Agricultural intensification often degrades soil physical properties; therefore, this study evaluated the effects of tillage, white mustard cover crop management, and nitrogen fertilisation on selected soil physical properties in spring barley. A three-year split-plot field experiment on Haplic Chernozem included four tillage and cover crop management treatments (conventional ploughing without a cover crop and conventional, reduced, and no-tillage with a cover crop) and three nitrogen rates (40, 80, 120 kg N ha-1). Soil moisture, total and capillary poro-sity, penetration resistance, and aggregate stability were measured at two dates and in two soil layers. Experimental effects were assessed using analysis of variance, while relationships among properties were examined by correlation and principal component analysis (PCA). Tillage and cover crop management was the main factor differentiating soil physical properties, whereas nitrogen effects were limited. No-tillage increased penetration resistance and reduced porosity early in the season, while reduced and no-tillage treatments enhanced aggregate stability later in the season. Cover crop effects were seasonal, initially destabilising and later improving aggregate stability. PCA indicated that the relationship between penetration resistance and porosity was the principal mechanism differentiating tillage and cover crop management treatments, and that treatments including a cover crop modified the interrelationships among penetration resistance, porosity, and aggregate stability, shaping the seasonal dynamics of soil physical functioning.