UCL Top Scoring Team for 3 Seasons STRAIGHT

The 2022 UEFA Technical Report was released following the 2023 group stage draw and 2022 awards ceremony. We look at FC Bayern’s standout performers, improvements, and gaps as the team moves into the 2023 season

• When Villareal scored against FC Bayern at the Allianz Arena, all 10 Bayern outfield players were within 35 metres to the Villareal goal, the furthest of any goal conceded by a team
• FC Bayern were UCL top scorers for the third straight season, with 31 goals at 3.1 goals per game, ahread of Ajax (2.75 gpg)
• There were 25 goals scored in the 90’+, up from 18 the previous season
• Almost 50% of knockout wins were decided with a single goal from 70′ onward, including FC Bayern’s quarterfinal elimination
• FC Bayern achieved 22 UCL away matches without defeat
• Salzburg only completed 151 passes in the 1-1 draw, the lowest of any team in a match during the competition
• FC Bayern failed to score for the first time in 31 matches in the 1-0 loss to Villareal
• Villareal completed 48 clearances in the 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena, the most of any team
• FC Bayern played with a 3-2-5 formation for the majority of the competition, being rewarded with 31 goals, but were open to almost 6xG on the counterattack
• Robert Lewandowski’s bicycle kick goal against Dynamo Kyiv was voted as the 4th best goal of the tournament, behind Benzema’s header against Chelsea, Vinicius against Shakhtar Donetsk, and Mbappé against Real Madrid, voted by UEFA technical observers, including former FC Bayern player and assistant coach Willy Sagnol
• There were eight 0-0 draws in the 2021/22 season, the most since 2016/17
• Robert Lewandowski scored 13 goals from 31 shots and 19 on target, at a conversion rate of 41.9% and at 67.4 minutes per goal. Benzema topped the charts with 15 goals from 46 shots, 23 on target, wit a 32.6% conversion rate and 73.7 minutes per goal. The only other FC Bayern player to come close was Leroy Sané, with 6 goals from 34 shots, 14 on target. He took almost 60% of his shots outside the box
• FC Bayern scored 9 goals from high-intensity passing combinations in the final third through the middle, the most of any team
• FC Bayern scored every 29 minutes on average, bettering Ajax at 32.7 minutes per goal, Leipzig at 36, Man City at 38.3 and Liverpool at 39 minutes per goal
• Atalanta had the fastest time between the start of a passing sequence and a goal at 8.8 seconds with 3 passes per sequence. For comparison, FC Bayern had 12.3 seconds and 4.1 passes per sequence leading to a goal on average
• FC Bayern were the 2nd-best team in terms of pressing, with 8.77 passes per defensive action (PpDA), only behind Ajax at 7.44 PpDA, whilst Chelsea was the best at allowing the opposition to progress just 8.7m up the field with the ball per defensive action, compared to FC Bayern’s 11.9 metres
• FC Bayern also had the 2nd-highest defensive line in the UCL at 44.4 metres away from goal, ahead of Liverpool (43.6m) and behind Man City (45.5m), these three teams far ahead of 4th place Chelsea (41m)
• As a result, FC Bayern also pressed the 2nd-highest behind Man City, at 44.4m away from goal, behind Man City at 45m. Liverpool counterpressed 45 times per 90 minutes, compared to FC Bayern’s 33, which is the competition median
• Manuel Neuer had 4 clean sheets, equalling 2nd best in the UCL with Alisson and Ederson, behind Thibaut Courtois, Edouard Mendy, and Odysseas Vlachodimos, all with five
• Neuer averaged a goal kick distance of 23.7 metres, the 5th-shortest distance in the competition
• Villareal decided to omit Bayern’s presses by first playing the goal kick short, inviting the press, then playing long and over. The one time Villareal decided to not play long, they conceded
• Alphonso Davies was the 4th-fastest player int he UCL in the home match against Benfica at 36.3km/h, behind Rafa Silva, Darwin Nuñez, and Kylian Mbappé, who clocked 36.7km/h against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu
• FC Bayern players covered the 4th-most distance as a team in matches on average, at 118.67km, behind Dynamo Kyiv (123.05km), Young Boys (121.26) and Man City (120.57)
• Joshua Kimmich ran the 3rd-most out of any individual player on average, at 12.11km per match, behind Sébastian Thill of Sheriff (12.81km) and Julian Weigl from Benfica (12.49km). Only Frenkie de Jong (11.51km) comes close as a player from a top European team
• FC Bayern averaged 63% possession, the most of any team in the UCL. The 7-1 victory against Salzburg yielded 72% of the ball, while 51% against Barça away was the lowest
• The team also attempted 618 passes on average, 2nd-highest in the UCL, with 752 against Salzburg the most, and 514 at home to Barça the least. The 253 medium-range passes also ranks 1st of all teams
• FC Bayern made an average of 8.3 recoveries in the attacking third, the best of all teams
• The best attack in the UCL, FC Bayern ranked 1st in goals scored (31, one own goal), goals per match (3.1 gpg), expected goals (26.7xG, 2.7xG/match), goal attempts (190, 19 per match), and shots on target (71 total, 7.1 per match), with 14% of shots going in, 42% being saved, 23% blocked, 1% hitting the woodwork, and 19% going off-target
• Robert Lewandowski scored 13 goals from 31 shots and 19 on target from 10.3xG, ahead of Leroy Sané (6G, 34S, 14oT, 4.3xG), and Thomas Müller (4G, 14S, 8oT, 1.9xG)
• Leroy Sané had 6 assists from 9 key passes and from an xA of 1.7, ahead of Kingsley Coman (3A, 22KP, 4.1xA), and Thomas Müller (3A, 17KP, 1.7xA)
• Thomas Müller attempted the most pressures defensively with 151, with 22 balls recovered, 2 tackles won, and 2 interceptions, ahead of Joshua Kimmich (135P, 49BR, 11TW, 16 int), and Leroy Sané (131P, 58BR, 8TW, 4 int)