Technical report 2015/16 Contents 4 6 14 18 Introduction Road to Basel The final Emery’s golden touch 20 24 30 32 Results Technical Route First goal topics to goal wins? 34 36 40 42 Goals of the Talking All-star Statistics: season points squad passing 43 44 45 46 Statistics: Statistics: Statistics: Team goal attempts possession disciplinary profiles 3 INTRODUCTION Spotting the Group A Group B trends Molde FK Fenerbahçe SK AFC Ajax Celtic FC Liverpool FC FC Sion FC Rubin Kazan FC Girondins de Bordeaux UEFA’s technical observers provide a valuable insight into Group C Group D the 2015/16 season The 2015/16 UEFA Europa League delivered They were joined by Jacques Crevoisier, an exciting final and a familiar winner, who was assistant manager of Liverpool’s FC Krasnodar Borussia PAOK FC Qäbälä FK SSC Napoli FC Midtjylland Club Brugge KV Legia Sevilla FC. The Andalusians deserved their 2001 UEFA Cup-winning team, along with Dortmund Warszawa eventual triumph in a final that really was Stefan Majewski, sports director of the a game of two halves. Their high-energy Polish Football Federation, and László second-half display was too much for Szalai, the Hungarian Football Federation’s Group E Group F Liverpool FC and Kevin Gameiro and Coke technical director. (two) scored the goals that brought them Their thoughts are supplemented in their third consecutive victory. this review by the following additional Football has a tendency to evolve slowly observers, who provided reports from rather than transform and one could argue previous games in the competition: Dušan SK Rapid Wien Villarreal CF FC Viktoria FC Dinamo SC Braga Olympique de FC Slovan FC Groningen that the wider trends on display over Fitzel, technical director of the Football Plzeň Minsk Marseille Liberec the last few seasons are mirrored by this Association of the Czech Republic; Sevilla side. Their exploits have been built Peter Rudbæk, technical director of the Group G Group H on defensive solidity and they are equally Danish Football Association; Willibald adept at playing without the ball as with Ruttensteiner, sports director of the it and demonstrate an ability to launch Austrian Football Association; Ghenadie quick and decisive attacks from all over the Scurtul, technical director of the Football pitch. The importance of fast transitions Association of Moldova; Jean-Francois “ The seventh season of the current that the majority of the competition’s Domergue, head of football development SS Lazio AS FC Dnipro Rosenborg BK FC Lokomotiv Sporting Clube Beşiktaş JK KF Skënderbeu format of the UEFA Europa League Saint-Étienne Dnipropetrovsk Moskva de Portugal most successful teams display is just one at UEFA. has again emphasised the increasing of the many technical topics covered in Together we have produced what quality, both from an off-field and on- this report, which aims to tell the story of we hope is a meaningful resource for Group I Group J field point of view, of the competition. the season from a coaching point of view the wider European football coaching I hope that you enjoy this technical and includes, for instance, discussions on community, which includes more than report and again congratulate Sevilla the prevalence of attacking full-backs as 200,000 licensed coaches. We hope FC for their outstanding achievement.” well as profiles and key features on all the you enjoy reading it. round of 16 teams. Ángel María Villar Llona, FC Basel 1893 ACF Fiorentina KKS Lech Os Belenenses Tottenham RSC AS Monaco FC Qarabağ FK The report is a unique record of the Ioan Lupescu UEFA first vice-president Poznań Hotspur FC Anderlecht 2015/16 UEFA Europa League campaign. UEFA chief technical officer It is the work of UEFA’s team of technical Group K Group L observers which provided reports from every match from the round of 16 onwards and included the respected coaching figures who met the day after the final to reflect on trends witnessed in the UEFA FC Schalke 04 AC Sparta Asteras Tripoli FC APOEL FC Athletic Club FC Augsburg FK Partizan AZ Alkmaar Europa League season. UEFA coaching Praha ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson drew on his vast knowledge and experience of European club competition while Ginés Clubs joined from the UEFA Champions League Meléndez, technical director of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, brought his valued insights into Sevilla’s success story. The technical observers team at the final (from left to Galatasaray AŞ Bayer 04 Manchester Olympiacos FC FC Porto Sevilla FC FC Shakhtar Valencia CF right): Stefan Majewski, Jacques Crevoisier, Sir Alex Leverkusen United FC Donetsk Ferguson, Ioan Lupescu, László Szalai, Ginés Meléndez 4 5 SEASON OVERVIEW 57,000 Borussia Dortmund’s crowd for the matchday four win against Qäbälä Road to was a record for the UEFA Europa League group stage. 5 Basel Napoli hit five goals in each of their three home games, beating Club Brugge 5-0, Midtjylland 5-0 and Legia Warszawa 5-2. Record crowds and some breathtaking drama 40 provided the backdrop to a memorable campaign Daniel Hestad became the competition’s oldest scorer when netting in Molde’s win at Celtic, aged 40 years and 98 days. 20 Club Brugge were competing in the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, including qualifying, for the 20th season running. Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz, the competition’s top scorer, bursts through the Partizan defence (top); record-breaker Daniel Hestad was a key figure in Molde’s run to the knockout stage (bottom) Group stage Eventual finalists Liverpool FC were one advanced unbeaten too, as did de Portugal, three of the newcomers – of five teams who survived the group FC Schalke 04 and AC Sparta Praha. FC Sion, FC Midtjylland and FC Augsburg stage unbeaten, though they were slow The group stage had begun on 17 – earned longer stays by securing the to find a winning groove, having to wait September with 48 clubs from 22 runners-up spots in their groups. until matchday four before posting their countries competing. An undoubted In Augsburg’s case, they won through first victory in manager Jürgen Klopp’s strength of the UEFA Europa League is in dramatic circumstances thanks to 3-1 second European fixture after replacing its great diversity and the presence of matchday six victory against FK Partizan. Brendan Rodgers. Albania’s KF Skënderbeu among the Raúl Bobadilla provided the 89th-minute Instead the outstanding team of the eight clubs involved for the first time strike which meant they ousted their group stage were Maurizio Sarri’s SSC means there have now been 37 different Serbian rivals on goal difference. Curiously, Napoli who won all six games and scored countries represented in the competition’s of the eventual eight quarter-final teams, 22 goals – José Callejón and Dries Martens group stage. only three finished top of their groups – hitting five each to help the Italian side While Skënderbeu exited the tournament Liverpool, Athletic Club and SC Braga. Gonzalo Higuaín’s Napoli won all six of their group achieve a record tally for the UEFA Europa in December, albeit with the warm memory stage games League. Napoli’s compatriots SS Lazio of a 3-0 home win against Sporting Clube 6 7 SEASON OVERVIEW 6 Round of 16 Only six of the 12 group winners There was no mistaking the tie of the round: difference after following up a 1-0 home away winners en route to a 4-1 aggregate survived the round of 32. Liverpool and Manchester United, the two success with a 2-1 defeat at Mestalla. Aritz success against Anderlecht. most successful clubs in English football, Aduriz, the competition’s top scorer, hit the Arguably the performance of the round, faced off and it was Jürgen Klopp’s men decisive away goal in the 76th minute. though, was witnessed in Rome, where 2 who came out on top. Valencia bowed out but the two other Sparta stunned Lazio with a 3-0 second- Marcus Rashford, 18, marked his Liverpool seized control with a first-leg Spanish teams, Sevilla and Villarreal, joined leg triumph (4-1 agg). Czech Republic Manchester United debut with two performance at Anfield brimming with Athletic in the last eight. Sevilla ended winger Ladislav Krejčí led the way with a goals against Midtjylland. energy and purpose, and but for David Basel’s dream of a home final with a 3-0 goal and an assist as the Prague club won de Gea in United’s goal they would have second-leg triumph in Andalusia (3-0 agg) through to their first European quarter-final won by more than the 2-0 margin secured while Villarreal followed up a 2-0 first-leg since the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, when their 50 through Daniel Sturridge’s penalty and success against Leverkusen – through coach Zdeněk Ščasný was playing. Sevilla’s Daniel Carriço became the Roberto Firmino. The second leg drew Cédric Bakambu’s double – with a goalless Braga caused another upset by first man to make 50 appearances a UEFA Europa League record crowd of draw in Germany. overturning a 1-0 first-leg loss against in the UEFA Europa League proper 75,180 spectators to Old Trafford, where The other German contenders, Fenerbahçe with a 4-1 home victory on in the tie against Molde. Philippe Coutinho’s cute dinked finish Dortmund, made light work of Tottenham, a night when the Turkish side ended the ended United’s hopes in a 1-1 draw. winning home (3-0) and away (2-1) against match with eight men, having had Mehmet There was another tie pitting clubs from the Londoners, with Pierre-Emerick Topal, Alper Potuk and substitute Volkan the same country in Spain, where Athletic Aubameyang scoring three goals over the Sen sent off in the second half.