UCL Final 2022/23: A look at how both sides can affect the final scoreline through set-piece routines – set-piece analysis

Manchester City will confront Internazionale in the final of the UEFA Champions League.

We often hear that small details decide finals, but set-piece analysis is no longer a minor detail, and therefore, we will review the most prominent schemes and tactics of the two teams set pieces, knowing that Man City have scored 14 goals by set pieces in this Premier League season which was the fourth best record and have conceded only 7 goals as the second best defence after Liverpool who conceded 6 goals by set pieces whilst Inter have scored 11 goals in Serie A as the fourth best team and conceded 7 goals as the fourth best standing.

There are many types of set pieces, which include corners, throw-ins, goal kicks and kick-offs, but this tactical analysis will focus on the most important characteristics that distinguish the two teams and the strengths and weaknesses of each of them and what they will do to exploit the gaps in the other’s system or change their tactics to eliminate a flaw in their system.

Inters defending corners

Our analysis begins with Inter’s defensive scheme from corner kicks. As illustrated by the first image from their game against Fiorentina, they have two players in green assigned to zonal marking and one player in yellow ready for a short corner. Another player in red covers the rebound area, while the rest of the defenders are man markers. Fiorentina have only five attackers inside the penalty area, so Inter can spare one defender for counterattacks.

One of Romelu Lukaku or Edin Džeko always occupies a zonal position on the near post at the edge of the six-yard box, making it hard to challenge them in that area. A possible solution is to have one of their attackers block them from jumping, while another attacker runs into the space in front of them. The second image shows the targeted player in green, who tries to exploit the distance in front of Lukaku, while another player in yellow moves to the far post for a potential rebound from the goalkeeper.

As shown by the third image, two runners in green block Lukaku from jumping with their intended target, while the ball is headed towards goal. The player in yellow anticipates a possible clearance or save by the goalkeeper and moves behind the defender on the far post, as seen in the fourth image. He is rewarded with an easy tap-in for a goal.

Sassuolo also employed a similar approach, but instead of shooting the ball directly toward the goal, they used a flick. The first image shows how Inter defended with the two players in green marking zonally and one player in yellow ready for a short pass. Another player in red guarded the rebound area. The targeted player of the flick started behind Lukaku, as indicated by the blue arrow, and ran in front of him.

The second image shows another player in green who blocks Lukaku from tracking the targeted player, while a third player in yellow moves to the far post to receive the flick. The third image shows that they executed their plan successfully, but the flick was too far from the red player, as seen in the fourth image.