Champions League Performance Insights: How Porto beat the pressure
Friday, November 6, 2026
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With the fresh example of Gabriel Veiga's UEFA Champions League Player of the Match display against Napoli on Wednesday, UEFA's game insights unit revisits the question of how to bypass a man-to-man press – with contributions from UEFA Technical Observers Thomas Frank, Sir Gareth Southgate, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Inter coach Christian Chivu.
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In their 4-1 UEFA Champions League victory over Napoli this week, Porto excelled in their ability to escape the man-to-man press – and, in the process, gave UEFA's game insights unit plenty to think about.
After all, a man-to-man approach is a key trend in elite football and here was a strong case study of a team successfully bypassing such pressure. Nobody did it better on the night than Player of the Match Gabriel Veiga who, explaining Porto's success, cited the impact of players "capable of causing disruption" with their movement and runs, notably from the wide areas.
This was a point elaborated on by UEFA Technical Observer Thomas Frank afterwards as he singled out Veiga for exhibiting several crucial skills, such as his movement off the ball and ability to drive the ball forward.
The question of how to bypass the press has been a talking point among UEFA's Technical Observer Group for several seasons. Current Inter coach Cristian Chivu told us last year about the requirements for a successful man-marking approach while, in January, Erik ten Hag discussed the need to counter it with overloads and runners from deep.
In 2024, we also heard reflections from Sir Gareth Southgate – "At the moment everyone wants to press high, teams are getting better and better at playing through that pressure," he related – while Ole Gunnar Solskjær has suggested that "a consequence of such pressure, particularly in a man-marking system, could be that teams rotate and interchange positions more in order to open up spaces".
Such rotating and interchanging is precisely what Francesco Farioli's Porto did as they won a contest between two teams both going man to man on Wednesday. "We were expecting them to play with a lot of mobility, with three or four midfielders rotating a lot, one dropping, another breaking,” said Gabriel Veiga. Napoli did just that but he and his team performed their version of it to better effect – and the video analysis below explores his own shining contribution.
Clever rotating between the lines
"This is a great example of why Veiga was so instrumental," said Frank of a first clip that shows Gabriel Veiga rotate down and then move into space. "He finds a good position centrally to link the play," he added.
Driving with the ball
Here we see Gabriel Veiga manipulate space superbly before a driving run forward.
Delivers composed finish
"Look at how he finds himself in a good position for when the turnover happens, then the quick scan and acceleration into space," said Frank of the lead-up to the Spaniard scoring.
Coaching Reflection – Developing the 10s of tomorrow
Phil Church, a UEFA Technical Instructor and the English FA's Senior Lead Men's Coach Development, offers advice on what to coach when working with young players on the attacking skills needed for the No10 position.
• Preparation: "In build-up the No10 should be thinking about their positioning in relation to the ball, the goal and opposition players."
• Action: "As play develops, the No10 must decide if they're receiving the ball or moving defenders to create space for others – and the timing of that is vital."
• Execution: "The angle, timing and speed of movement are vital considerations. Key skills to coach include receiving and shielding the ball, and I'd recommend that receiving, turning, dribbling and driving in 1v1 duels should be coached in small areas."
• Reaction: "This includes coaching one-touch passing as link play, along with further scanning and new positioning."
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