Champions League Performance Insights: How Liverpool profited from tactical tweaks
Friday, December 12, 2025
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UEFA's game insights unit examine Liverpool's tactical flexibility against Inter and draw lessons for young players and coaches on passing and receiving the ball.
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When Inter and Liverpool met at San Siro this week, UEFA's game insights unit found much to digest.
As UEFA Technical Observer Michael Carrick will help explain, the tactical flexibility of Liverpool was a strong feature of a match in which the upper hand oscillated between the teams.
The first video displays two points about Liverpool's set-up and how it enabled them to control the opening quarter. With a midfield four of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister, the visitors had a 4v3 in the middle, as is evident in clip one.
The second point concerns their defensive triangle at the back, seen in clip two, which shows how with Gravenberch screening in front of the centre-backs, they had a numerical superiority over Inter's front two.
Elaborating on the demands of Gravenberch's position, former Manchester United pivot Carrick said: "It's a very unselfish role. You have to let the game come to you and can't go chasing because that then leaves space for the opposition to exploit.
"The less work you do around the ball means you've done the job well as it's about prevention and being clever – being able to block off passing lanes and shut down certain spaces without even being close to the ball. Doing that well means you can have a big impact on where the ball ends up, forcing it to where you'd prefer it to go."
"The key part is being ahead of the game, reading and anticipating in order to be in control."
For Inter a notable feature of their first-half display was the ball-carrying work of their centre-backs, notably Manuel Akanji who ended the game with 24 carries – five more than the second-ranked Alessandro Bastoni, his fellow defender.
Liverpool may have had a plus-one in other parts of the pitch but not in the attacking third and Inter took advantage. "We managed to play out with the ball," said their coach, Christian Chivu.
When a centre-back steps up with the ball, it raises the question of risk versus reward and, in Carrick's view, it is important for coaches to focus on the reward aspect. "The biggest part of developing players, especially centre-backs, in trying to play out and build up is to look for the solution and not worry about the problem," he said.
The video above gives an example of Inter advancing with the ball, and it is followed by a clip of Liverpool's response: namely, their high pressing in the second half.
"Akanji went a few times all the way into the midfield so we pressed them higher," explained Slot.
Liverpool's forwards were now pressing in a 4-4-2 and this graphic above displays how their out-of-possession shape shifted as a consequence. The impact was significant, as illustrated by the fact they had more than twice as many high ball recoveries in the second half as in the first.
Reflecting on the considerations for a coach when changing to a high-press strategy, Carrick added: "A key question is what are our strengths against their strengths? What's their weakness against our weakness? It's about trying to manipulate the game so our strengths highlight their weakness. It can be as simple as that.
"There's a lot to think about within this, such as who's best for us out of possession or who presses well to regain the ball? You also have to consider the angles of press, as which foot the goalkeeper or centre-backs favour determines from which side you'll engage them."
For Liverpool, the tweak was effective though they also benefitted from the impact made by substitutes Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz in snatching their late victory – as seen in the final video below.
Coaching considerations: Lessons for Elite Youth Development
For UEFA's game insights unit, it is important to draw lessons from a match like Inter vs Liverpool to apply to the grassroots and below we pinpoint two specific areas – receiving and passing the ball – and highlight key examples with insights from two coaching experts.
Receiving the ball
Liverpool's Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk in the video above provide excellent examples of players adjusting their positioning before receiving the ball, in order to give themselves more options. In the case of Robertson, for example, this gives him the opportunity to attack 1v1 either on the inside or outside or to pass.
Damien Della Santa, a former first-team coach with Olympique Lyonnais and individual player development coach, offers the following advice – and coaching drill – for developing this ability in young footballers at elite grassroots level:
"I'd advise players to see their body orientation as an opportunity. The more you can scan and adjust and open up your body, the more choices you have.
"My key message to players is to always open up the side of their dominant foot. If you have 180 degrees in front of you, you have more options for what to do with the ball. This makes you less predictable and can put you in a dominant position over the player marking you.
"With this 3v1 drill, for the red players that don't have the ball, the aim is to be on the move constantly to ensure one of them is creating an angle for the ball-holder 90 degrees on his right and the other is doing the same on his left.
"I tell players to find the maximum space. They should be constantly adjusting to be available to receive, and the aim is that when the ball-holder turns onto his dominant foot to pass to one player – sending the defender in that direction – the third player will be totally free.
"As for the passer, when they get the ball, they should always aim – as mentioned above – to open their body towards their dominant foot so they're immediately ready to play the pass."
Passing the ball
Inter's passing sequence in this last video showcases the benefits of playing the ball to the correct foot and with the right weight of pass – and every single pass fits that template.
Sven Swinnen, head of coaching and methodology at KV Mechelen, offers the following tips on teaching passing principles:
"Small details make a big difference, such as keeping an open body position and scanning. I tell players to be aware of the space around them so even before they get the ball, they need to scan as much as possible to predict what will happen. That scanning will help determine the quality of the pass, helping them see the correct foot to pass to and where the opposition are in relation to their team-mate.
"Another consideration is the angle of the pass, which is influenced by the body position of the recipient. If he is well positioned, then you can give the pass at a better angle.
"As for the speed of pass, you don't want players smashing it like a shot but playing it with a good tempo and not too slow. Johan Cruyff once said the right pass will decide what the recipient does next with the ball. Communication is important in this respect. I tell players to give the pass a name – literally calling out their team-mate's name in training – but it could be a certain look or signal too. It helps your team-mate to know the pass is going to their left foot, for example, so they have to open up on that side.
"Of course, the speed depends on the distance and that affects how you deliver it. When you play a pass over 15 or20 metres, you need to hit the ball with the top of your foot. With a shorter distance, you'll play it with your instep.
"Finally, it helps to train technical skills in game situations and so I'd recommend 'rondos' or small-sided games to practise passing. And I'd recommend no restrictions on touches as you want players to be making decisions as they would in a game. This way they learn to play as fast or as slow as is needed and to test their decision-making as much as possible."
Passing fundamentals
• Scanning
• Body position
• Speed
• Communication – verbal & non-verbal
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