Bayern Munich: Major takeaways from crucial 1-0 win over PSG

A touch of pragmatism from Kompany?

Quite surprisingly, Die Roten failed to score after PSG were reduced to ten men with more than half an hour left on the clock. Even more perplexing was the fact that PSG had more ball possession in the second half compared to the first half (39%/46%).

It’s interesting to try to figure out why the game evolved in that manner. Was it a case of the players themselves deciding to play it out safely in light of a packed schedule, or was it the coach’s decision to be more pragmatic against a blunt PSG attack, or a combination of both reasons? Since the loss to Barcelona, it does seem that the team plays conservative football in terms of how high to apply the high line of defense. If that’s a result of a tweak in the strategy from Vincent Kompany then full credit to him for being able to be flexible. The adjustment hasn’t negatively affected Bayern’s pressing and has tightened up things at the back. (All stats courtesy: Fotmob)