The 2019/20 Europa League technical report has been made available, announcing technical and tactical analysis of last season’s competition.
Although there were familiar winners of the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League, the way Sevilla emerged from a total of 213 clubs to touch the trophy was the subject of debate and analysis from UEFA’s technical observers, which have now been announced in the technical report.
Each game from the round 16 onwards was analyzed by the technical observers, with individual reports made to fuel a continuing discussion into the latest tactical and technical trends in the event.
The secret to Sevilla’s success is also revealed in an exclusive, revelatory interview by their coach Julen Lopetegui, the architect of the Andalusian club’s sixth title. His opinion about what was an anomalous year for all, with the COVID-19 interrupting mostly all activities, are a source of coaching wisdom validated by the observations of Technical Observers of the UEFA, including Thomas Schaaf, Jerzy Engel, Dušan Fitzel, John Peacock, Packie Bonner, Savvas Constantinou, Peter Rudbæk, and Jarmo Matikainen.
With a total of 548 goals scored, the way the 48 clubs that reached the group stage set out their stalls to become successful was the source of discussion. And the numbers were crunched to reveal what the most successful approaches were.
With the advent of a new rule that permits goal kicks to be shortly played, the way each club interpreted this scenario produced some intriguing findings. With the assistance of collective and individual heat maps, statistics, and substantiated observations of individual performances, the different approaches were analyzed with Ireland’s former goalkeeper Packie Bonner highlighting its pros and cons.
Moreover, the impact of VAR was also one of various aspects which went under the microscope.
The report will be available in three languages, including English, German, and French, and be made available to members of the coaching family in the continent.