Tactical analysis: the defensive grip that finished Arsenal
I can’t put “lack of finish” and “lack of intention” into a tactical analysis piece. But I can take you through the defending that helped the Reds to prevent Arsenal from coming back and why poor choices made it hard to put them away entirely on Tuesday.
Tactical points
First, credit where credit is due. FC Bayern played very well in the first half, no matter what other observers will say. It was a mature, defensive brand of football that I saw, with a strong dose of pressing to choke Arsenal.
That pressing was intense, from the first minutes of the game. Bayern was not in the mood to concede a cheap early goal and it showed. You can criticise them for not scoring more often, but you can’t take away the fact that they made it hard to get close to Manuel Neuer.
Six players near their area.
Positioning also was a clear strength. Whenever Arsenal could get the ball out of their own third, Bayern focused on not allowing a decisive pass in the middle. Even when they spread their players as you can see below, the Gunners had few options to make a good play.
“All options covered. Better pass back.”
Arsenal fans must have been mad. Sometimes the pressure got ridiculous when most Bayern players played behind the ball to keep choking them.
Rawr!
After the Podolski goal, some wrote on Twitter that the Bayern defence was breaking down. It may have been more nervous, but no, the game plan was not changing. The next two screen shots give you an idea of what truly was going on, beyond the lack of finish when attacking.
Defending, for those who wondered what I was talking about.
Still looking to choke them.
On the other hand, Arsenal’s coverage wasn’t always easy to handle. We regularly beat them in the middle of the pitch, which is unusal, but Per Metersacker played a monster game in the air.
Metersacker was just too tall.
Why was it hard to get the opening goal? Because Arsenal was serious about not conceding. You would have expected them to attack with desperation, but that’s not they approached the game. When players of this skill park the bus, it becomes complicated.
Beep, beep, beep.
There was still a clear solution. Set up a pass right before the area and get ready to unload a big shot. That’s what happened with David Alaba in the 35th minute, but he lacked the confidence to drill one past the keeper.
He could have scored, but it went wide.
One of the plays I wanted to see more often to break down that “pocket” was going wide on the wings to set up a Mario Mandzukic header. It was done in the 39th minute, but not often enough.
Almost perfect
Ribéry and Kroos just showed how playmaking should be done against the parked bus. Dribble and set up the shot on top of the area.
If only he let that one fly like he could…
Fans wrongly accused Mario Mandzukic of failing to score on a poor first touch in the area, when receiving a great pass by Thiago. Why wrongly? Because David Alaba had the chance to put it away himself or to provide a pass to either Schweinsteiger or Kroos behind him a few seconds before. The longer shot seemed like a smarter decision to me.
Why didn’t you shoot?
Throughout the game, Oxlade-Chamberlain caused trouble with his runs. He was very hard to contain, even for a player as smart as Bastian Schweinsteiger. He totally gets beaten on this one.
Running all around them.
Arsenal didn’t produce an amazing number of chances, and when they did, there often was a Bayern mistake to blame for it. On an easy save for Neuer, the visitors were given a free header off a corner. Gift.
Ugh
I was stunned to see the lack of coverage by Arsenal on Bastian Schweinsteiger. In addition to neglecting him when he scored, he was given a few more chances to create plays in the middle, having enough space to run at least 15 meters without being bothered.
Lookie, all open.
How Bayern scored
1:0 Schweinsteiger. Speaking of space to no. 31… Bayern’s goal came for the same reason. Everybody freaked out when Ribéry got the ball in the area, giving Schweinsteiger the kind of time you should never give him this close to the net.
Thank you
Statistical points
My man of the match
Javi Martinez. Not perfect as a central defender in this game, but a couple of key challenges won to prevent goals, in addition to 12 effective clearances and three interceptions. Oh, and one shot blocked.
If you don’t agree, I suggest looking at him bailing out Neuer after a bad pass.

Or perhaps looking at his dashboard, where the clearances are shown as green circles and tackles as green Xs.

Bastian Schweinsteiger
One goal out of two shots on target and found space all night. He made a couple of defensive mistakes, but he was otherwise good.
Poor air game!
33% challenges won. Can I get Pep’s mobile number to talk about this?
Arjen Robben
Surely not an Arsenal fan favourite, but he was dangerous the whole time. Five dribbles in the crowd, earned a penalty, took three shots.
Franck Ribéry
The passer of the night, creating three scoring chances.
Mario Götze
Did he get stuck in the dressing room?