A good game, but not a particularly fascinating tactical battle. Read more »
Good ball retention starts from the goalkeeper
This week, there have been three obvious examples of sides conceding cheap goals by conceding possession on the edge of their own penalty box. Read more »
Milan 2-3 Barcelona: Xavi gets the winner
An interesting battle between formations and an excellent match ended with a narrow Barcelona win. Read more »
Arsenal 2-1 Dortmund: Dortmund press excellently but van Persie scores another double
A fast-paced, technical game ended with Arsenal securing their qualification to the second round. Read more »
Napoli 2-1 Manchester City: Cavani double puts Napoli on the verge of qualification
City dominated possession but Napoli broke typically well to record a crucial victory. Read more »
Olympiakos 1-1 Panathinaikos: game based around pace in wide areas
A good Athens derby ended all square, with two very similar goals. Read more »
Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 Houston Dynamo: Donovan moves upfront to score the winner
LA Galaxy dominated for almost the entire game, but had to wait until the 71st minute to go ahead through Landon Donovan. Read more »
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool: Johnson wins it late
An excellent tactical battle ended with Liverpool snatching the three points. Read more »
Valencia 2-3 Real Madrid: Real press well early on, Valencia better after substitutions
Real Madrid maintained their lead over Barcelona after an entertaining win over Valencia at the Mestalla. Read more »
Bayern Munich 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: slow-burning game decided by scrappy Götze goal
Mario Gotze struck midway through the second half as Dortmund move to within two points of Bayern at the top. Read more »
Germany use one friendly to thrash a rival, the other to experiment with a new formation
Germany played two games this week – 3-3 draw away in Ukraine, followed by a convincing 3-0 win over Holland. Read more »
Portugal 6-2 Bosnia: Portugal better all over the pitch (and Bosnia’s complete reshuffle at half-time doesn’t help)
Paulo Bento’s side wobbled midway through the match, but overall deserved to progress to Euro 2012. Read more »
Ireland: defensive, and no reason to change
Giovanni Trapattoni has guided Ireland to their first major tournament for a decade, yet there are still questions about his tactics. Read more »
Spain continue to dominate possession but need more penetration
A criticism of Spain days after an unfortunate 1-0 defeat to England is always likely to come across as a wild knee-jerk reaction, but Spain’s problems against decent sides have been evident for over a year now. Read more »
Turkey 0-3 Croatia: Bilic shows how to play a 4-4-2 against a 4-3-3
A superb display from Croatia put them in a commanding position going into Tuesday’s second leg. Read more »
Bosnia 0-0 Portugal: both sides play defensively on a very poor pitch
A largely uneventful game, and all square going into the second leg the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday. Read more »
Athletic 2-2 Barcelona: Bielsa stifles Barca by telling his players to stick tightly to opponents
Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics managed to hold Barcelona to a draw in an exciting match at the San Mamés. Read more »
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