Following three back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, the hopes for ensuring top four are hanging by a thread for Arsenal. The Europa League is their only other alternative to ensure they bring Champions League football back to the Emirates. Hence, the semi-final tie against Valencia was of utmost importance to Unai Emery to gather some momentum for the second tie away from home.
In many ways, Valencia are in a similar position to Arsenal. Valencia have faced a similar bad run of form recently, suffering back-to-back losses against Atletico Madrid and Eibar in the La Liga. Having had all of their top-four hopes snuffed out by the two-horse race between Getafe and Sevilla, the Europa League remains their only redeemer this season.
The odds for both the teams were almost level going into the match but Arsenal dominated the match via superior tactics and a better plan-in-possession. Although Valencia took the initial lead via a Mouctar Diakhaby header, Alexandre Lacazettes brace gave Arsenal the lead. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also struck in extra-time to give Arsenal a comfortable win, leaving Valencia with all to do the following week at the Estadio de Mestalla. In this tactical analysis, well look at where and how Unai Emery won the match against his former club and what couldve gone wrong for Arsenal.
Line-ups
Emery opted for a 3-4-1-2 ditching the wingers and adding an extra centre-back to ensure better coverage of the half-spaces. It also allowed Arsenal to defend on the front-foot as one centre-back could step up and the other two could hold the line. This was a good sign that Arsenal were set up to counter-press immediately after they lost the ball. This formation also allowed Arsenal to play with both Lacazette and Aubameyang in tandem as this was vital to Arsenal’s attacking display that evening.
The real surprise was thrown by Marcelino who set his team up in a 5-3-2. He’s favoured a 4-4-2 the entire season and no-one saw this coming. He also fielded three centre-backs; to ensure that they weren’t caught out by Aubameyang’s pace and the runs made in behind by Arsenal’s forwards. However, that didn’t work out as we’ll see below.
Arsenal’s structure and possession-plan
Arsenal have played the 3-4-1-2 many times this season under Emery and we knew what to expect in terms of tactics. Valencia didn’t press very high and usually sat in a mid-block giving the centre-backs ample time on the ball and little pressure which allowed them to set up camp in Valencia’s half. The double pivot comprised of Matteo Guendouzi as the right central midfielder and Granit Xhaka as the left midfielder. Above them, Mesut Özil occupied the central area as the attacking midfielder with the wingbacks either side of him providing width. The strikers were relatively free to move around and attack spaces wherever it opened up.
Emery is known for the work he puts into the pre-match analysis of the opponent and it was noticeable that Valencia’s tactics had taken him by surprise. For instance, he had prepared his team to face a 4-4-2, but Valencia’s formation meant that Lacazette and Aubameyang got frequently overloaded by the three centre-backs instead of two. It also meant Özil had less space to work with as he was man-marked by Diakhaby. However, Emery astutely read the situation and made early in-game changes which led to his team taking firm control over possession and express their creativity with it. In this latest metric by an Opta scientist, we can see how Arsenal controlled the game for much of the time and in all zones of the pitch.
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