The aim of this study is to compare how penetrations were created between the Finalists and Non-finalists by assessing opposition interaction in elite soccer. Sample included data from 12 matches played from the round of 16 to the final of the UEFA Champions League season 2010/2011. Differences in creating dangerous penetrations were found only after controlling for the effects of opponent`s defensive balance. Three way repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the interaction of team status and opponent`s defensive balance had a meaningful effect on the percentage of penetrative ball actions into dangerous spaces (F2,20 = 2.9, p = 0.076, partial Eta2 = 0.227). Finalists performed a higher percentage of dangerous penetrative ball actions per match than Non-finalists when playing against an imbalanced defence (89.2 ± 14.0 vs. 77.6 ± 13.6), while Non-finalists performed a higher percentage when playing against balanced (25.8 ± 10.7 vs. 16.1 ± 12.5) and beginning imbalanced (32.8 ± 10.9 vs. 29.1 ± 9.2) defences. Results suggest that effective exploitation of spaces within and behind the last line of opponent`s defence is an important determinant of successful offensive performance in soccer. The assessment of opposition interaction is of critical importance when analysing elite soccer performance.
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