UEFA Champions League 21/22 Season Analysis
1 Introduction
UEFA Champions league is Europe’s most sought after club football competition, organised by the Union of European Football Association (UEFA). It features the top clubs from various European leagues, competing in a group stage followed by knockout rounds, culminating in the final, which determines the best team in Europe. The tournament, first held in 1955, has grown into one of the most prestigious and widely watched sporting events in the world. This report analyses the attacking, attempts, distribution, and goal statistics of the 2021-2022 League season. It also demonstrates various players who were the most prolific in front of goal and also shows what teams performed the best.
1.1 Attacking Analysis
As seen in the above table, only 2 teams have reached the 30 goal mark in the Champions league season with them being Real Madrid and Bayern. This means that the two clubs have been the most clincal in front of goal over the 13 game league season.
The below graph shows Total Assists by Position, the defenders have accumulated over 50+ assists of the 13 game season but the Midfielders have assisted more with 130 assists over the 13 games. This indicates that midfielders have supplied over 130 goals thorughout the competition and were the most clinical in terms of passing to create goals scoring chances.
The graph below outlines the clubs with the most assists over the period of the competition. Bayern with 24 assists with Liverpool and Manchester City with close 23 assists. Over the period of the competition Bayern has had the most goals scored and the most assists in the competition by far yet, they did not win the competition. This could be an interesting point to go back to and analyse furhter why the team with the most assists and goals did not win the competition.
Explanation: The graph shows the total number of assists by teams in the competition.
1.2 Attempts Analysis
In the Attempts Analysis section, we dive in deeper to see which team has had the most shots per game which highlights which team has had more chances to score a goal. As seen below, Bayern has had on average 8.58 shots on goal per game, clearing both Liverpool and Real Madrid by at least 1.25 attempts per game.
The Box-plots below show how different positions attempt shots on goal throughout the competition. Defenders have the lowest attempts with 2.5 shots per game on average and forwards having the most attempts on goal with 7 attempts per game. This indicates that forwards have the most chance to score a goal as they take over two times the attempts on goal over the defenders. We can establish that Midfielders assist more and that the Forwards shot more, in conclusion both mids and forwards have the most amount of attempts on goal compared to the defenders.
1.3 Distribution Analysis
In the distribution Analysis, we dive even deeper into the analysis of the games played in the competition but in this section we look into the distribution of the ball throughout the field. As shown below, there is the total pass attempts by each club in the competition. The graph indicates that the team with the most passes during the game is * Real Madrid* with over 770 passes on average per game. This indicates that Real Madrid has had the majority of possession during the stint of their games which in turn also indicates that they have won more of their games due to having more possession of the ball. The Rival teams such as Manchester City and Bayern have had less passes on average but they were not trailing far behind (Man City: 714 and Bayern: 610)
The above graph indicates that most of the teams that were creating build up play started from the back of the field due to the number of average passes completed by defenders (443 passes on average per game). Forwards with no surpise having the least amount of passes as in previous graph it was shown that they shoot more than the defenders which in turn indicates that they receive the ball more than they supply it. As also clearly shown above the midfielders are a close second in average passes per game with 381.
1.4 Goals Analysis
As talked above, forwards have had more shot attempts on goal on average per game than any other position but in this section we will analyse the goals scored by teams and positions.
As shown in the graph above the forwards managed to score a staggering 197 goals over the 13 games in the competition. The Midfielders have scored 138 goals in the competition and the Defenders have managed to find the back of the net only 35 times during the course of the competition.
1.5 Conclusion
The 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League season analysis highlights key attacking, passing and goal-scoring trends. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were the most clinical in front of goal, surpassing the 30 goal mark, with Bayern also leading in assists (24). Despite these impressive team statistics Manchester City was crowned victorious and took home the most sought after trophy in club competition in Europe. Midfielders provided the most assists (130), reinforcing their playmaking role, while forwards had the highest shot attempts (7 per game on average) and contributed the most goals (197). Defenders, as expected, had the least goal involvement but played a crucial role in ball distribution, averaging 443 passes per game. Real Madrid led in total passes per game (770), reflecting their possession dominant style, which likely contributed to their overall success in the regular club success. ————————————————————————