The 2024/25 edition of the UEFA Youth League is currently underway.
The group stage (League Phase) ended on December 11, 2024.
During this season’s league phase, numerous players showed their skills and talents during very competitive games between the best European teams in the footballing scene.
These players have been showcasing that they are ones to watch for their respective senior teams.
Of course, it is impossible to highlight every talented player who participated in the League Phase of this tournament, even though many of them deserve recognition.
Therefore, we’ve used data and video analysis to spotlight a select few standouts from the competition so far.
The five players that this analysis will shed light on will be Mahamadou Sangaré from Paris Saint-Germain, Phillip Verhounig from Red Bull Salzburg, Daniel Cummings of Celtic, Antonios Papakanellos of Olympiacos, and Magnus Dalpiaz from Bayern Munich.
The tactical analysis and scout report will explore these players’ traits and their importance to their respective teams’ tactics.
It will highlight what makes them worthy of attention and how they can improve to become impactful and useful later at the senior level.
Mahamadou Sangaré
With eight goals in six games in the UEFA Youth League so far, Sangaré has already proven to everyone that he has great potential as a striker and is a reliable and clinical finisher.
Other than that, the Paris Saint-Germain striker has excellent physical abilities, mainly pace and acceleration, which enable him to disturb any defence, especially during counterattacks.
The following goal action showcases his ability to surpass a whole defensive line during a counterattack.
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
He finds himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper and finishes with ease, knowing that he has started running from his team’s own half.
Moreover, Sangaré relies not only on his pace and acceleration abilities but also has some very dangerous left-footed shots and passes that he uses exceptionally well, whether in open play or set-pieces.
He has been capable of scoring a magnificent free-kick against Atlético Madrid, for instance, as he also scored numerous other beautiful goals relying on his shooting abilities plus his awareness of his surroundings and his well-timed attacking movements inside the box.
The following goal action against Atlético Madrid highlights his ability to create space for himself and attack the free space at the needed timing to prepare himself for receiving the cross and finishing the action while escaping from his markers using his pace.
Sangaré’s Attacking Movements
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
Whether as a striker or as a right-winger, Sangaré has got the potential to succeed as a key attacking player because he has the physical and technical traits needed for the role.
However, developing in the necessary way and carefully choosing his teams will certainly help him take the next step and reach the top level.
Phillip Verhounig
Phillip Verhounig has also been putting in some convincing performances as a pure striker at Salzburg, as he has the profile of a striker who likes to receive passes inside the box mainly and can be even more efficient with a second striker playing near him.
Verhounig proved that he can play and score using both feet, which is an advantage for him as it helps him confuse goalkeepers and adapt to situations inside the box.
The following goal action also highlights his ability to use passing combinations quickly and react quickly to the pass he receives.
He finished this action with a first-time left-footed shot that surprised the defenders and the goalkeeper.
Verhounig’s Finishing
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
In addition, Verhounig often puts himself in key positions and deals well with crosses, with an average of 0.57 goals per match so far and 2.13 attempted shots per 90 minutes.
It goes without saying that he still needs to improve his numbers and be more consistent in terms of shots on target, yet we can argue that Verhounig is one of the most talented young strikers in the UEFA Youth League.
With perseverance, consistent work on finishing, and improvement in his physical abilities, Verhounig has the potential to become a reliable senior striker.
Daniel Cummings
Celtic’s Daniel Cummings has also put on some convincing performances so far, scoring six goals in six matches.
The 18-year-old Scottish forward has been excellent for Celtic in the League Phase of the UEFA Youth League.
He has scored goals that highlight his goalscoring talent and his wonderful ability to deal with complex attacking situations.
He adapts his shooting abilities depending on the situation and often anticipates the defenders’ movements to create time and space for himself.
In the following action, we can clearly notice his anticipation of his direct marker’s movement and his run towards the ball when it was about to be crossed.
This anticipatory movement allowed him to finish the action inside the net using his left foot in a remarkable way, which highlights the player’s tactical awareness and crucial movements without the ball.
Cummings’s Anticipatory Movements
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
Cummings can also be very creative in terms of finishing.
He uses lobbed shots when needed and does not hesitate to change his shooting routines depending on the situation, which makes him difficult to predict.
This unpredictability is very important for a striker as it allows him to always find a way to confuse defenders and goalkeepers.
Unlike strikers whose movements and shots are predictable, unpredictability makes life harder for strikers and complicates their goalscoring.
Cummings’ Lobbed Shot
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
Antonios Papakanellos
With remarkable dribbling and passing abilities, Papakanellos is considered one of Greece’s most skilled emerging players.
He has shown great potential in the last couple of years, and his performances in the UEFA Youth League have confirmed this.
Papakanellos is an advanced playmaker who can also play well as a second striker.
He can serve his teammates with key passes between the lines and has the skills to penetrate the box using his remarkable dribbles.
Whether with crosses, long passes between the lines or through passes, Papakanellos usually finds a way to punish the opposing defences with his key passes.
The following example highlights his ability to quickly notice a gap in the opposing defence and automatically serve the team’s striker with a first-touch long pass into space at the back of the defensive line, creating an opportunity that the striker was capable of scoring.
Papakanellos’ Assist
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
With a passing accuracy of 68.4%, he often leads the team in attack by creating dangerous situations, whether from the wings or the middle.
Moreover, using his height to run faster than his opponents and attempting dribbles so often makes Papakanellos so dangerous inside the final third as he often looks for defensive mistakes to use in his favour.
In this goal action, he attempted to dribble past two defenders, but when he found that the defence was well organised, he preferred to opt for a cross from the wing since he was noticing a better-positioned teammate near the far post.
Papakanellos’s Dribbling And Wing Actions
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
Papakanellos can play at the senior level but needs to become quicker and stronger physically to resist the defensive disturbance when attempting to penetrate.
That said, Papakanellos can become a reliable attacking midfielder if he continues to work on his key passes, consistently provides assists, and tries to score goals more often, whether by headers or shooting from distance.
Magnus Dalpiaz
Magnus Dalpiaz is a 17-year-old right-back who is gaining experience in different defensive positions.
He has also played as a centre-back and, on occasion, a left-back.
In addition, Dalpiaz has been making significant progress in interceptions and defensive duels and showed some very positive signs during the UEFA Youth League’s first phase.
With 63.5% of defensive duels and 60.5% of aerial duels won (an excellent average compared to the total number of aerial duels), 13 fouls committed, and one yellow card, Dalpiaz confirmed that he is becoming a very reliable defender for Bayern Munich.
Dalpiaz was attentive throughout the League phase, numerous times saving his team from conceding goals.
His composure, defensive intelligence, and ability to deal with one-on-one situations inside his team’s own third have been remarkable.
He uses aggression when needed but knows how to avoid fouls.
The following key defensive action highlights Dalpiaz’s crucial interception of the ball against PSG’s Diaby at the moment of shooting, saving his team from conceding a goal.
Dalpiaz’s Crucial Clearance
2024/25 UEFA Youth League League Phase: Five Key Players To Watch - Scout Report Tactical analysis tactics
Moreover, Dalpiaz’s agility and ability to intervene at the right time make him a reliable defender who needs to be exploited further.
With more experience and physical work, Dalpiaz has the potential to become a starting defender with Bayern Munich’s senior team, especially if he continues to progress and adopts the right mentality in the coming years.
Conclusion
Mahamadou Sangaré, Phillip Verhounig, Daniel Cummings, Antonios Papakanellos, and Magnus Dalpiaz have all been excellent in the UEFA Youth League’s league phase.
Still, they need to confirm their talents in the knockout phase to get more playing chances with their respective national teams and to be promoted to the senior teams as soon as possible.
And as mentioned above, these five players are among the most talented players in the competition this season but are not the only ones who put on convincing performances.
My name is Selim Ben Hmida, a Tunisian football analyst and a passionate fan of this sport. Follow me on Twitter if you are interested in reading more about the tactical side of the game.