A couple of thoughts from Real Madrid's incredible win over Bayern

Real Madrid's incredible 4-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena  came as quite the shock. Here are two thoughts from Tuesday's game.

1. Real's pace matched up well against Bayern's high line
Bayern enjoy possessing the ball in their opponents half and pushing their fullbacks into advanced areas. When they concede possession they press high up the pitch to win it back and hold a high line. These tactics have the potential to leave a side vulnerable to counterattacks and Real Madrid are the strongest counterattacking side in the world. Real Madrid played a 4-4-1-1, defending with a narrow midfield bank of four and leaving Benzema and Ronaldo higher up the pitch to spring counters. Ronaldo provided an initial outlet pass when Real won the ball back and Angel Di Maria and Gareth Bale broke forward with deep runs from midfield. No other side in the world boasts three players with the combination of pace and technique possessed by Bale, Ronaldo and Di Maria. When they're given space to run into on the break they're virtually unplayable.

From the outset Bayern's high line looked vulnerable. In the 9th minute Neuer was forced out of his box to head a Di Maria ball over the top that nearly put Benzema through on goal. The German keeper scuffed his headed clearance and was fortunate when Bale wasn't able to take advantage, the Welshman putting his volleyed effort at an open net over the bar. The writing was on the wall however. Six minutes later Xabi Alonso won the ball at the edge of his own penalty area and provided an outlet for Ronaldo. He flicked cleverly for Di Maria breaking down the left sideline who played a diagonal ball over the top of Bayern's high line for Benzema. Dante's last ditch tackle prevented Benzema from getting a shot off but it earned Real the corner that Ramos would score the opener from.

With Bayern needing three goals and forced to chase the game, Real were able to maintain their deep, tight defensive positioning and invite pressure before exploiting space in behind the Bayern midfield on the counter. This was a masterclass of organized team defending and lethal counterattacking football highlighted by Real's third goal, one of the best team goals you'll see this season. In Real's penalty box Carvajal, Modric and Pepe all close down on Ribery and force him into a bad pass that falls for Bale at the edge of the penalty area. Bale plays a square pass to Di Maria who finds Benzema breaking into the right channel. This run from Benzema is an intelligent one as he forces Dante into a wide position and leaves a huge gap in the middle of midfield between Dante and his center back partner Jerome Boatening. Bale sprints forward beyond Toni Kroos into this gap and through on goal. He lays a pass to his left for Ronaldo to tuck home for a record setting 15 UCL goals.

 2. Pep Guardiola should not be sacked at Bayern
Following Bayern's treble winning 2012-2013 season, the expectations placed on Guardiola in his first season were always going to be nearly impossible to satisfy. How do you improve a side that won everything?

Things went swimmingly in the league- Bayern remarkably clinched the title with 7 games remaining without having lost up to that point. From there they hit a deep in form, drawing with Hoffenheim before losing consecutive games to Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund. Guardiola deserves criticism for the complacency that set in that quelled momentum and almost certainly contributed to their heavy defeat Tuesday. However, Bayern may yet still win a domestic double as they face Dortmund in the league cup final May 17. I can't help but feel there's something seriously wrong with football culture if a manger gets sacked after winning a double and making a Champions League semifinal in his first season in charge. It was an embarrassing defeat for Bayern but it seems insane to base a managers body of work over the course of a season on one two-legged tie.

Yes he was up against a manager also in his first season but Ancelotti is more flexible in his tactical approach and therefore doesn't require the same length of time to allow his players to adapt to his style. Guardiola by contrast is more rigid in how he requires his sides to play. His approach and the personnel he has used differ from Jupp Heynckes last season and it will therefore take players time to gel into his system. Given time the understanding between manager and players will improve as will performances on the pitch. The big question that may determine Guardiola's future is whether Bayern supporters and the board want to continue to see their club play Guardiola's patient, horizontal possession style. Honorary club president Franz Beckenbauer has on more than one occasion voiced his displeasure at what he views as Guardiola's boring style.

Tactics recap: Bayern Munich 3-1 Manchester City

For 80 minutes Wednesday evening Manchester City were so thoroughly outclassed by Bayern Munich it was difficult to believe they had a squad of European football’s most expensive and indeed most talented players. 

So comprehensive was the German side’s dominance that the home crowd applauded Bayern right winger Arjen Robben when he was substituted in the 78^th minute.

  

After suffering a shocking 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend in which a series of mistakes cost City a game they had controlled with ease, Wednesday evening’s contest was an entirely different story. Bayern hardly gave City a whiff of the ball, let alone any meaningful goal scoring chances. Although Alvaro Negredo struck late for City and David Silva nearly made it 3-2 with a free kick off the bar, the final 3-1 scoreline did not accurately reflect Bayern’s superiority.

Early this week Michael Cox wrote a piece for Soccernet stressing that City’s two league defeats to Cardiff and Villa were largely a product of lapses in concentration and avoidable mistakes. 

Silly individual errors certainly played their part last night. Joe Hart should have kept out Franck Ribery’s opener, Gael Clichy fell asleep and allowed Thomas Muller to get in behind the back four for the second and Fernandinho gave away possession in midfield far too easily for Bayern’s third. But equally as crucial as City’s individual errors was the way Manuel Pellegrini set his side out to play.

It’s no secret that Pep Guardiola-coached sides generally play a 4-3-3 with three talented passing center midfielders and look to dominate possession. Yesterday Guardiola used Philipp Lahm in front of the back four with Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger higher up the pitch to Lahm’s left and right respectively. To compete in midfield and not allow Bayern to comfortably retain the ball, City needed to match Bayern’s three center midfielders with three of their own. Instead, Pellegrini opted for more of a 4-4-2 shape. Defensively, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero stayed high up the pitch closer to the Bayern center backs and did little tracking back. This left their two center midfielders Yaya Toure and Fernandinho outnumbered 3 v. 2 in the central midfield zone. They generally picked up the two more advanced Bayern center midfielders, meaning one was always spare to drop off and collect passes without being closed down. This enabled Bayern to comfortably keep the ball and dictate the tempo. As a result City spent the bulk of the contest chasing Bayern in their defensive half without getting anywhere near the ball.  When they were able to win it back, Aguero and Dzeko were too high up the pitch to provide an outlet to spring counters. Bayern pressed quickly and relentlessly and forced City into knocking desperate long balls out of the back that simply gave possession right back to the visitors.

Aguero was substituted for David Silva in the 70^th minute and City switched to a 4-2-3-1.  The change to three center midfielders coincided with City’s strongest spell of the game. Silva worked the space between the Bayern lines and provided a link to Negredo (who had come on to replace Dzeko) that City had lacked when they were in a 4-4-2. In Aguero’s 70 minutes on the pitch he had just 8 passes. In Silva’s 20 minutes he had 18. 

David Silva passes versus Bayern Munich via FourFourTwo (red= unsuccessful pass, blue= successful, light blue= chance created, yellow= assist)

Sergio Aguero passes versus Bayern Munich

Silva provided the pass for Negredo’s goal and also provided the ball through for Toure that led to Jerome Boateng making a cynical last ditch tackle and being sent off.  That’s not to say Aguero was to blame for the defeat and shouldn’t have been involved. In fact his pace could have been the biggest threat in behind the high line Bayern were playing. But he needed to playing alongside a creative midfielder with the positional awareness to drift into pockets of space and play through balls for him in behind the defense rather than alongside a #9. Had City gone with a 4-2-3-1 from the outside they’d have been better able to compete in the center midfield zone and we may have seen a much closer affair.

Match commentator Gary Neville went as far as saying that if Pellegrini were an English manager he’d have been called naïve for sticking with the 4-4-2 for so long. A stinging indictment, but one that’s difficult to argue with on the basis of last night’s performance.

Tactical Analysis: Bayern Munich 4-0 Barcelona

Bayern Munich stunned Barcelona with a memorable 4-0 win in a dominant performance at the Allianz Arena that leaves the Bavarian side with one foot in the Champions League final. That Barca ended the game with as many attempts as Bayern had goals is an indicator of just how much Jupp Heynckes' side controlled proceedings.

Bayern (4-2-3-1): Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba

                             Javi Martinez, Schweinsteiger

                                  Robben, Muller, Ribery

                                               Gomez

Barcelona (4-3-3): Dani Alves, Bartra, Pique, Alba

                                               Busquets

                                            Xavi, Iniesta

                                     Pedro, Messi, Sanchez

Prior to the match, Barcelona's official website had posted that the team had reached 300 consecutive games in which they had over 50% possession. Much had been made about whether Bayern, second in Europe behind Barca in terms of possession per game, would try to compete in midfield, press high up the field and possess the ball.

As it turned out, they took a more reactive approach, allowing Barca to have possession in their own half, then pressing the ball relentlessly when it crossed the midfield line. In his analysis for ESPN following the game, Robbie Mustoe commented on how compact Bayern were from front to back, preventing the likes of Messi and Iniesta from finding the pockets of space between the seams where they operate so effectively. He was spot on- this was the key tactical feature of the game.

Bayern defended in two banks of four with Tomas Muller and Mario Gomez playing higher up the field and applying pressure to Barca's center backs and deepest midfielder Sergio Busquets. Any time Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta would drop in front of Bayern's midfield four to collect the ball, one Bayern midfielder would immediately step out and apply intense pressure on the ball. Typically Bastian Schweinsteiger performed this role while Javi Martinez stayed deeper to check runs from Messi and Iniesta into the gaps. The pressure meant Xavi and Iniesta were unable to turn and enjoy the time on the ball to pick out a penetrating pass forward.

In order to keep the space Barca had to operate in compact, the Bayern defense played a high line. Often the space between the back four and midfield four was no more than 10 yards. Messi is at his most dangerous when he's able to collect the ball in the space between the opposition center backs and center midfielders and turn and dribble. However, Bayern's high line meant these spaces weren't available for him. When he dropped off Boateng and Dante and drifted into midfield, generally Javi Martinez was there to deny the entry pass into his feet. The high line likely explains Bayern's decision to start Jerome Boateng alongside Dante at center back rather than Daniel Van Buyten. Boateng is quicker and therefore more able to recover defensively when balls are played in behind the back four.

Bayern's back four was never really made to sweat their high line because of Barca's formation. With Messi operating as a false 9 and drifting back into midfield, the Catalans never really offered a threat behind Bayern's back four. Often without a direct opponent to defend, Dante and Boateng were able to sit in, see Barca's attacks developing in front of them and react accordingly by stepping into passing lanes. The inclusion of David Villa at center forward would have given Barca a vertical threat and forced the Bayern center backs into more difficult decisions regarding their positioning. Messi could have then played a very narrow position on the right. Barca used that formation against in their second leg demolition of AC Milan and it caused Milan center back Philippe Mexes all sorts of troubles. He was continually forced into deciding whether to leave Villa and step to Messi or allow Messi to get on the ball and dribble.

In attack, Bayern looked to counter quickly into the channels when they retained possession. With Alba and Dani Alves pushing forward to provide width in attack for Barcelona, there was space in behind them on the wings for Bayern to play quick outlet passes into. Muller did an excellent job drifting into these wide areas from his center attacking midfield position to spring counters. Ribery and Robben would also look to dart in behind the Barca fullbacks on the break. Bayern also looked to exploit their aerial superiority by getting crosses into the back post from set pieces and open play. Their first two goals both came from winning an initial ball at the back post and knocking it back across the middle for easy finishes.

Jupp Heynckes is deserving of a great deal of credit for this dominant performance. He showed his tactical flexibility, conceding possession to Barca and adopting a counterattacking style Bayern have rarely played this season. In so doing he has all but assured his side will be playing in their second consecutive Champions League final.

Barca outpossess opponents in 300 consecutive games

Barcelona have outpossessed their opponents in 300 consecutive games, the Catalan club has posted on its official website. That record could potentially come under threat over two Champions League semi final legs with Bayern Munich, the first of which will be played this evening in Munich. Bayern have the second highest average possession total in Europe's five major leagues- 63.6% to Barca's 69.6%. Coverage begins at 2:30 this afternoon on FOX Soccer Channel.