How do Youth League goals compare with the Champions League?

How does goalscoring compare between the youth and elite levels of European club football? This was a question the UEFA analysis unit asked ahead of the UEFA Youth League finals weekend in Nyon – and the findings follow below, together with lessons for young attackers from UEFA technical observer Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

Overall, UEFA's analysts looked at 60 goals from the knockout rounds of the UEFA Youth League and used their goals analysis of this season's UEFA Champions League group stage as a point of comparison.

The first aspect considered by the analysis unit was the phase of play from which goals came – and in the UEFA Youth League 71% came from open play with 29% from set pieces, as displayed in the pie chart above. This is a similar ratio as in the UEFA Champions League.

Differences did emerge when the types of attack were given consideration, as we see in this breakdown above. Whereas in the UEFA Champions League a quarter of goals (25%) came from organised possession, this figure was 17% in the junior competition.

Conversely, pressing regains counted for 13% of UEFA Youth League goals compared to 5% in the UEFA Champions League. This means goals are being scored after moves break down though at the same time, at this developmental stage of their careers, we should highlight the positive side of young footballers striving to play in the face of opposition pressure. On a general note, finally, it is fair to say that routes to goal are more varied at this level.

The third feature to consider is assists and here there are similarities with the UEFA Champions League, albeit a slightly larger share of goals sourced from crosses – with 27% compared to 23% in the senior competition. The 'no assist' category (35%), refers to goals for which the scorer has reacted first to a rebound or deflection or won the ball off his opponent.

Assist locations were also put under the microscope and the analysis unit found slightly fewer assists from inside the penalty box in the UEFA Youth League than in its senior equivalent.

By contrast, there were significantly more assists in the final third overall – with more from the outside the box in the wide areas. The graphic above shows that there were 15% of goals sourced from Lane 1 in the final third and 16% from Lane 5. In the UEFA Champions League, by comparison, the respective figures were 8% for each.

This bar chart breaks down the number of passes prior to a goal being scored. One significant conclusion to draw is there were more 'quick' goals at this level, meaning goals scored after fewer passes – one-fifth (22%) of them without a single pass. Almost one-third (32%) were scored after between one and two passes (compared to 27% goals of this kind in the UEFA Champions League).

It is worth reiterating that players at this early stage of their career still have much to learn and we see this reflected in the large percentage of goals which came after a possession sequence starting in the central lane of the pitch. Whereas in the senior game teams are better at blocking the central avenues to goal, at youth level it seems fair to note there are more opportunities to take advantage of transitions and moments when the opposition teams lack organisation in their defensive shape.

It is interesting to see that the portion of goals from one touch (63%) is exactly the same as in the UEFA Champions League group stage. At this level, though, there was a higher share of goals in which the scorer was allowed three touches or more – and this reflects the fact there is less time and space for players in the elite men's game where defenders have more experience.

To build on the point above about defending and the greater space afforded attacking players at youth levels, this is also seen in the percentage of goals scored when the attacking player faced no direct pressure. By 'Indirect pressure' we mean when a defender is within five metres of a forward but not applying a defensive action – and a 30% portion of UEFA Youth League goals came under this category, compared to 23% in the UEFA Champions League.

According to Solskjær, this contrast is to be expected with younger players. "Scoring is about instinct and a lot of the time goalscorers have that knack even from a young age, whereas defenders get their experience further on," he said.

The final aspect to dwell on is shot locations and again it illustrates the greater opportunities for teams to strike for goal in central positions in the junior competition. With their greater experience and organisation, defences in the UEFA Champions League concede fewer opportunities in the areas directly in line with the goal – hence in the UEFA Youth League the overall total of shots leading to goals in this part of the penalty box was 46% (31% in the UEFA Champions League).

There were also more goals scored in the area just outside the penalty box in the UEFA Youth League (17% to 10% in the senior competition).

The art of finding space for a one-touch finish

The evidence above indicates that forwards at youth level have more space in which to operate – yet those spaces will become fewer as they step into the men's game. According to Solskjær, good movement is key to finding space – and here he offers an important lesson once passed on to him by his manager at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Solskjær recalls: "I remember the Gaffer asking me 'What is your best friend in the box?' and he said, 'Space. Just make sure you find the right space and then hope the ball gets to you and get to know your players.' And so I got to know David Beckham's type of crosses and Ryan Giggs' type of crosses and blind-side moves."

For Solskjær, this was the reason why he was able to score more than half of his 126 goals for United with a one-touch finish. He elaborates: "It is your movement that creates the space and also the timing of it. Often if you run too early you receive the ball with you back to goal. And then you have to have the right technique as well when you finish.

"There is also the question of what foot you finish with – always finish with your nearest foot, I say. To give an example, if David Beckham crossed to me and I made a run across the defender, I tried to finish with my right foot as if I'd tried to use my left, the defender would have had more time to tackle me."

Note: While this analysis looked at 60 goals scored in the knockout stages, due to the available broadcast footage, the UEFA team were unable to identify 4% of the collected metrics, mainly in the starting location of attacks and the amount of passes prior to the goal.