Champions League Performance Insights: The Arsenal plan that almost stopped Paris

Irresistible force meets immovable object. That was one way of billing Saturday's UEFA Champions League final between the competition's top scorers and its meanest defence. The Budapest showpiece certainly lived up to that billing as Arsenal, with their superb defensive organisation, forced Paris Saint-Germain – the irresistible attacking force – to dig deeper than at any previous point this season, before their eventual triumph in a penalty shoot-out.

To follow up their initial post-match analysis, UEFA's game insights unit – working with the UEFA Technical Observer Group – took a closer look at just how Arsenal pushed to the limit Luis Enrique's array of wonderful attacking talents.

"I think they're the best team in the world," said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta afterwards, explaining that he had "never seen before" such a spellbinding blend of collective organisation and individual quality. "It's very difficult to dominate them," he added. "That's why when you're not able to do that, you have to close all the spaces."

The heat map illustrates the extent to which Arsenal succeeded in closing those spaces. Paris attempted 534 passes from inside the opposition half against Arsenal's block but as Luis Enrique affirmed: "We couldn't find the spaces and it was very difficult."

The fact that Arsenal scored their goal so early made Paris' task harder according to Luis Enrique, who added: "The match started in the best way for them. After that, they know how to defend."

Before focusing on that defending, we should note that Arsenal's sixth-minute strike was the consequence of Arteta's choice of Kai Havertz as central attacker.

Rather than stick with Viktor Gyökeres, whose runs in behind were decisive in the semi-final, Arteta chose the German, who operated as a false nine with freedom to drift. Arteta's plan asked questions of a Paris defence which operates man to man, as seen in the video above in sequences ending in the goal and also the opportunity fashioned for Havertz just before half-time.

Arsenal's central compactness

Reflecting in a meeting of UEFA's Technical Observers, Steve Holland emphasised the effectiveness of Arsenal's defensive operation, saying: "PSG had 75% possession, total control in two-thirds of the pitch, but hit a wall at the edge of the box. For all that control and possession, they didn't create too much."

The data underlines Holland's point – both in the initial heat map and in this second graphic below. Compared with every previous match of their campaign, Paris had their lowest number of open-play shots on target (none) and lowest non-penalty xG (0.8).

What is clear from the video below is Arsenal's focus on denying Paris space in the central areas of the pitch. As Martin Ødegaard reflected: "We felt we had good control, even though they had a lot of ball."

On the question of control, Aitor Karanka observed that, with their zonal approach, Arsenal's "central defenders didn't leave their position" when the Paris attackers drifted – which is where they have hurt opponents previously in this campaign.

As for Paris and the control in their play, Luis Enrique made the point that his own team had tried "to attack with a bit more control so [Arsenal could not] counterattack".

How Gunners wingers defended

With Arsenal's focus on the central areas, this meant there was a little more space to exploit out wide for Paris. This in turn meant a significant defensive role for Arteta's wingers, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, in supporting their full-backs against the threat on the flanks. "When the ball went to the wings, they were quick to press them," said Karanka.

"They doubled up so well throughout the game," added Roy Hodgson, and the video above shows both Arsenal wingers at work. In the case of Trossard, he was seen dropping into the back line at times to form a five – something that midfielders Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly did too from their central stations. Overall, the view of the Technical Observer Group was that Arsenal "defended fantastically well in those one v one situations."

Coaching reflection: Reinforcing the defensive principles

"The beauty of Saturday's game was showing a team, Arsenal, that didn't go man-to-man yet defended very, very well," said UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou during the post-final discussion on defending prompted by the English team's display at the Puskás Aréna.

For UEFA's Technical Observer Group, this was a contest featuring a contrast in defensive strategies, between Arsenal's zonal approach and Paris, who did go man to man. It offered food for thought, moreover, about the importance of teaching the defensive principles that underpin the different strategies seen this season.

"In academies now, they mostly work between the boxes" was the comment from one member of the group. "Players need to know how to cope with contact defensively and offensively in the box," said another, while a third voice noted the difficulty for defenders in dominant youth teams of getting the necessary regular exposure to practising defensive principles.

This led to a collective call for a renewed focus on prioritising defending in youth development – especially at a time of outstanding speed, physicality, technique and tactics on the attacking side.

Rui Faria said: "It's about education and looking to time without the ball, as this has the same importance as time with the ball. We need to think about the work on the individual principles of defending, going from the basics – one v ones, two v twos – to everything that you need to teach during development."

Edin Terzić elaborated on this point, saying: "You're talking about finishing, passing, controlling, offensive headers... But technique also includes defensive clearances; with the head, with the right and left foot, blocking passes, crosses, shots and so on."

Read more about the art of defending in the Champions League for centre-backs and for full-backs.