Champions League

The 2025/2026 campaign has brought with it a distinctly recalibrated version of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola. After a disappointing 2024/2025 season, in which City failed to win a single trophy and only just managed to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League, Guardiola was forced into a period of tactical...

Barcelona lost their UEFA Champions League clash with PSG at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium after a challenging match that witnessed an excellent level of football from both sides, but with more realism, concretisation, and consistency from PSG, who were more determined to win throughout the 90 minutes. Barcelona failed...

For the third time this season, Manchester City conceded a late goal to give away three points. Pep Guardiola’s side was in complete control on Wednesday, but a late penalty from Eric Dier gave AS Monaco a much-needed point at home. Manchester City have certainly been an interesting team this...

Bodø/Glimt is a place Tottenham Hotspur will remember for a long time in their club's history. On the way to beating Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final last season, Spurs faced Bodø/Glimt away in the semi-final in a tough tie but came out on top, with memorable images...

Galatasaray won their second match of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase after playing a historic match against Liverpool and beating them 1-0, a huge result for the Turkish side. Galatasaray failed to win their first UEFA Champions League game, losing 1-5 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Making up for that in the...

Did Ousmane Dembélé Deserve To Win Ballon D'Or? Ballon d’Or season always brings debate among football fans and pundits. There has never been and will never be a Ballon d’Or winner that everyone agrees on. For years, the argument over who was most deserving of being called the best footballer...

Formed just over a decade ago from a merger of two modest local sides, Cypriot club Pafos were never expected to trouble Europe’s elite. What began as a quiet project to consolidate senior football in the touristic Paphos district, harmlessly floating between the top two divisions, quickly became one of...

Manchester City hosted Napoli for the opening game of both teams’ UEFA Champions League journey. The match ended with a 2-0 win for the Citizens despite Napoli's considerable efforts, especially during the first hour of the match. Antonio Conte had to deal with numerical inferiority after Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a red card...

Wednesday night saw yet another stoppage-time winner for Arne Slot’s Liverpool.  Virgil van Dijk’s 92nd-minute goal gave Liverpool their fifth straight win, with four of those wins coming via stoppage-time goals.  Liverpool went two goals ahead in the first six minutes, thanks to a couple of fortunate bounces from Salah. ...

Juventus played their first UEFA Champions League match of the 2025/2026 season against Borussia Dortmund, and the game ended with a very dramatic late draw after the Bianconeri scored their fourth goal to equalise. The result cannot be considered positive for Juventus, as they were playing at home and were...

Fenerbahçe hosted Benfica at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League playoff round, which determines which team will advance to the League Phase. The match ended with a disappointing 0-0 draw from the perspective of Fenerbahçe, the home side. Sarı Kanaryalar were not able to impose their...

Celtic begin their UEFA Champions League campaign this week in the play-off round against Kazakhstan Premier League champions Kairat Almaty. The Hoops will be hoping to at least match their successful run in the competition last season, which saw them progress from the group stage to face Bayern Munich in...

Chelsea have completed the signing of 23-year-old Brazilian João Pedro from Brighton & Hove Albion. Pedro arrives for a fee believed to be in the region of £60m, just two years after leaving Watford for a fee of around £35 million. The forward joins Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens as...

In the modern era of football, the term 'overload' is typically applied to pressing or attacking actions. The term is essentially used to describe when a team creates an advantage, such as a numerical advantage, over the opposition in certain situations to achieve their goal. The objective may be different. In the context of...

Dribbling has long been one of football’s most eye-catching actions—a burst of creativity capable of shifting momentum in an instant. This tactical analysis examines how dribbling serves as a strategic mechanism within various systems and styles of play, focusing on the roles of Rafael Leão at AC Milan, Jamal Musiala at Bayern Munich, Ousmane Dembélé at Paris Saint-Germain, and the...

Paris Saint-Germain have ended their wait for continental success—and in some style, too. Les Parisiens demolished Inter Milan 5-0 in the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League Final, earning the record for the largest-ever margin of victory in the final of Europe’s elite footballing competition. For Luis Enrique, it’s an exceptional feather...

The 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League Final is a clash of contrasting philosophies. On one side, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), under Luis Enrique, have developed into an exciting, fluid attacking team, blending youthful dynamism with devastation. On the other hand, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan epitomises defensive resilience, constantly changing shapes, and ruthlessness...

Listen to this article free on the Total Football Analysis podcast.  Available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or RSS. The world's eyes will be on the UEFA Champions League Final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan on Saturday, May 31st. Both teams have come a long way and faced many challenges to reach the...

The act of receiving the ball to feet has become almost second nature. From grassroots football to the professional elite, this pass-to-feet dynamic has evolved into the base unit of build-up play. In this tactical analysis, we will examine how this stylistic evolution is reshaping attacking behaviour across modern systems....

After the game, though the scoreline was negative, Mikel Arteta said his Arsenal team were better in the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League semi-final by PSG with a 1-3 aggregate score, after PSG won the second leg 2-1 at Parc des Princes. However, Arsenal really did look...