Women's Champions League Performance Insights: Putting OL Lyonnes' pressing under the spotlight

In winning 2-1 at Arsenal in the opening week of the new UEFA Women's Champions League campaign, OL Lyonnes showcased their impressive threat on the counterattack.

The danger of their quick transitions was highlighted in our initial analysis of Tuesday's league phase encounter, yet with the dust now settling on the Matchday 1 action, the UEFA game insights unit got together with UEFA Technical Observer Lluís Cortés to examine another prominent feature of their display – the excellent defensive work of Jonatan Giráldez's side.

As the OL Lyonnes coach explained: "It was key to press well. We knew Arsenal played four days ago and we wanted to have the high press as part of our game. Our forwards did a particularly good job, as did the rest of the team.”

Lyonnes pressing high

To start with Lyonnes' pressing high up the pitch, Cortés said: "Lyon's defensive performance was a good example of aggressive, co-ordinated pressing."

The video above offers an example of the French side's aggressive counter-pressure, Cortés explaining: "Following any loss of possession, the OL players in immediate proximity to the ball applied severe pressure, effectively preventing Arsenal from progressing and forcing them to play backward passes."

Cortés, a Women's Champions League-winning coach with Barcelona, also pointed to the efforts of the Lyonnes players not in the immediate vicinity of the ball – such as Korbin Shrader and Tabitha Chawinga – who worked hard to "reduce space and cut off passing lanes, in order to prevent Arsenal from switching the point of attack and finding a way out of the press."

This was pressure with a purpose as OL sought to direct the ball towards specific areas, as the clip demonstrates. Once the play was forced back to the Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar, they set up in a way to make her play to her left centre-back Steph Catley.

Cortés elaborated: “It was at this precise moment that Lyonnes initiated another wave of intense pressure. Although Lindsey Heaps arrived slightly late in this instance, the clear tactical intention was to close down all short passing options and force a turnover in a dangerous area."

The effectiveness of Lyonnes' pressing is underlined by the fact they achieved 31 ball recoveries in the Arsenal half of the field, as displayed by the graphic above.

Lyonnes in the mid-block

To move on to Lyonnes' work in a mid-block, they kept a very short distance between their lines, forming a compact block and restricting the space for Arsenal to play through the centre.

The video below provides an example of this, Cortés identifying in clip one the importance of the actions of the two pivots. He explained: "The near pivot pressed the ball holder aggressively, while the far pivot positioned herself between players to discourage passes into the central midfielders.

"By protecting the central lane, Lyonnes could force play to the wings where they could trigger their pressing traps, making it difficult for Arsenal to switch," he added. "The wingers' inside positioning was key to cutting off any interior passes."

'Channel control' is how Cortés described the visitors' tactic of forcing the play down one side of the pitch. "The game plan was to funnel Arsenal's build-up down their left flank," he explained, while also noting the role of centre-back Ingrid Engen in stepping out of of the defensive line to confront opponents after the movement of the two Lyonnes midfielders had opened up space for a red shirt in between the lines.

"The system was perfectly synchronised. When the far pivot, Shrader, was forced to jump and press an opponent, Ingrid Engen was already prepared to immediately step up and mark the attacking midfielder, effectively plugging the gap."

Controlling second balls

"When it came to second balls, we were also very good," said Lyonnes coach Giráldez after Tuesday's match. "Our desire to win those balls was very effective."

According to Cortés, Lyonnes' success in dominating the second balls was crucial to them stifling Arsenal's rhythm. They achieved it through their proactive movements and their fiercely competitive mentality – and it proved the primary source of the French side's attacking transitions.

"The foundation of Lyon's success was their players' ability to read the play and attack the space where the second ball would land," said Cortés.

Assessing the evidence of the video above, Cortés pointed to the clever movement and anticipation on display. Of the first clip, he noted how Lyonnes' midfielders shut down the distance to the ball as it was in the air, ensuring they had players around the second ball.

"Melchie Dumornay exemplifies this by intelligently reducing space and intuitively predicting the ball's trajectory," he added. "Her key move is to stop her run at the crucial moment to establish a better position to win the second ball." On top of that, she then played a safe pass to consolidate possession.

Moving on to the second clip, which shows the strong reaction from three Lyonnes players in pursuing the loose ball, Cortés applauded the way that "players like Damaris [Egurrola] and [Lily] Yohanes use sharp changes of pace to close down space and position themselves as viable options to secure possession."

What was also important, he added, was how Egurrola played the ball away from the opponent, thus preventing Arsenal from instantly winning the ball back.

The ability of Lyonnes to not just protect the ball but spring forward and pose a scoring threat is highlighted by the graphic above – showing that they had 11 shots following defensive actions compared to Arsenal's three. To read more about their quick transitions, click here.

Bacha embodies Lyonnes effort

If any one player epitomised Lyonnes's defensive excellence on Tuesday night it was left-back Selma Bacha, who recorded the most recoveries (11) and interceptions (four) combined in this week's competition.

"Her performance was a masterclass in the modern full-back role," said Cortés, noting that the video below illustrates this perfectly.

He explained: "Bacha begins with good body orientation, ready to drop and run in case of a pass behind her. The moment she reads that the pass is to the opponent's feet, she demonstrates her agility to change her run, close down the space and anticipate the play to win the ball and start the counterattack dribbling forward. This single sequence encapsulates all her attributes, which seamlessly transitions into her ability to launch an attack."

Coaching reflections: The art of full-back play

For UEFA Technical Observer Cortés, Lyonnes full-back Bacha gave a "masterclass" in full-back play on Matchday 1. To elaborate on what this entailed – and as a lesson to young players and coaches – he broke down the key attributes of the France international's performance as follows:

1. Exceptional reading of the game: "Her ability to anticipate her opponent's actions allows her to start her defensive movements earlier, giving her a critical head start and more time to execute her interventions effectively."

2. Explosive recovery speed: "She possesses the raw pace to rapidly close down space and put pressure on opponents, denying them time and room to operate."

3. Power and agility: "Bacha combines significant lower-body power with exceptional agility, allowing her to change direction instantly. This is crucial for correcting her position and reacting to an opponent's feints. Her low centre of gravity significantly enhances this stability."

4. Defensive aggression and intensity: "She approaches defensive duels with a tenacious mentality, ensuring she emerges victorious from a high percentage of her challenges."

5. Technical excellence in transition: "To her defensive prowess, one must add her superb technical ability once she recovers the ball. She is capable of initiating rapid forward dribbles or delivering precise passes, immediately turning defensive actions into promising offensive opportunities for her team."

Lluís Cortés led Barcelona to unprecedented success, including a UEFA Women's Champions League title in 2021. He has since continued to make his mark internationally as a progressive and sought-after coach and is currently in charge of the Saudi Arabia women's national team.