Al Ittihad full-backs exploit wide spaces against Auckland City’s narrow back five

The Saudi Arabian side played in a 4-3-3, with their front three and two attacking midfielders working hard to deliberately lock in Auckland City’s wing-backs. By doing this, Al Ittihad’s full-backs and forwards were able to overload opposition defenders and exploit the available space in the wide channels.

According to Christian Gross of FIFA’s Technical Study Group, “the speed of Al Ittihad’s full-backs was a key success factor when they were overloading wide areas and it is worth noting that both their left-back, Zakaria Hawsawi (12), and their right-back, Muhannad Al Shanqiti (13), provided goal assists in this game. The positioning of the home side’s front five players caused a real problem for Auckland, particularly the roles of midfielders Ngolo Kanté (7) and Fabinho (8) and centre-forward Karim Benzema (9) in the central channel.”

Al Ittihad’s tactical approach to progress the ball into the final third centrally before using options outside Auckland City’s defensive shape was very effective. It was compounded by the fact the New Zealand side spent 42% of their time out of possession in a relatively passive low block while 43% of the hosts’ entries into the final third were via the central and inside channels.

Yet even though Auckland City’s defensive units were frequently condensed in these central parts of the pitch, Al Ittihad managed to receive the ball 149 times between their midfield and defensive units. This is over double the number City managed with 70 – despite Al Ittihad only holding a slight majority in possession with a 47% share versus Auckland City’s 45% (8% in contest). The home side’s front three of Benzema (centre), Igor Coronado (10) (left), and Romarinho (90) (right) particularly excelled at receiving between their opponent’s midfield and defensive lines, with 25, 25 and 20 ball receptions respectively. 

Al Ittihad full-backs Hawsawi and Al Shanqiti were also ranked in the top ten players for receptions between these lines. Interestingly, 81% of Al Shanqiti’s total of 42 receptions and 88% of Hawsawi’s 48 receptions were outside Auckland City’s team shape, further demonstrating their ability to exploit vacant wide areas.

A clear example of how Al Ittihad’s forwards and midfielders combined using the space between Auckland City’s midfield and defensive lines can be seen in clip 1 below. As Benzema drops in to receive, Kanté causes indecision between the left centre-back Christian Gray (4) and left wing-back Nathan Lobo (13), locking them both in narrow. This then frees up the hosts’ right-back Al Shanqiti, allowing him to receive the ball unopposed and make a dangerous attempt at goal.

Al Ittihad were also effective at exploiting the spaces in behind Auckland City’s narrow defensive line. Because the OFC Champions’ three centre-backs preferred to stay central, their wing-backs were forced to stay narrow and were unable to protect the space in wide areas. Al Ittihad’s full-backs enjoyed the opportunity to exploit this territory, attempting eight open-play crosses between them. 

According to Pascal Zuberbühler, “Al Ittihad really dominated in the first half and their full-backs were impactful in terms of generating overloads on Auckland’s back line. They have players like Kanté and Benzema who were able to see the spaces and knew when to make the runs. Benzema’s timing for his goal (see clip 3) is an example of this.”

In clip 2 below, we see another example of Auckland City’s determination to keep their back five as narrow as possible, allowing Al Ittihad to receive between the midfield and defensive lines and exploit the spaces available behind their opponents’ wing-backs on both sides before scoring.

In clip 3, the pattern continues as Al Ittihad receive between the midfield and defensive lines before Al Shanqiti exploits the space behind opposite wing-back Lobo by combining with Kanté. His subsequent low cross locates Benzema, who converts the chance and becomes the first player in history to score in four editions of the FIFA Club World Cup.