Bayern Munich: Takeaways from comfortable 2-0 win against Al Ahly
Pressing in the final third lacks intensity
Bayern was comfortable on the ball against Al Ahly. The players were not making errors in the build-up play in their half. While creating chances 100% efficiency is impossible, so whenever Die Roten was losing the ball in the final third, the pressing from players was not as intense as it used to be last season.
The weather in Qatar could be one of the reasons why the attacking players and midfielders were not spending energy to press higher up the pitch. However, this has been a constant trend in Bayern’s games since November. The accumulation of fatigue has played a role in the decrease in the pressing intensity as games are coming thick and fast.
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Understandably, pressing in the final third has dropped, but Bayern is yet to come up with plans to minimize the consequences of poor press. Teams often find it easy to play through the middle and get themselves in dangerous positions due to a lack of counter-press from Bavarian players.
Al Ahly also managed to carry the ball at large lengths of the pitch during the second half as there was no aggressive pressing from the team. Conserving the energy of players for the final phase of the season might be a clever idea from Hansi Flick, but he needs to find a way to reduce chances conceded by the team through alternate ways.