<b>Champions League Final Preview: PSG against Bayern</b>
This year’s Champions League final will see a contest of not only two German coaches, but also two teams with quite similar capabilities. In our preview we analyse what will be important for both teams in the game on Sunday from a tactical perspective.FC Bayern have now been unbeaten in 29 competitive matches. Only RB Leipzig managed to hold them to a goalless draw in this time. The main engineer behind this success is of course Hansi Flick. Although he himself does not like to be the center of attention, he has in an impressively short time built a team that can now repeat the historic treble of 2013. It is part of his likeable personality that he is visibly uncomfortable being in the spotlight at media conferences and that he always shares his praise among the entire team.In doing so, however, he also demonstrates impressively time and again what makes his Bayern side so strong: the team spirit that he himself exemplifies most. It is just one more win that separates FC Bayern from a Champions League triumph. With Paris Saint-Germain, probably the biggest challenge of the season so far awaits – the end boss, so to speak. But the same applies to Thomas Tuchel and his team. He too can make history in France – at least in men’s football. Because so far in France the treble has only been achieved by the women of Olympique Lyon, and that four times already.Both Flick and Tuchel leave nothing to chance and will challenge each other on a very high level. Paris also has one of the best attacking tridents in the world with Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Angel di María. But at the back, they have already afforded a lot of good opportunities for their opponents to score.Interestingly, exactly the same can be said about FC Bayern. Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry are in no way inferior to their Parisian counterparts, with any two of them having joined up in 28 of the 42 Bayern goals in this Champions League season – more than all of PSG put together (25). But Bayern, too, have shown in the past that they are vulnerable at the back.<a href="#tactical-analysis-who-has-the-better-press-who-the-better-build-up-play"></a>Tactical analysis: Who has the better press, who the better build-up play?Finals are rarely decided solely by special tactical feats. The referee’s performance, individual blunders or one excellent moment, the rate of chance conversion, the form on the day, even things like nutrition or the environment during match preparation can play a major role in the end result. However, strategy and tactics will play a not inconsiderable role – especially because both coaches attach great importance to it.In addition, there is little that can be analysed as readily as the tactical aspects of the game. And so we ask the question how both teams of coaches will set up their teams tactically for the game and what of it will probably have the greatest bearing on the outcome.Looking for tactical clues, the first thing jumping out is that the strategic goals for both teams are quite similar: Within their system, they try to take their game to the opponent. For both teams this means that they try to put the opponents’ build-up play under pressure. Conversely, it also means that both teams will have to find ways to escape this pressure in their own build-up play.<a href="#analysis-1-build-up-play-psg-pressing-bayern"></a>Analysis 1: Build-up play PSG, Pressing BayernThe two go hand in hand, of course. That is why we will first have a look at the build-up play of PSG under Thomas Tuchel and hence at the tactical means both teams deploy to implement their strategy. Especially against RB Leipzig PSG showed what a calm and composed team in possession they can be. Time and again, the Parisians managed to keep Leipzig’s defense busy until Neymar, Mbappé and di María were able to find a breakthrough from the space in between the lines.<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/upload…
This year’s Champions League final will see a contest of not only two German coaches, but also two teams with quite similar capabilities. In our preview we analyse what will be important for both teams in the game on Sunday from a tactical perspective.FC Bayern have now been unbeaten in 29 competitive matches. Only RB Leipzig managed to hold them to a goalless draw in this time. The main engineer behind this success is of course Hansi Flick. Although he himself does not like to be the center of attention, he has in an impressively short time built a team that can now repeat the historic treble of 2013. It is part of his likeable personality that he is visibly uncomfortable being in the spotlight at media conferences and that he always shares his praise among the entire team.In doing so, however, he also demonstrates impressively time and again what makes his Bayern side so strong: the team spirit that he himself exemplifies most. It is just one more win that separates FC Bayern from a Champions League triumph. With Paris Saint-Germain, probably the biggest challenge of the season so far awaits – the end boss, so to speak. But the same applies to Thomas Tuchel and his team. He too can make history in France – at least in men’s football. Because so far in France the treble has only been achieved by the women of Olympique Lyon, and that four times already.Both Flick and Tuchel leave nothing to chance and will challenge each other on a very high level. Paris also has one of the best attacking tridents in the world with Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Angel di María. But at the back, they have already afforded a lot of good opportunities for their opponents to score.Interestingly, exactly the same can be said about FC Bayern. Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry are in no way inferior to their Parisian counterparts, with any two of them having joined up in 28 of the 42 Bayern goals in this Champions League season – more than all of PSG put together (25). But Bayern, too, have shown in the past that they are vulnerable at the back.<a href="#tactical-analysis-who-has-the-better-press-who-the-better-build-up-play"></a>Tactical analysis: Who has the better press, who the better build-up play?Finals are rarely decided solely by special tactical feats. The referee’s performance, individual blunders or one excellent moment, the rate of chance conversion, the form on the day, even things like nutrition or the environment during match preparation can play a major role in the end result. However, strategy and tactics will play a not inconsiderable role – especially because both coaches attach great importance to it.In addition, there is little that can be analysed as readily as the tactical aspects of the game. And so we ask the question how both teams of coaches will set up their teams tactically for the game and what of it will probably have the greatest bearing on the outcome.Looking for tactical clues, the first thing jumping out is that the strategic goals for both teams are quite similar: Within their system, they try to take their game to the opponent. For both teams this means that they try to put the opponents’ build-up play under pressure. Conversely, it also means that both teams will have to find ways to escape this pressure in their own build-up play.<a href="#analysis-1-build-up-play-psg-pressing-bayern"></a>Analysis 1: Build-up play PSG, Pressing BayernThe two go hand in hand, of course. That is why we will first have a look at the build-up play of PSG under Thomas Tuchel and hence at the tactical means both teams deploy to implement their strategy. Especially against RB Leipzig PSG showed what a calm and composed team in possession they can be. Time and again, the Parisians managed to keep Leipzig’s defense busy until Neymar, Mbappé and di María were able to find a breakthrough from the space in between the lines.<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/upload…
<b>Bundesliga MD 05 Preview: Bayern vs. Frankfurt</b>
Before the game against Frankfurt on the weekend, it is worth taking another look at the Bayern performance against Atlético. In this game Bayern showed on almost every level why they are currently the best team in the world. Our preview is therefore partly also a look back.“We have changed our build-up play a little bit in order to play in certain spaces”, said Leon Goretzka after the 4-0 victory over Atlético Madrid. Insights into the tactical setup of a team are usually rare. Often this is due to journalists asking rather simple questions that elicit the usual off-the-shelf one word answers.But since Hansi Flick became coach at FC Bayern, players have been talking about tactics more regularly – sometimes even of their own accord. Above all, it is noticeable that the analysis of different players directly after the matches quite consistently raises identical issues.<a href="#fc-bayern-act-as-a-unit"></a>FC Bayern act as a unitLater, Flick echoed what Goretzka had said: “We tried to use the spaces we had identified as promising.” Now one may ask smugly if this should not be completely normal. After all, both coaches and players are top professionals who are supposed to know the ins and outs of their business.But there have been times when this common sound was not there, even in simple interviews. Where the analysis seemed to depend on the mood of the player. Not so under Flick. Same spaces, same movements, same orientation, same goals – FC Bayern is a unit on and off the pitch.And from the perspective of a blog whose bread and butter are the tactical aspects of the beautiful game, such statements are a feast for the ears. You can imagine it working like a well-oiled press: There is a trigger and a resulting response. In this case, the trigger is Goretzka’s statement that the build-up play has been adapted to a certain extent in order to be able to use certain spaces against a deep opponent. And the response? Well, a delighted analysis on the tactical board. Because let us see what Goretzka and Flick might have alluded to.<a href="#analysis-bayern-with-subtle-but-very-effective-adjustments-against-atletico"></a>Analysis: Bayern with subtle but very effective adjustments against AtléticoTypically, Bayern under Flick play with a tucked-in winger and very high overlapping full-backs. In the centre, the game is thus narrowed down based on a lot of movement and good organisation from which the team works out chances through the half spaces – to put it simply.<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FCBAufbau-958x650.jpg">Media</a>Against Atlético Bayern’s game focused predominantly on the right side. According to the app “SofaScore” the average positions looked something like this:<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DurchschnittlichePosFCBATM-959x650.jpg">Media</a><strong>Ungefähre Durchschnittspositionen des FC Bayern gegen Atlético.</strong>
(Nachgestellt, Quelle: SofaScore)The result: Goretzka, Kimmich and Tolisso rotated a lot, which is why in the graphic their average positions concentrate in the centre. However, their focus was more on the right side of the field. Alaba, Süle and Lewandowski also took up slightly right-shifted positions compared to their standard position. Müller, on the other hand, took, as expected, a strongly tucked in position, while Pavard was on average positioned higher than Hernández. Coman’s average position is considerably wider than Müller’s – and it would probably be even wider if he had not switched to the right side in some phases of the game.This may already serve to give a rough idea of what Bayern did differently than in the weeks before. After the side from Munich had managed to push Atléticos Pressing backwards through long periods of possession, their shape looked something like this:<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FCBATM1-963x650.jpg">Media</a>Pavard pushed up while Hernández…
Before the game against Frankfurt on the weekend, it is worth taking another look at the Bayern performance against Atlético. In this game Bayern showed on almost every level why they are currently the best team in the world. Our preview is therefore partly also a look back.“We have changed our build-up play a little bit in order to play in certain spaces”, said Leon Goretzka after the 4-0 victory over Atlético Madrid. Insights into the tactical setup of a team are usually rare. Often this is due to journalists asking rather simple questions that elicit the usual off-the-shelf one word answers.But since Hansi Flick became coach at FC Bayern, players have been talking about tactics more regularly – sometimes even of their own accord. Above all, it is noticeable that the analysis of different players directly after the matches quite consistently raises identical issues.<a href="#fc-bayern-act-as-a-unit"></a>FC Bayern act as a unitLater, Flick echoed what Goretzka had said: “We tried to use the spaces we had identified as promising.” Now one may ask smugly if this should not be completely normal. After all, both coaches and players are top professionals who are supposed to know the ins and outs of their business.But there have been times when this common sound was not there, even in simple interviews. Where the analysis seemed to depend on the mood of the player. Not so under Flick. Same spaces, same movements, same orientation, same goals – FC Bayern is a unit on and off the pitch.And from the perspective of a blog whose bread and butter are the tactical aspects of the beautiful game, such statements are a feast for the ears. You can imagine it working like a well-oiled press: There is a trigger and a resulting response. In this case, the trigger is Goretzka’s statement that the build-up play has been adapted to a certain extent in order to be able to use certain spaces against a deep opponent. And the response? Well, a delighted analysis on the tactical board. Because let us see what Goretzka and Flick might have alluded to.<a href="#analysis-bayern-with-subtle-but-very-effective-adjustments-against-atletico"></a>Analysis: Bayern with subtle but very effective adjustments against AtléticoTypically, Bayern under Flick play with a tucked-in winger and very high overlapping full-backs. In the centre, the game is thus narrowed down based on a lot of movement and good organisation from which the team works out chances through the half spaces – to put it simply.<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FCBAufbau-958x650.jpg">Media</a>Against Atlético Bayern’s game focused predominantly on the right side. According to the app “SofaScore” the average positions looked something like this:<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DurchschnittlichePosFCBATM-959x650.jpg">Media</a><strong>Ungefähre Durchschnittspositionen des FC Bayern gegen Atlético.</strong>
(Nachgestellt, Quelle: SofaScore)The result: Goretzka, Kimmich and Tolisso rotated a lot, which is why in the graphic their average positions concentrate in the centre. However, their focus was more on the right side of the field. Alaba, Süle and Lewandowski also took up slightly right-shifted positions compared to their standard position. Müller, on the other hand, took, as expected, a strongly tucked in position, while Pavard was on average positioned higher than Hernández. Coman’s average position is considerably wider than Müller’s – and it would probably be even wider if he had not switched to the right side in some phases of the game.This may already serve to give a rough idea of what Bayern did differently than in the weeks before. After the side from Munich had managed to push Atléticos Pressing backwards through long periods of possession, their shape looked something like this:<a href="https://miasanrot.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FCBATM1-963x650.jpg">Media</a>Pavard pushed up while Hernández…
