Three key battles as Bayern Munich face Eintracht Frankfurt in DFB Pokal

Bayern Munich face an intriguing tactical battle against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Eyes on the prize. After a comfortable win against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, Bayern Munich will aim to enter their third consecutive DFB Pokal finals when they face Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday. The previous cup meeting between these two sides saw Niko Kovac working in the opposition dugout. It was the 2018 DFB finals in Berlin, where the Eagles lifted the cup in 2018 after a convincing 3-1 victory.

In the current season, both teams have shared the spoils in their two league meetings. Their first clash in November saw Eintracht clinch an emphatic 5-1 victory. Consequently, Kovac’s sacking was agreed upon by mutual consent amongst the senior executives. Hansi Flick avenged this humiliation in matchday 27 of the Bundesliga. Bayern won their sixth consecutive league outing with a 5-2 win over Adi Hutter’s Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayern hosted Eintracht using a 4-3-3 formation on paper. Adi Hutter deployed a 4-2-3-1 setup. Right from the onset, the Eagles used a tepid defensive approach. 4-4-1-1 deep block was the choice of defensive weapon in Hutter’s arsenal. As a result, Bayern got a lot of room to keep possession and pass the ball in the mid-third.

Eintracht were playing with a counter-attacking strategy to gain possession deep in their half and hit Bayern against their high line. In response, Bayern displayed outstanding positional play. The hosts maintained composure during possession. Die Roten kept 65% possession with an 85% pass completion rate. Flick used a good mix of short passes and long-balls.

The key strategy was Bayern’s movement in pockets of space. The reigning champions aimed to exploit Eintracht’s zonal man-oriented pressing in their low block. Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller worked in sync like two gears of a machine. Either of them dropped deep to disrupt Eintracht’s last line of defense. Ivan Perisic, too, appeared in a supporting role, which gave Alphonso Davies the space to thrust forward. The stats speak for Bayern’s tactical success. The Rekordmeister completed six passes within an estimated 20 yards of the opposition’s goal, took 23 shots with 43% accuracy, and clocked an xG of 2.7.

Another interesting sight in this match was the set-piece situations arising from corners. The visitors won two corners throughout the match with an xG per corner of 0.13. Martin Hinteregger rose twice to complete his brace. Eintracht were spot on with their technique to beat Bayern’s zonal marking.

On the other hand, the hosts ranked slightly ahead in corners. To put this in perspective, Die Roten earned seven corners, five of them were won by shots inside the box. The xG per shot from these five instances was recorded at 0.17. Hansi Flick’s side, despite not converting a corner, performed far better to beat Eintracht’s man-marking scheme.

While the previous meeting resulted in a victory for Bayern, there can be no guarantee for success in their next knockout fixture. Flick must be ready for another tactical challenge, especially considering Eintracht’s recent form. The Eagles have collected 6 points in their last three league games. Considering the current form for both the teams, we look at the key individual battles anticipated for the semi-finals of DFB Pokal.