Champions League Performance Insights: Making corner runs count
Monday, April 6, 2026
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Ahead of the quarter-finals, UEFA Technical Observer Erik ten Hag and goalkeeping expert Hans Leitert shine a light on how teams open up their opponents through organised attacking.
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When the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals commence this week, it is worth keeping an eye on the organised attacking approaches of the eight participating teams.
That is the view of UEFA's game insights unit, based on the evidence of the last set of round of 16 fixtures. If counterattacking caught the eye in the knockout phase play-offs, organised attacking was a defining aspect of the last-16 second legs.
As we will explore below, teams built convincing wins on the back of dominating possession and disrupting their opponents' defensive structures – not least with the use of corner runs.
The graphic above shows that among the eight victorious sides on Matchday 12, only Arsenal had less possession than their opponents. Four of the eight had at least 60% of the ball, while five of them were so dominant in terms of chances created that they ended their matches at least three open-play goals better off than the opposition.
The role of goalkeepers
The goalkeeper's role in starting the play is the first factor to dwell on. UEFA Technical Observer Erik ten Hag identified three ways in which they distributed the ball: through, around or over the opposition.
The video above begins with examples of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García playing through Newcastle United's pressure in his side's 7-2 second-leg success. According to Ten Hag, the key detail to note is how García is "attracting the Newcastle forwards to then outplay the opposition".
The second and third clips show Liverpool's Alisson Becker and Arsenal's David Raya playing around and over their respective opponents. In Alisson's case, Ten Hag sees him "inviting pressure and then urging Ibrahima Konaté to then play direct", and adds that "Ryan Gravenberch dropping to attract Lucas Torreira higher up the pitch increases the opportunity to retain possession and for Alexis Mac Allister to exploit the subsequent space".
As for Raya "playing over the press", Ten Hag highlights the excellent movement in front of him. "With one vs ones across the pitch, Gabriel Martinelli loses his marker, Jarell Quansah, which allows target striker Viktor Gyökeres to lay the ball off to him, and the attack speeds up from there."
The demands on today's goalkeepers are no more apparent than in the Matchday 12 display of Barcelona custodian Joan García, reflected by the variety of his distribution which is mapped out above. His passes are not just varied – around, through and over – but extend to every area of the pitch.
On the attributes needed for this, UEFA goalkeeping expert Hans Leitert says: "It demands a lot from the keeper both in and out of possession and we can clearly see that the skills required to fulfil the game plans are quite complex.
"Keepers need to be aware of the pressing patterns of their opponent. They need to know what kind of options they're likely to find when playing around, when playing through the press or who to target when playing direct/long."
"A corner run is typically an 'in-to-out' run into a wider area. It's performed as a way of progressing and, hopefully, creating from wider areas."
Corner runs
To shift the focus to corner runs, the video below starts with examples from Newcastle and Barcelona. Often against organised defences, the only space is out wide, so well-worked corner runs are valuable.
Speed, timing and coordination are all crucial, and Newcastle's move in clip one below features all three. Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes are already anticipating Kieran Trippier's pass to Anthony Elanga and moving forward as Barcelona's defenders step up.
Commenting on clips one and two, Ten Hag says: "We see a first-time cross to the first post with strong movement by Gordon. Then, in clip two, it's a one-touch cross to the second post for Raphinha, who's moving in at speed and wins the penalty."
On Barcelona's build-up, Ten Hag points to the movement of Fermín López, who is rewarded by "a fabulous pass from [Lamine] Yamal to meet his corner run". Few players, even at elite level, are capable of playing the disguised pass Yamal delivers with the outside of his foot, yet Fermín reads his team-mate's intentions perfectly, understanding where the pass will go and when to time his deep run.
With corner runs, balls to the front and back post are not defenders' only concern. As displayed by clips three and four, attackers will also target the cutback zone, and here are two strong examples, with Bayern München and Sporting CP both scoring.
"The individual skill from Harry Kane is world class, but look at the space created for him by the corner run from Josip Stanišić," says Ten Hag of clip three. "Then, in the next clip, you effectively have two corner runs, from Daniel Bragança and then Francisco Trincão, and it's a double cutback before Maximiliano Araújo scores."
Another function of the corner run is to stretch the opposition and this is the focus of this final video, which shows runs that are not rewarded with a pass but lead to Sporting CP scoring their second goal against Bodø/Glimt and Manchester City creating a shooting chance for Erling Haaland.
Ten Hag adds: "With Sporting, the corner run by right-back Iván Fresneda attracts Bodø's left-sided centre-back, Jostein Gundersen, and Sporting create a two vs two against the back line."
Coaching reflection: Training organised attacks against a low block
Here, UEFA Technical Observer Erik ten Hag presents a training-ground drill for opening up defences in a low block.
"This is an attack-vs-defence drill focused on breaking down a low block through stretching the pitch in length and width, and challenging the defensive unit with a series of overloads," he explains.
"It is 10 vs 8 for the first two passages of play, but after the third passage begins, a ninth and then tenth defender come into the game after 15 and 30 seconds respectively.
Rules of the game
- First ball played from GK to middle CB
- Obligation to switch at least once
- Defending team score in mini-goals on transition
- Second and third balls start from coach
- Throw-ins to be taken within four seconds
Ten Hag adds: "For the attacking team, the focus is on connecting over small distances before an obligatory switch of play. It demands opposite movements and runs both centrally and wide. And with every switch, there must be an underlap, overlap or corner run.
"For the defending team, the aim is to apply and build pressure towards the ball. The defenders should look to block the middle and send the opposition wide. To be compact in width, the team should be inside three vertical lanes. To be compact in length, they should use the edge of the box as a reference. To apply pressure, every back pass or switch should be a prompt for the back line to get higher."
During his playing career in his native Netherlands, Erik ten Hag captained Twente to the Dutch Cup title in 2000/01. He has subsequently held head coaching roles in the Netherlands, England and Germany – notably at Ajax (2018–22), where he won three Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups and led the team to the 2018/19 Champions League semi-finals, and at Manchester United, where he won the English League Cup in 2022/23 and the FA Cup in 2023/24.
A member of UEFA's goalkeeping expert group, Hans Leitert has coached goalkeepers at clubs in his native Austria, Greece, Spain and England.
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