Swissquote Match Analysis: Arsenal vs Sporting CP

For the headline-writers, Sporting CP had a number of obvious heroes after ousting Arsenal from the UEFA Europa League last week. The clear candidates were Pedro Gonçalves, with his wonder goal, goalkeeper Antonio Adán, with his decisive shootout stop from Gabriel Martinelli, and Nuno Santos who hit the winning kick.

Yet in this tactical analysis brought to you by Swissquote, the UEFA Technical Observer Panel focus on the finer tactical details of a strong display by Sporting, whose efforts over 120 minutes in north London warranted the eventual 5-3 shootout success which set up a quarter-final against Juventus next month.

Goals

1-0: Granit Xhaka (19)

An excellent forward pass in behind the wing-back by Jorginho led to a chance for Gabriel Martinelli, coming in from the left. Although Adán made the save, Xhaka, following up, drove the ball into the net with his left foot. It was the fifth goal of the season for a player who impressed the UEFA observer with his leadership qualities and intelligence in his positioning and passing.

1-1: Pedro Gonçalves (62)

Arsenal had not previously conceded a single goal at home in this season’s competition. This was no ordinary goal, though, as the midfielder beat the backpedalling Aaron Ramsdale with a magnificent strike from just over the halfway line. "I saw that the goalkeeper was a little way off his line and everything turned out perfectly," said the 24-year-old 'Pote' of his third strike of the knockout stage.

Team formations

Arsenal
The English side set up in a flexible 1-4-3-3 and the formation graphic above shows their offensive structure: a 1-3-2-2-3 with Oleksandr Zinchenko (35) coming in from his left-back slot to provide a second pivot alongside Jorginho (20), enabling them to build up with a 3+2.

Ahead of them, Gabriel Jesus (9) would look to drop into space. Arsenal looked to position players between the lines and, once there, tried to create one-vs-one scenarios in the wide areas for the likes of Martinelli (11) and, later, substitute Bukayo Saka.

When pressing high, Arsenal attempted a man-to-man strategy. This included Zinchenko pressing the right wing-back and Reiss Nelson (24) tracking the left wing-back; centrally, Xhaka (34) and Jorginho sought to put the Sporting double pivot under pressure.

Sporting
Rúben Amorim’s men were set up to attack in a fluid 1-3-4-3 shape with plenty of rotations on the sides. As the match observer noted, Marcus Edwards (10) and Ricardo Esgaio (47) often swapped places so that Edwards was wide and could take advantage of one-vs-one scenarios.

The two central midfielders – Manuel Ugarte (15) and Pedro Gonçalves (28) – played on different lines at times, with the latter operating slightly higher and proving elusive for his markers, connecting the game with short passes and clever positioning. Behind, Ugarte was aggressive and applied pressure on the Arsenal midfielders while also distributing the ball well.

Out of possession, Sporting dropped into a 1-5-4-1 shape and condensed the spaces to good effect. They looked for opportunities to apply pressure and – as explained in the Features section below – there were moments in the game when they went quickly from a low block to high pressure, bringing their back line up the pitch.

A word, finally, for the man in goal, Adán (1), who made seven saves – the joint-highest amount in last week's Europa League matches. This included his extra-time save to push a Leandro Trossard effort against the post after the Belgian had broken through.

Features

In summing up Sporting's success, the match observer pointed to several key tactical features, starting with their fluidity in central combinations and good movement and rotations in the wide areas. There was also praise for their aforementioned ability to go from a high press to a low press, and vice versa.

However, the first feature highlighted in the video analysis above concerns their high defensive line and Arsenal's efforts to get behind it. This is the focus of Clips 1 and 2 which each show a Jorginho pass behind a defence respectively positioned 27.5m and 38.4m up the pitch. For Sporting, this high line was a calculated risk against players with the pace of runners like Martinelli and Saka – indeed the second example leads to the breakthrough goal.

The video analysis then focuses on Sporting's clever build-up play, marked by their good passing options and intelligent movement and rotations to progress their attacks.

In Clip 3 we see them build up with a back three plus midfield pivot Ugarte against Arsenal's front three. Sporting excelled at creating overloads to ensure the man in possession had passing options. Here, for example, we see Ugarte telling wing-back Esgaio exactly where to make himself available on the right.

Granit Xhaka after scoring Arsenal's openerArsenal FC via Getty Images

As the sequence unfolds, we then see them progress the ball through the first two Arsenal units and create a six vs six in the attacking third with numbers flooding forward. With typical fluidity, right winger Edwards ends up on the ball in the box in the centre-forward position.

This backs up the reflections of the match observer who remarked: "Arsenal pressed high early on but got played through a few times, as their players found it hard to cope with Sporting's movement, combinations and technical ability."

Clip 4 offers another example of the Portuguese side's impressive positional manipulation. The sequence starts with them building up with a 2+2 with Ousmane Diomande having stepped up into a pivot position alongside Ugarte. The sight of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta signalling from his technical area points to an uncertainty in the Arsenal ranks, with Gabriel Jesus seemingly unsure of where to position himself.

The unfolding action provides another illustration of their rotational play with Edwards dropping back into his half and Esgaio moving inside, and trying to release a team-mate in behind.

Clip 5 begins with Diomande again stepping out from the back three and Arsenal players again pressing but being outdone by a Sporting overload (6 vs 4). The visitors then advance with right winger Francisco Trincão coming over to the left and Edwards stepping inside, and Trincão ends up curling a shot just wide of the far post.

In Clip 6 we see Sporting building from a dead ball, and once more there is that fluidity with Edwards and Trincão coming inside and wing-back Esgaio driving infield with the ball before supplying Edwards for an excellent opportunity.

Marcus Edwards was given credit for "his ability to dribble and connect the game"Getty Images

Arguably the most vivid example of how Sporting employed terrific movement to progress through Arsenal comes in Clip 7, which really showcases their top-class technical execution.

With a slick (and courageous) combination they advance the ball centrally and, with Edwards coming in from the right to carry the ball forward, they end up with a three vs three in the final third. Nine seconds have elapsed between centre-back Gonçalo Inácio’s pass out of defence and Edwards’s attempt to play in Paulinho.

"Their performance was brave as they took the game to Arsenal and imposed themselves on the game," said the observer, who also singled out Edwards' efforts, citing his ability to dribble and connect the game.

The Englishman, once a Tottenham Hotspur player, ended the game with eight ball carries of ten metres or more – a total surpassed in Thursday's contest only by Arsenal's Zinchenko. From a team perspective, meanwhile, Sporting's sharper passing meant a higher pass-completion percentage in the final third than Arsenal – 85.9% to their hosts' 79.5%.

The final feature of the video analysis (Clips 8 and 9) is Sporting's fabulous work out of possession. When defending low, they got all ten outfield players behind the ball in a 1-5-4-1 shape. Yet they were quick in applying pressure and able to switch from a low block to a high press.

Clip 8 shows them do this in less than 20 seconds in a sequence that ends with them blocking Arsenal's options and forcing Ramsdale to kick out of play. "They defended well in most parts of the game, cutting the lines and closing the spaces," said the observer.

It is worth noting the importance of being able to carry out a switch of this kind, in order to take the pressure off the last line of defence. Equally, no team can press high for 90 minutes and Clip 9 shows the process in reverse: from a high press with seven players, Sporting are able to swiftly get eight players into a compact shape in a low block.

Ruben Amorim addresses his players ahead of extra timeUEFA via Getty Images

Coaches' assessments

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager: "It was a very different game to the first leg. They are really good at attacking spaces and second-line runs. We didn't put enough pressure on the ball. That created an open, transition-based game that we didn't want to play."

Rúben Amorim, Sporting coach: "It was not the kind of game where the big team controls the game all the time and has a lot of possession. We had possession in the second half, we were very strong and had some chances to win the game so I think it was a great performance from our players.

"The result is the only thing that matters but you have to applaud the way my players played – how they stood up after conceding the first goal, which we didn't deserve."