etihad Stadium, however, a last-minute twist saw the Portuguese int...

Tactical Analysis: How England nearly caught Italy off guard in the Euro 2020 final

This was it. A month, 50 games, and 140 goals after the curtain-raiser in Rome between Turkey and Italy, this was the ultimate stage of the Euros – the final. Coincidentally, Italy represented one half of the story. while hosts England were the other. Just as he had done against Germany, Gareth Southgate went for a back-three system, although the difference here was that he was not mirroring his opposition, but instead working against a 4-3-3. That decision took less than two minutes to make a lasting impact on the match, as England scored the fastest-ever goal at a Euro final. After an intense battle, Italy found an equaliser in the second half to take the game beyond the normally allocated 90 minutes. There were no goals in extra time either, so penalties were needed to decide the winner...

Tactical Analysis: How Argentina’s disciplined defending helped them beat Brazil in the Copa América final

After 27 matches of enthralling South American football, we reached the final of the 2021 Copa América, where Brazil and Argentina were set to do battle. The Seleção were the defending champions, and with an unbeaten record to this stage involving just one draw, they certainly were the team to beat. Argentina, on the other hand, had the chance to become the joint-most successful side in the competition’s history with a 15th title, but it would be the first since 1993 as Lionel Messi had never won a major international trophy for his country. An intense battle ensued, with crunching challenges and utterly disgusting fouls flying everywhere, but in the end, Argentina triumphed thanks to the only goal of the match. The standard of football on show was not particularly high for the a...

Tactical Analysis: How Italy outclassed Belgium in the Euros

The 16th edition of the European Championships continued to deliver football and entertainment of the highest order as we entered the quarterfinal stage, and the biggest clash of the last-eight featured Belgium and Italy, who squared off in the Allianz Arena in Munich. Both sides had exited in the quarterfinals in Euro 2016, but one of their fates was set to change here. Belgium had a couple of key players including Eden Hazard out due to injury, while Italy were fit and firing as Roberto Mancini had a winning formula working brilliantly even before the group stage started. After a hard-fought 90 minutes, Italy emerged 2-1 winners thanks to a couple of very good finishes in the first half. In this analysis, we will take a look at how Roberto Mancini’s side were able to beat the Belgians, a...

NGO calls for prosecution of security operatives who torture suspects

Access to Justice, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on judicial reforms, has called for the prosecution of security operatives who torture suspects. The NGO on Monday released a statement signed by Joseph Otteh, its convener, and Deji Ajare, project director, to commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Access to Justice said despite the fact that the Anti-Torture Act 2017 prohibits the torture of suspects, security agencies in Nigeria still engage in “brutal and inhumane tactics”. It noted that since the enactment of the act, no one has been prosecuted for perpetrating acts of torture. The NGO called on Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation, to as matter of urgency make the “rules and regulations for the effective implementation of t...

Euro 2020 Matchday 2 Review: Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands progress, Scotland hold England, Germany blow Portugal away & much more

The second matchday of Euro 2020 once again featured 24 nations participating in 12 fixtures across the six groups, and there is lots to unpack from the week’s action. So, let’s get straight into it in this review: Group A Turkey and Wales faced off in Baku for the Group A opener, and it certainly was a tense affair as the two sides were fighting to have a realistic chance of reaching the knockouts. Turkey looked rather hopeless against Italy, and they weren’t particularly good in the first half here either as their defence was pulled apart effortlessly and there was space available almost everywhere in their half. Gareth Bale often dropped deep for Wales, and from such positions, he attempted a fair few chipped passes in behind the Turkish backline. Aaron Ramsey was most often the recipie...

Tactical Analysis: How Scotland’s in-match adjustments contained England in the Euros

For the 100th time in a competitive football match, less-than-friendly neighbours England and Scotland prepared to face each other. This was their first clash at the Euros since (look away Scottish readers) 1996, which was also at Wembley Stadium, where a certain man with bleached hair scored a rather good goal. This time around, England and Scotland’s match was their second group game, but the difference was that the hosts had won their opening clash while the visitors had lost theirs, as opposed to both drawing. So, this game bore greater importance for Steve Clarke’s side, who needed to win to keep their chances of progression to the knockouts in their own hands. A gripping tactical battle followed, which involved both managers making various changes during the match to give their side ...

President Buhari orders IGP to reduce insecurity to barest minimum

President Muhammadu Buhari, has ordered Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba to ensure insecurity is reduced to the barest minimum. This is even as the Police Council made up of the President, Vice President, governors, ministers of Police Affairs, Interior and the Federal Capital Territory, confirmed Baba as the IGP. Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, who confirmed the development at the end of the one and half hours meeting, said he was unanimously confirmed. President Buhari had on April 6, appointed Baba as acting the Inspector General of Police. Baba was a Deputy Inspector General of Police before his promotion. Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting held at the First Lady Conference Room, the main purpose of the meeting was to “get the appo...

Tactical Analysis: How Manchester City undid themselves against Chelsea in the Champions League final

After three encounters this season in the Premier League and FA Cup, Manchester City and Chelsea squared off in the biggest match of the European club football season – the Champions League final. Pep Guardiola’s side played Frank Lampard’s men off the park in Stamford Bridge to kick off an incredible winning streak at the very beginning of 2021, but new manager Thomas Tuchel won both in the FA Cup semi-final and reverse league fixture. All of that would not have a big bearing on this match, as City were looking to lift the first-ever Champions League trophy while Chelsea were looking to win their second. After an intense strategic battle, Chelsea emerged 1-0 winners thanks to Kai Havertz’s first-half goal. There were many intriguing tactical aspects to the game, right from player selectio...

Analysis: How Villarreal’s adaptability helped them beat Manchester United

In the second-last match of continental football in Europe for the 2020/21 season, Villarreal and Manchester United prepared to square off for the UEFA Europa League trophy. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was leading the Red Devils into his first-ever final as a manager, meaning that this was also his first chance to lift a trophy for the club, and it would also be United’s first major honour since 2017 when they won the same competition. Villarreal, meanwhile, were battling for their first-ever coveted piece of silverware barring the Tercera División and UEFA Intertoto Cup, as Unai Emery was eyeing his fourth Europa League success in five finals. The Yellow Submarine had an additional incentive as this was a bonus shot for them to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, as their sevent...

Analysis: Why Chelsea’s tactics weren’t enough to stop Leicester magic

Just more than two weeks before this day in 2016, Leicester City were celebrating a miraculous Premier League title after Chelsea halted Tottenham Hotspur’s title charge for good at Stamford Bridge. Fast forward five years and those two accidental allies had become adversaries in the FA Cup final. Chelsea’s season had started well under Frank Lampard, but a terrible run of form which saw them slump out of the European spots from the top of the table spelt the end of the English manager’s tenure. His replacement was German tactician Thomas Tuchel, who almost instantly got a supremely talented squad firing their way back to the top-four and into two cup finals, one of which was the Champions League. A triumph in the FA Cup final would mean that the ex-Paris Saint-Germain manager delivered ne...