Bayern Strikes
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Talking Tactics: Ruthless Bayern Munich meet resolute Lyon

By Kartik Sahni

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: The FC Bayern Munich club crest on their home shirt with the Starball, the official adidas UEFA Champions League match ball on August 17, 2020 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Visionhaus)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: The FC Bayern Munich club crest on their home shirt with the Starball, the official adidas UEFA Champions League match ball on August 17, 2020 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Visionhaus) /
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Lyon players celebrating win against Manchester City. (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Lyon players celebrating win against Manchester City. (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images) /

Olympique Lyonnaise: The Underdogs

Lyon delivered a robust performance in the Coupe de la Ligue finals against PSG, edged past Juventus on away goal rule in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and stunned Manchester City with a three-one victory in the quarter-finals.

Their post lockdown form renders LFP’s decision as unjust. Unlike its European counterparts, France opted to end the Ligue 1 2019/20 season and crown PSG as champions. Consequently, Lyon finished seventh in the league table with 11 games remaining and ten points behind the Champions League qualification.

Nonetheless, Rudi Garcia is now creating an alternative route via Lisbon. Garcia is vying to emulate Didier Deschamps to become the second French manager to qualify for the finals with a native club. A three-man backline has been favoured since the restart. There were a few glimpses of the three-man defensive structure early in the season and was applied once in January after yielding mixed results.

However, Lyon’s last three competitive games saw Garcia restoring to a 3-5-2 formation. A tactical theme built on the principles of defensive discipline, Lyon boasts the second-best defensive record in Ligue 1 this season. Les Gones have registered an xGA of 25.9 in 27 games. (Stats courtesy: fbref.com)

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With a wing-back system being used, Lyon relies on the flanks to create most of their attacks. They like keeping possession of the ball and aim to build out from the back. However, their attacking approach remains direct, and they prefer getting into good scoring positions as opposed to bombarding from a distance. Rudi Garcia is, nevertheless, clever to alter his strategy with slight nuances in his tactical plan. Sarriball and tiki-taka have already been the victims of Garcia’s ploy. Can he get past Hansi Flick’s faux total-football?