Champions League Performance Insights: How semi-finalists showcase the key phases
Monday, April 27, 2026
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UEFA Technical Observers Erik ten Hag and Gaizka Mendieta help explain the four key phases of open play – as executed by the semi-final teams.
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The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League has reached the semi-final stage and this week's first legs will bring together teams who each shone, for different reasons, in the previous round.
All sides at this elite level have an abundance of qualities, though in the quarter-final second legs each of them excelled in one particular area of open play.
Within the open-play moments of a football match, the game will always be in one of the four phases featured above: attacking organisation, defensive transition, defensive organisation and attacking transition.
In the following analysis, the UEFA game insights unit will explain how the semi-finalists offer an example to coaches of how to function effectively in each phase.
Defining the game model
• Attacking organisation
Established possession vs opponents' organised defence
• Defensive transition
Opponents' possession immediately after turnover before you regain defensive organisation
• Defensive organisation
Organised defence vs opponents' established possession
• Attacking transition
Possession immediately after turnover before opponents regain defensive organisation
Attacking organisation
In the knockout rounds we have already highlighted Bayern's ability to combine creativity with control and this is illustrated once more in the clip below, taken from their quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid.
"We had a lot of possession and always felt we could score," said coach Vincent Kompany, whose team certainly displayed their ability to convert possession into scoring chances. Against Madrid, they had 21 sequences of ten passes or more – with five of them ending in shots, including two of their goals (following spells of possession of 56 and 42 seconds respectively).
On Bayern's structured attacking, UEFA Technical Observer Erik ten Hag offered the following assessment: "They have their shape and within that, they're able to keep the ball under pressure and stay patient when in possession. They advance up the pitch with the help of runs in behind and switches of play, and they also use the width well with overlaps and underlaps. Finally, they make sure they get good numbers into the box."
The graphic above underlines Bayern's threat in this area of open play – ten of their 21 shots in the second leg came in the attacking organisation phase. This contrasts notably with their semi-final opponents Paris who, as the graphic shows, were particularly dangerous from attacking transition – something we will return to later.
Defensive transition
"When I see them track back when we lose the ball, the habit they have... it's just amazing." Those were Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta's words after the clean sheet gained in the quarter-final second leg against Sporting CP – and they are supported perfectly by the video below, which offers a case study of the second phase under the microscope, namely defensive transition.
Clip two offers an outstanding example of Arsenal's work in defensive transitions, displaying the sprint speeds of Arteta's men as they race back – indeed, for five of the players, that was their top speed in the whole game. "What's impressive are Arsenal's quick reactions in the moment they lose the ball with the recovery runs of almost the whole team," said Ten Hag. "The way they sprint back is excellent."
The data below emphasises Arsenal's strength in this area as they allowed Sporting CP only one shot in this phase, which was from a high regain in the Gunners' own half. This means they did not allow a single shot against them from turnovers in Sporting CP territory.
Defensive organisation
If Arsenal's strong defending of counterattacks is supported by the data above, so too is the superb defensive organisation of their semi-final rivals, Atleti.
Against Barcelona, they conceded an overall xG of 2.22 yet the lion's share of that was from transition situations. During their 2-1 second-leg loss, Atleti faced 26 Barcelona possession sequences of ten or more passes and, from that number, they allowed an opposition shot just twice. The video below shows Atleti in this phase of play and we see how comfortable they are defending during a long sequence of 19 passes, displaying formidable organisation as well as patience in a defensive block.
How do they do it? According to coach Diego Simeone it takes "a lot of work, a lot of commitment, a lot of heart" while the long-serving Antoine Griezmann said it was a matter of "working together, running together".
UEFA Technical Observer Gaizka Mendieta pinpointed other key details when he said: "They don't take many risks and they put players behind the ball. They close the centre of the pitch and force teams to play wide and when they try to come inside, Atleti have players there.
"They don't press to get the ball back but to force an error and get the opposition to play backwards. When they defend deep, they have a line of five or sometimes six."
Attacking transitions
The clinical counterattacks of Paris were a talking point once more after Luis Enrique's side won at Liverpool in the quarter-final second leg, and the video below reinforces why.
One key detail is their risk-taking in leaving players upfield at times while defending. According to coach Luis Enrique, speaking after the second leg, it is a risk worth taking as "it means at any moment we can have a counterattack and kill off the game".
At Anfield, the rewards were evident. The earlier graphic on Bayern and Paris showed that the Ligue 1 team scored both their second-leg goals from attacking transitions. It was not just against Liverpool either as nine of their 17 goals in the knockout rounds have come from attacking transitions, compared to five from organised attacks.
Assessing the clips above, Mendieta offered the following analysis of how their forwards counterattack so effectively: "In clip one, Ousmane Dembélé comes to drop and that leaves space behind the defenders for their very fast players – their wingers or full-backs – who join them in attack.
"As we see in the second clip, they're always trying to get the first pass to the forward line. They're very intelligent in creating the space in front of them to then attack it with 1v1s with the players they have. They take some risks, they're very confident, very fast, and as soon as they get the ball back, the front three come alive."
Coaching reflection – Keeping the message clear
Why is it important for a coach to know what he wants from each phase of the game model? According to UEFA Technical Observer Erik ten Hag, the answer is that it helps provide clarity regarding "where your opportunities lie to hurt the opposition and which threats you need to neutralise".
It also allows a clear picture for players. "This concept provides a structure for principles and rules for players to know their job, supporting their co-operation in and between the different units," explained Ten Hag, who lists below the various aims for each phase from a coaching perspective
• Attacking organisation
"Control of the ball, bringing dynamic patterns and attacking threat; rest defence."
• Defensive transition
"Quick reactions from every player; press and/or drop as a unit."
• Defensive organisation
"High/mid/low block; good distances between team-mates/to ball/opponents; triggers to press/recover."
• Attacking transition
"Go for goal or keep the ball."
A framework is crucial for teams to structure their approach, yet, to add another consideration, we should also note the need for flexibility.
Elaborating on this, Ten Hag's fellow observer Gaizka Mendieta explained: "It's very important to understand what you want in each phase, in any part of the pitch and in any position. It’s important to make your players know what you want and how you want to achieve it – and the model should be clear with just two or three details. Players don't need too much information.
"Coaches love to have intelligent players who think on the pitch. You can give them the tools of how you think the game is going to go but games go their own way and you need people reacting accordingly – with the instructions you have as a game plan, they need different alternatives within that.
"In your game plan, you're anticipating things you think might happen but, on the pitch, things change and so you need to adapt. So it's important you have really good players not just technically, physically and mentally but also in terms of understanding and reading the game and what's needed."
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