Talking Tactics: Bayern Munich need to contain Borussia Dortmund’s attack

Rewind: Matchday 11 – Bayern Munich’s defensive scheme

Borussia Dortmund were smothered in their half by Die Roten. Flick had deployed a high-tempo pressing maneuver in Dortmund’s half. The Bavarians used five men in the final-third to press Dortmund’s build-up. Favre had two pivots canvassed by their center-backs and four attackers on either side of the vertical axis. Achraf Hakimi and Nico Schulz, the full-backs, flanked the pivots. Bayern applied a man-oriented zonal pressing with Robert Lewandowski, Coman, Gnabry, Muller, and Goretzka used in an advanced role. Joshua Kimmich stayed at the back with the defenders in a high defensive line.

Bayern created a five versus four numerical advantage at the back. Roman Burki was often left with no other option but to send a long-ball aimed at Bayern’s half. The Rekordmeister’s score of ten on the PPDA chart shows their relative aggressive pressing. Dortmund, in comparison, allowed 18.3 passes per defensive action in their opponents’ half.

Pressing, counter-pressing, and its other affiliated defensive techniques were executed with tireless attitude from Hansi Flick’s Bayern. As a result, Dortmund were dispossessed 20 times compared with Bayern losing possession 11 times from a tackle. Their defensive structure gave them more freedom to regain possession and accelerated their offensive transitions.

Alphonso Davies, in particular, dominated the left-flank of the park. The Canadian had Sancho comfortably in his back pocket. Davies attempted seven tackles with a 100% success rate. Moreover, he made 13 recoveries of the total 82 from Bayern Munich. The reigning champions established themselves in large numbers and overloaded certain sections of the pitch to deny Dortmund a chance at their goal.

An interesting point to notice was that Bayern gave away possession in the early stages of the match in favour of a potential counter-attack. During the first 15 minutes, Bayern kept possession of 46%. For the full match, their ball possession was recorded at 60%. This seemed to be a rather psychological ploy from Flick. Bayern invited Dortmund deep in their half as they defended in a well-packed unit of 5-4-1. A few counter-attacks from this strategy forced Dortmund to maintain a safe distance from Bayern’s defensive third. Consequently, the hosts found more room to play passes comfortably from the back.