Bayern Leverkusen tactical analysis: we wish there was more to rave about in Saturday’s win than the work of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who created both goals. We should rather examine why the team’s attack couldn’t produce more.

Tactical points

Unusually, Thomas Müller had problems with the kind of pressing that Leverkusen applied. This giveaway, passing the ball back and losing possession, shows how it was hard to deal with physicality.

One problem that Bayern had was dealing with Leverkusen applying intense pressure on the wings. The flanks were shut down and only Arjen Robben tried to get things going, repeatedly, on the right.

On the first screenshot, it is amazing how a defensive triangle meets an offensive triangle. Robben is the man surrounded.

Battle of the Triangles

Very few passing lanes were free, and a slight mistake (in this case by Schweinsteiger) resulted in a quick interception.

“Aw, crap”

Shutdown mode

Robben was a marked man, however. The Werkself wanted to stop him at any price, preventing him from either going down dangerously, cutting in and shooting or passing.

Still shutting down

Struggling against those tactics, Bayern tried to stretch Leverkusen’s compact defending by having some of their players pulling back, several meters away from the area. In this case, Toni Kroos receives the ball but as soon as he does, he’s swarmed.

Kroos (to the right) can’t pass in that situation.

Passing in the middle? It was not exactly easy. Whenever the ball was back towards the middle of the pitch, Leverkusen’s pressure shifted in that direction, with the following results.

What sometimes looks like a good play can turn into a mistake. On a counterattack by Leverkusen, Diego Contento steps forward in the center to challenge Kiessling.

Stopping one guy

He contains him for a moment, but can’t halt the play’s progression. Bender gets free in the left-back’s normal coverage zone…

Forgetting the other guy

One of the most important assets in our central defence is Jérôme Boateng and his long passing. In the first half, he created the finest scoring chance by delivering one of his long balls to Thomas Müller. Direct attacking style, a 2013 vintage that we should use more often.

Genius pass to Müller

A week ago, Arsenal fans asked me as a guest in their podcast “what do you do to beat Bayern?”. One answer I gave them was the long pass. Try to get someone with the ball to send it forward for a striker or winger to go behind the defence. Leverkusen did it on Saturday.

Trouble

Before we get to the goals, let’s also note that Franck Ribéry’s substitution in the 66th minute brought better balance to the attack, shifting some of the weight to the left flank.

Der Kaiser at work, dribbling on the left.

How about that late goal by Kiessling? After keeping the ball low for several seconds, Leverkusen found Hilbert entirely free near the edge of the area. He used it to lift the ball for Kiessling, who beat Rafinha in the air.

Enough time and space to get it done.

How Bayern scored

1:0 Mandzukic. Schweinsteiger sees Mandzukic getting ready for a charge against the keeper, lifting the ball where only the striker get get it.

Send him forward

2:0 Schweinsteiger. Not very tactical, but superb execution again. Schweinsteiger sees that he can deliver a ball over the wall and under the crossbar. Leno can’t do anything about it.

“Was I supposed to save that?”

Statistical points