Europa League Performance Insights: How super João Mário steered Bologna to success
Monday, March 2, 2026
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UEFA's game insights unit and technical observer Rui Faria analyse João Mário's adaptability in an unfamiliar position and his influence on his team's approach in and out of possession.
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"João Mário should be applauded," said Vincenzo Italiano. The Bologna coach was hailing the Portuguese international's readiness to switch from his usual right-sided berth to left-back for the second leg of the UEFA Europa League knockout phase play-off against Brann. It was "a role he'd played just two or three times in his career", explained Italiano.
Over 90 minutes at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, João Mário did much more than just plug a gap created by the absence of the injured Juan Miranda. He delivered a "decisive" masterclass in adaptability, according to UEFA technical observer Rui Faria. The 26-year-old loan signing from Juventus scored Bologna's crucial 56th-minute goal to capitalise on the first-half heroics of goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski featured in the initial analysis of Thursday's game.
Working with Faria in this article, UEFA's game insights unit explores the individual, relational and structural benefits of having a predominantly right-sided player stationed on the left.
Centre of attention
"When a right-footed player plays as a left-back, the differences can be both positional [how he occupies space] and functional – what he actually does within the team’s dynamics," explained Faria. "While the natural body orientation towards the inside of the pitch makes it easier to connect with central midfielders, it can make it harder to play one-touch passes down the line. This naturally leads to more inside combinations rather than wide progression.
"Overlapping on the outside is less natural than underlapping, so the player will tend to occupy slightly more interior zones. Functionally, a right-footed left-back is inclined to dribble inside, combine in the half-spaces and shoot from central zones. It is more difficult to deliver early crosses with the natural foot. The player is more likely to cut inside before crossing – and these crosses may come from deeper or more central angles."
Both clips in the first video illustrate how João Mário made a virtue of his body orientation when picking up possession and "driving through central areas with the ball or playing long right-footed passes behind the Brann defence", said Faria.
Right-footed left-backs
- Natural body orientation towards the inside
- Inclined to dribble inside or underlap rather than overlap
- Preference to combine in half-spaces and shoot from central zones
- Tendency to show opponents inside when defending 1v1
Combining with team-mates
The second video shows how his tendency to drift inside created opportunities for team-mates, particularly the left-sided attacker Jonathan Rowe. In the first clip, we see João Mário vacate the wide channel as the defenders build an attack. “By doing this, he is attracting pressure towards him to allow the winger to receive and go 1v1 against the full-back,” said Faria. It's worth noting how João Mário scans to prepare to advance into the half-space as the ball is travelling and proceeds to offer support for Rowe as the winger drives towards the goal.
The second clip shows João Mário use the retreat of the central midfielder to receive deep as a trigger to advance to the half-space. He then receives on the half-turn in the pocket to again find Rowe in space for a wide 1v1 opportunity.
The above heat map comparison shows clearly the differences between the left full-back's activity in Bologna's previous nine Europa League matches this season and João Mário's movements in this game. Whereas the traditional left-sided defender tends to support attacks from behind, the Portuguese's display involves much more underlapping, with 57% of his touches in the attacking half coming in central positions.
Central positioning and security
João Mário's link-up with Rowe was not the only notable relationship worthy of exploring.
"The relationship João Mário established with both the winger and the central midfielder [Nikola Moro] was decisive in the build-up to the goal and throughout the game,” explained Faria, who noted the impact of the full-back's positional flexibility on the Brann players. "At times, João Mário would act like a central midfield player, creating doubt for the opposition in who to mark him and exposing defensive instability.”
The final video acts as a showcase for João Mário's positional flexibility within this cohesive three-player relationship. As the first corner comes in, we see him "positioned intelligently on the edge of the box to protect against counterattacks, ensuring structural stability and allowing his team greater central control with the ball", said Faria. "This positioning in both open play and set pieces enables him to pick up second balls for second or third wave attacks."
Moro often seized on João Mário's movement inside to drift out wide to support Rowe from behind, noted Faria. This rotation led to the midfielder delivering six crosses from open play – a rare figure for a central midfielder. As we see in the clip, one of these crosses leads to the second corner, which results in João Mário's clinical strike. "With the rotation of positions, it is clear the players understand João Mário’s qualities and explore these to build their play successfully," added Faria. "Moro has moved to the left-back position and is open, Rowe runs behind for the cross and João Mário is in a midfielder position offering security and occupying the box."
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Coaching focus
Summing up João Mário's stellar performance in a position he had not played in any previous UEFA competition match for Juventus, Porto or Portugal dating back to 2019, Faria said: "He demonstrated strong positional flexibility, constantly adapting to the demands of the moment. He interpreted space, timing and team structure very well, both in possession and during transitions."
So how can coaches help young players develop this flexibility to thrive in the elite game?
"In training, coaches must deliberately expose players to the specific positional tensions and functional demands of the role," explained Faria. "Not just generic full-back exercises.
"For example, training should expose the player to body orientation scenarios and inside connections, as well as timed underlaps from the inside channel. Repeated 1v1 situations should be used to improve the ability to defend the line with a weaker foot orientation.
"All training exercises should create natural dynamics arising from the relationship between the winger, midfielder, and full-back."
Faria emphasised the importance of game-realism and repetition of exposure to the different positional demands. "Development comes from repeated exposure to the exact problems the match will create," he said.
"Beyond specific exercises that demand constant positional adjustments and coordination with teammates, the use of tactical video support – showing examples from other players – can help develop a better understanding of spacing, timing, and defensive trade-offs."
Rui Faria worked as assistant to José Mourinho, winning the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League at Porto, multiple domestic titles with Chelsea and Real Madrid, the 2009/10 Champions League with Inter and then the 2016/17 Europa League with Manchester United.