Champions League Performance Insights: How Inter breached Barcelona's high line
Friday, May 9, 2025
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UEFA technical instructor Phil Church shines a light on Barcelona's high defensive line – and how Inter sought to get behind it.
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Inter and Barcelona's Champions League semi-final second leg was an instant classic – a seven-goal feast which showcased the talents of both teams.
One of the strongest reasons for the compelling spectacle, not just on Wednesday night but in the 3-3 first-leg draw that went before, was the contrast in styles and for UEFA's performance analysis unit, a particularly intriguing aspect was Barcelona's high back line and how Inter sought to exploit the space behind it.
To begin, the graphic above offers an illustration of Barcelona's back line without the ball at San Siro. It shows that the average distance from his own goal of the deepest Blaugrana defender was 40.8m.
According to UEFA technical instructor Phil Church, a high defensive line has three main benefits:
• Reduce the space and time the opposition have to play in;
• Reduce passing options for the opposition;
• Allow you to get multiple players and pressure on the ball quickly to regain and control the game.
This opening video provides two examples of Barcelona's brave high line. First, we see a clip from Wednesday's second leg which begins with them retreating when the ball goes to Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
A key detail comes during the Inter build-up that follows, when Denzel Dumfries plays backwards. This serves as a trigger for the Barcelona back line to push back up to halfway as a unit, and thereby reduce the space for Inter to play in. As Church explained, players operating within a strategy like Barcelona's need a clear understanding of what their triggers are, such as a turnover of the ball.
Another detail highlighted is the positioning of the Barcelona defenders who are standing sideways on. Church explained: "Players in this position need to be scanning constantly to ensure they're aware of where the ball, opponent and their own players are. They also need the agility to spring into action and the powers of acceleration to either press or recover quickly."
Clip two offers an example from earlier in the season against Borussia Dortmund, and it shows the Barcelona response to a long pass by the opposition goalkeeper. As the ball travels forward, their midfield unit retreat and put pressure on the Dortmund midfield. The defenders respond by pushing up to make the space more compact and when the ball is eventually played forward, there are Dortmund players in offside positions.
Communication and synchronisation
For a team to play with such a high back line, each individual needs to be communicating constantly with their team-mates to ensure the shape of the team is effective. They need the right depth, width and spaces between players and units, and this includes the goalkeeper – hence the focus on Wojciech Szczęsny in the second video below.
Szczęsny's role is to protect the space behind the defensive line – and in clip one we see him poised on the edge of his box as Nicolò Barrella plays the forward pass. In the second clip, he is equally alert and sprints out of his penalty area to beat Federico Dimarco to the ball in behind.
According to Church, the higher the line, the greater the distance for the opposition to travel if the back line is broken, giving more time players to recover.
Psychology of playing a high line
• Aggressive mindset to press, recover at speed and tackle with strength
• Confidence to keep a high line knowing you're leaving space behind
Barcelona's bold strategy incorporates the familiar question of risk vs reward. On the risk factor, Inter, as we will see in the videos below, had moments when they got beyond the defence and in the chart above, we see the Nerazzurri players who had most runs in behind – including wing-back Denzel Dumfries.
Dumfries was a key contributor to Inter's threat when progressing in the wide channels, which we see displayed in the video above. Simone Inzaghi's team have a fluid system and, in clip one, centre-back Francesco Acerbi drives forward, drawing three Barcelona players towards him before sliding a pass to Henrikh Mkhitaryan out on the left.
According to Church, unopposed possession in their own defensive third was the trigger for Inter's defensive and midfield players to move forward. He explained: "They allow movement up the pitch from defenders and midfielders to overload the middle area in order to steal and counter quickly in order to exploit space behind the high defensive line with quick, powerful runners such as Marcus Thuram."
The second clip takes us back to the first leg and the offside goal scored by Mkhitaryan following a diagonal ball over the defence by Dumfries. On Inter's approach, Church added: "The strikers take up positions between the centre-back and full-back in order that team-mates, when entering the middle areas of the pitch, can play diagonal passes that play in behind the defence and beyond the defensive line.
"This is more difficult to defend as the defensive unit retreats backwards and needs to shift across at the same time as attackers run beyond into space."
To expand further on Inter's progressions, they also had success with their penetrative passing in central areas, as displayed in this final video. First, we see an action from the first leg as Mkhitaryan wins back the ball and sends Thuram through on goal. Then we see Dimarco regain the ball and feed Dumfries who sets up Lautaro Martínez to score on Wednesday. The common theme, for Church, is their ability to "overload central areas, steal the ball and counter quickly".
The final graphic above illustrates Inter's line-breaking passes – both through the Barcelona midfield and defence – and it underlines the point about their ability to progress both centrally and in the wide areas.
On Wednesday night, they displayed their capacity to play through, around or over the high defensive line and, as a broader coaching point, Church said this demanded a range of skills. Passing and receiving skills are important along with shielding and disguise. Players also need to link with team-mates making runs off the ball – be it to receive a pass or draw defenders out of position.
How to attack the Inter way
• Recognise the spaces between defending players and pass with speed and accuracy;
• Fast attacking players who play high on the defensive line and can break behind;
• Bravery to play quickly in tight areas with the opposition squeezing space.
Implications for the training pitch
Here Phil Church, a UEFA technical instructor and senior coach educator with the English FA, reflects on lessons for coaches from the strategies analysed above.
How can coaches implement this into their training environment?
All practices must be relevant, realistic and repeatable. The scenarios practised need to be situations that could occur during a match, in the correct space, with the appropriate number of players, a realistic speed of play and pressure on the ball, for example. It is important to practise specific game problems such as quick turnovers in midfield, dribbling opponents that disrupt your defensive unit, or long diagonal passes that break the space between units and individual players. These are potential problems that players will need to solve.
It is also important to train the mentality to defend with this strategy. It has risk and requires confidence to maintain an aggressive approach to keep space tight, while allowing space behind your defensive unit. It also requires confidence in your ability to win duels and press in tight spaces to steal or disrupt. Repetition of specific game scenarios will improve players' ability to recognise triggers and react appropriately and effectively.
What exercises can help young coaches train and deliver these strategies?
It is useful to build up the technical defensive qualities of individual players, such as scanning, tracking, intercepting and tackling. These can be organised in 1v1 sessions or small-sided game scenarios. It is also good to build this into defensive units working together against opponents trying to attack and score. Including transition and direction is important to maintain realism. This can then be transferred into coaching a more team-based strategy whereby units of a team work together in match scenarios to solve realistic game problems.
How do you see this content shaping future coaches?
Tactics and strategies are ever evolving. The deployment of a system or individual players can change many times during a match. Adopting a high defensive line involves a variety of challenges: different formations; individual player mismatches; teams that defend 1v1 across the pitch; fast, direct play and possession-based control in attack. The principles of reducing space and time for your opponents and applying quick pressure on the ball when out of possession will remain, while the application of the depth of the last defensive line will continue to adapt.
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