The UEFA Champions League stands as the pinnacle of club soccer, showcasing the best talent from across Europe. The Champions League is more than just a tournament, it's a source of inspiration and a benchmark of elite level soccer.
In this blog post, we'll highlight various skills needed to play at Champions League level. Plus, how you can start adding these soccer skills into your own game.
Finish like Harry Kane
Bayern Munich star Harry Kane scored eight goals in last season's Champions League competition, joint highest alongside Kylian Mbappé. The England striker netted four times in the group stage and four times in the knockout rounds.
Kane possesses a variety of different shooting and finishing techniques. This skillset has helped Kane break a number of goalscoring records throughout his career. These have included becoming the England national team’s record goalscorer and Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time highest goalscorer.
One finishing technique that is particularly unique to Kane is his one-step finish. In one motion, Kane has mastered how to control and shoot the ball in one fluid action.
Watch our video to learn more and start scoring more goals by catching goalkeepers off guard with these Champions League soccer skills.
Striker runs to score more
Teams in the Champions League come up against the best defences and defenders. Strikers therefore need to have elite level movement to give themselves more opportunities to score.
Erling Haaland has scored 41 goals in 38 Champions League appearances. At just 23 years of age, the Norway striker is already joint 17th in the list of all-time tournament scorers.
Haaland is not only superior physically to his opponents, but also with his movement. The Manchester City player is intelligent with his runs, inside and outside the box. This skillset allows him to score so many goals.
Watch our video to learn more and understand the player speed and movement of a Champions League star.
Time your passes right
In the 2022/23 Champions League final, Rodri scored the winning goal that helped Manchester City lift the trophy. The Spanish midfielder also won the award for player of the tournament, crowning his achievement.
Rodri is best known for controlling midfield. His club manager, Pep Guardiola, described Rodri as "the best midfield player, currently, in the world by far". One of Rodri's key strengths is that he rarely loses possession. Technique and accuracy is a major reason for this, but also timing.
Rodri, like lots of Champions League level players, possesses the incredible skill of timing their passes to perfection. Kick the ball at the right time and stop losing possession for your team by watching our video.
Pressing triggers
Teams in the Champions League are not only elite with the ball, but also without it. The ability to regain possession is hugely important in the pursuit of controlling a game.
In last season's Champions League, UEFA analysed the second leg of the last-16 tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Sociedad. They concluded that PSG's pressing was a noteworthy feature of their victory.
Players at this level of soccer therefore need to be well skilled in art of pressing. Watch our video to learn more about the different types of pressing triggers.
Defending individually
Even the best defensive gameplans in the world cannot always stop opponents from creating chances. Especially when facing players and teams of the highest quality.
Pros at the Champions League level will need to defend individually at some point. Fullbacks need to excel at defending one-versus-one duels and their defensive positioning.
Sometimes though, facing shots is inevitable. But top Champions League level defenders know the best techniques on how to block shots. Watch our video to learn more.
Scanning and game intelligence
Real Madrid were Champions League winners in 2023/24, lifting the trophy for a record fifteenth time. Veteran midfielders, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, played important roles in this triumph. Despite each nearing the end of their respective careers.
Part of what has enabled Kroos and Modric to keep performing at the highest level is their game intelligence. This skillset is aided by both players elite scanning ability. Studies have shown that players who have a higher scan rate are more likely to retain possession and make more successful forward passes.
Kroos, for instance, has averaged over 90% pass accuracy in each of his past 10 seasons and his passing accuracy has even increased with age. Watch our video and start increasing the frequency and timing of your scans, and see your game intelligence improve too.
Train like a Champions League player and club
Champions League level players and clubs are the most dedicated trainers. Pros will spend hours on the training field and in the analysis room honing their skills and preparing for competition.
One further way those at the top of the sport reach, and stay, at the highest level is by searching for new frontiers. Advancements in sports science have helped improve player's physical capabilities over the past twenty years.
And former Arsenal manager, and now Head of Global Football Development for FIFA, Arsene Wenger believes training the brain is soccer's next frontier. “I see the next step being technology used to train our brain” said the legendary Frenchman.
Unsurprisingly, current Champions League clubs and players are already early adopters of this new frontier, with the use of virtual reality (VR). VR headsets allow players to train on the virtual pitch and develop their cognitive skills, such as scanning, awareness, vision and decision making.
Clubs such as last season's finalists Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen, who reached the knockout rounds of the competition, use Be Your Best technology to develop their players cognitive skills.
Champions League level players like Martin Ødegaard and Aurélien Tchouaméni have also trained with Be Your Best to stay on top of their game.
Closing Thoughts
Over the course of this blog we've highlighted various soccer skills needed to play at Champions League level. Plus, introduced you to how VR technology is already being used by the pros in search of soccer's next frontier.
Now it's time for you to put some of our advice into practice. Both with your technical and brain training.
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