The most possession dominant sides in Europe's top five leagues

Elite club football now requires teams to be comfortable dominating possession if they are going to win things. These teams did it best in 21/22

In 2015/16, Leicester City won the Premier League in remarkable fashion. Following the previous season - where a tremendous run of form in the last few games saved them from what looked like certain relegation - the Foxes began 15/16 in excellent form and somehow they kept it going all the way to the title. 

They were helped by the poor form of Manchester City and defending champions. Chelsea but they did have a very effective tactic. They largely played a counter-attacking 4-4-2 where they would absorb pressure before Danny Drinkwater would release Jamie Vardy in-behind, as well as utilising the individual quality of Riyad Mahrez. 

However, as well as standing out as an underdog title winner in terms of budget, Leicester are an outlier in the way that they won the league, in terms of style. Since then, every team that has won the Premier League has been one of the most possession dominant teams in the league. Of course, teams still win cups without being dominant on the ball, but almost every league in recent seasons has been won by a team who are comfortable being patient in possession. It is very hard for teams who want to challenge for titles to compete if they cannot adjust to playing on the front foot more often. 

To demonstrate this, here are the top possession dominant teams in Europe’s top five leagues from 21/22:

Manchester City - 68.5%

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see City top this list, given that Pep Guardiola is obsessed with controlling the ball and he drills his team to play in such a way. They only won the Premier League in 21/22 but they would have felt that they really missed an opportunity in the Champions League, although that competition is one where controlling the ball for the majority of the game isn’t quite so important. 

Barcelona - 64.8%

The Catalan giants are, of course, traditionally dominant of possession, due to the legacy of Johan Cruyff which is central to the way the club plays football. However, Ronald Koeman moving on and being replaced by a former Guardiola player in club legend Xavi, has only increased their desire to hold the ball.

Xavi’s appointment has meant that the team are far more dangerous in the way they actually use the ball though, as they looked much more of a challenger to Real Madrid in the title race. However, they still had problems and there were some terrible results in the second half of the season, despite the improvements.

Bayern Munich – 64.8%

The German champions increased their possession value in 21/22 as they moved from 60% possession under Hansi Flick to 64.8% under Julian Nagelsmann. Interestingly, this actually saw them finish a point below their previous total but their xG difference was hugely improved as had a positive difference of 51, compared to 34.8 in 20/21.

PSG – 63.4%

Another title winner, PSG were the dominant possession side in Ligue 1 and despite not being at their best, won the league by 15 points. The French champions were the only team in the league with an xG difference anything close to +1, which they hit exactly. Rennes +0.58 was the next best, showing how dominant PSG were in the league.

Liverpool – 63.3%

Jurgen Klopp’s side are the second highest runner-up in this list, however, they rank as second in all of Europe’s big five leagues when it comes to points per game, as they hit 2.42 points per game, behind City’s 2.45.

Liverpool are a side that have moved towards more of a possession based side over recent years, when they were more of a high-pressing, transition based team in the early days of Klopp’s reign. Signings like Thiago Alcantara have been vital in that change and although they won the Premier League in the season before he signed, they have become more impressive than ever since he found his place in the team.

Chelsea – 62.3%

Chelsea are the first team on this list who did not finish in the top two of their league. Thomas Tuchel likes to play a patient build-up style, which wasn’t quite as effective in 21/22 but there were some other factors at play in Chelsea’s disappointing season.

Interestingly, this style of play doesn’t suit Chelsea’s record signing, in Romelu Lukaku, as the Belgian striker plays best when he has more space to run into. Tuchel’s slow play means the opponent can squeeze that space and limit his effectiveness. Thus, Kai Havertz has often been preferred up front.

Marseille – 62%

The runners up in Ligue 1, Marseille have made big improvements in the last season and a half, after Jorge Sampaoli took over from Andre Villas-Boas.

Having competed in – and made the semi-final of - the Europa Conference League in 21/22, under Sampaoli they have returned to the Champions League. The Argentine manager’s possession based style got the most out of players like William Saliba, who starred as one of the best centre backs in the league, and Dimitri Payet who looked back to his best, despite his advancing years.

Real Madrid – 60.3%

Carlo Ancelloti’s Madrid are an interesting case as they were able to operate in two dramatically different styles. They won La Liga by 13 points from Barcelona, dominating the ball in midfield, with players like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos surgically dismantling opponents, whilst Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema did the damage in attack.

However, in the Champions League the team would line up in the same way, only to play in a counter attacking style throughout the knockout stages, which saw them defeat PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. They were able to give up the ball for the majority of each tie but be incredibly clinical in attack in the moments they needed to be and this saw them go all the way to win the competition.

Sevilla – 59.8

Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla are the least effective team in this list, as they finished fourth in La Liga. They were nowhere near as good as the other teams at turning their dominance of possession into goalscoring opportunities, whilst limiting the ability of their opponents to create well. This saw them put up an expected goal difference of only +5.

Borussia Dortmund – 59.6%

Another side who had a poor season by their standards was Borussia Dortmund. They finished second in the Bundesliga but at no stage were they a real threat for champions Bayern. Although they did dominate the ball more often than not, much of their team is stronger when they can counter attack.

However the big problem for Marco Rose was that when Dortmund lost the ball they were punished very badly. The 52 goals they conceded was the second worst in the top half of the table and is one of the key reasons the club have decided to move on from him this summer.