ACTION ANALYSIS
Unlock Manchester City's Attack: the tactics that led to Citizens' Victory in UCL 2022/2023
On UEFA Champions League 2022/2023 semi-finals, Bernardo Silva’s goal against Real Madrid on May 17, 2023, was a perfect example of a system creating a dilemma for the opponent. By forcing defenders to choose between two actions, it created and exploited a tactical weakness. This shows that modern football (soccer) is about the interaction between players and the choices they make under pressure, having multiple stimuli.
The Mechanic of the first goal
Guardiola’s has the genius ability to coach his players, in possession, to do manipulate the opponent’s movements, to generate defensive gaps.
The principle is simple, yet relentless:
– When the ball moves horizontally, players attack vertical spaces.
– When the ball moves vertically, players move horizontally.
These antagonistic movements create a dilemma for the defense, opening up space for teammates to exploit and providing the player on the ball with multiple decision-making options. It’s like a game of chess, where you move a piece to attract your opponent, to clear a path for a checkmate.
The attack against a very compact Real Madrid in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation was the living proof of this principle. The Horizontal Movement: the ball is stretched wide to the right side, to Bernardo Silva [1], displacing Real Madrid’s left flank players, Camavinga and Vinícius Jr [2].
This creates a “check” on the opponent, forcing them to move horizontally and, by in doing so, opening up Real Madrid’s left half-space. As Real Madrid’s defense expands horizontally to mark the ball, John Stones makes an explosive, vertical run [1] into the empty space, to receive the horizontal pass from Bernardo Silva [2].
If City simplified the action, Stones’d have tried to turn and shoot. Instead, while in the most dangerous area on the pitch, he chose to attract Toni Kroos [1] and move him out of the box, opening even more the half-space. With Stones passing back vertically to Walker [2], Bernardo Silva moves horizontally to the center [3], occupying the empty half space, totally free.
Stones makes the horizontal pass to Kevin De Bruyne [1], and Bernardo understands the game’s mechanics intuitively: at the same time of the horizontal pass (drawing the opponent’s attention to horizontal movements), he now runs vertically inside [2], attacking the back of Real Madrid’s first defensive line. De Bruyne finds him with a precise pass [3], free to score.
This type of action repeated several times during the game, as it has been trained and absorbed by the whole team.
What does this mean for your team?
You don’t need a team of superstars to replicate this logic. This play wasn’t just about the talent of De Bruyne or Bernardo; it was about tactical discipline and an understanding of the game. At SoccerCoachMatrix, we transform this logic into a system. Our purpose is to break down the complexity of elite football and turn it into practical exercises that can be applied by any coach, at any level.
This is our ‘why’. We believe the secret to success in football is in intelligence, not luck. And we are here to give you the tools to understand, plan, and teach perfection in every training session.
Now, let’s get to work and create a training session that focuses on creating habits for this tactical action.