EVALUATION OF THE GOALS SCORING PATTERNS AND THE RELATION BETWEEN TIME AND GOAL SCORING OF FOUR UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare time period and patterns of goal scoring in four UEFA Champions League (UCL) tournaments (2013-2017). All matches (n=500) of the four Champions League tournaments were recorded using video and analyzed with the software Sportsscout. Chi-square methods were used for the data analysis and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. The time period and scoring pattern comparison between UCL tournaments did not present any significant difference (X2=84.500, p>0.05 for the time period, X2=25.350, p>0.05 for open play and X2=7.503, p>0.05 for set play). The 15-min analysis for each tournament did not show any significant difference if we exclude all extra time periods. However, in UCL 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 more goals were scored in the second half (X2=9.696, p<0.05 and X2=7.496, p<0.05, respectively). With open play more goals were scored than set play (75% and 25% average, respectively). The action that scored the most goals in open play was combination and crosses (21.6% and 22.4% respectively) and in set play was corners and penalties (33.9%, all). The results showed that no differences occurred between CLs regarding the scoring patterns and time periods of scoring. However, goal scoring might be time dependent because more goals were scored in the second half. An explanation for this could be the fatigue and the tactical strategy. About the patterns, coaches must focus on training crosses and passing combinations. Also, they should give a lot of attention to corners of set plays.