“Now, Chur may have taken the three points tonight, but the scoreline only tells you part of the story. What really stood out was the way they dismantled Luzern’s press through structure, movement and timing. This wasn’t random possession, this was a team with a clear tactical identity. Blerim Džemaili has been looking closely at it for us, because there were moments here that were as much about coaching as quality.”

“What impressed me most about Chur was the intelligence of their build-up structure. Luzern wanted to press high and pin them against the back line, but Arriola had a solution straight from that modern Basque school of coaching or from the Fabian Hürzeler playbook – rotations, reference points, and constant occupation of space. You’d see centre-back Fromlowitz step into midfield, then Papon immediately drop in to replace him, while Assongo moved inside from right-back and Garcia narrowed to make a temporary back three.

What that does is distort the press. Luzern began with clear assignments, but within seconds those assignments disappeared. Suddenly their front line were pressing shadows, caught between jumping to the ball or protecting the centre. That left huge spaces between the first press and midfield, and Chur exploited it brilliantly with three or four instances of lovely interplay between the onrushing Fromlowitz and backpeddling Papon. Iriondo, operating centrally, kept receiving on the half-turn, while Arroyo and Feitknecht could attack the gaps outside him.

Both goals [in the 2-1 win] came from that same principle, but even beyond the goals it was a recurring pattern all night. Chur weren’t just passing around Luzern – they were moving them, disorganising them, and then accelerating through the spaces once the structure broke.”