In the 18th week of Bundesliga, 2 of the strongest teams of the league, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt faced each other. In the match which was generally dominated by Bayern Munich, Frankfurt managed to return home with 1 point thanks to Kolo Muani's goal. Bayern Munich, who drew 1-1 in their previous 2 matches, drew again with the same score and their winless streak increased to 3 matches. The 11s of the two teams in the crucial match were as follows:
BAYERN MUNICH IN POSSESSION
Bayern Munich had more possession than their opponents with a possession percentage with 67%, and had no problems with the build up from the back throughout the match. This was due to the fact that Frankfurt left the ball to their opponents and had little pressure up front. Instead, the visitors opted for a deep/middle block, lining up in a 5-4-1 formation in the first and middle third and preventing their opponents from playing from the center of the pitch. The Bavarian team, who struggled to find space in the midfield throughout the match, had to resort to different solutions.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT'S 5-4-1 STRUCTURE
The away team almost never pressed the opposition high until the first goal. Instead, they opted to retreat into midfield and meet the opposition there, taking advantage of the 5-4-1 structure they have been using all season. This match also showed us once again the trademark ability of teams that play with a five-man defence: The ability to deny the opponent the numerical superiority they want in the attacking line. Bayern tried to gain numerical superiority in the final line by sending Musiala and Müller forward, but the opponent's 5-man defence did not allow this and 1v1 match-ups emerged.
The ball is in the middle third and Frankfurt is lined up in a 5-4-1 formation. Bayern's 5-a-side offensive line against Frankfurt's 5-a-side defense and the matchups are clear
Of course, 5 players at the back meant less players up front. When Bayern moved the ball into the midfield, if Kolo Muani applied pressure on one of the opposing centre-backs, the other centre-back was left empty. In these moments, the Frankfurt number 8s stepped in. S. Rode and D. Sow pressed the free centre-back, encouraging the opponent to play to the full-back. When the ball went to the full-back, Bayern couldn't penetrate again because all passing channels with the midfielders were cut off. For this reason, Bayern couldn't move the ball into the final third very easily.
In this situation, Kolo Muani presses Upamecano. Upamecano's pass is received by free centre-back M. de Ligt. De Ligt is pressed by S. Rode, Frankfurt's number 8, and the ball is directed to A. Davies on the wing.
When the ball reaches Alphonso Davies, J. Lindstrom, the player on the far right of the 4-man midfield, goes to press and scans the pitch before doing so. Because he scans his surroundings, he is able to cut off A. Davies' connection with the midfield and subsequently winning the ball for his team
Seeing that his team was struggling to move through the midfield, J. Kimmich showed us how developed his game senses are by manipulating the opponent and trying to create space for his team throughout the match. After drawing the opponent's attention to him, he would drop between the centre-backs and try to lure out 1 of the opponent's players from the midfield. If the opponent followed him, the other players were free, if not, he would received the ball deep, under no pressure and distribute the ball from there.
In this situation we see once again what a clever player Kimmich is. After getting S. Rode's attention, he goes deep and creates space for his teammates in the midfield, where S. Rode should normally be
In the continuation of the situation, T. Müller receives the ball in the space created by Kimmich and sets up the attack
NAGELSMANN'S Unusual USE OF FULL-BACKS
Another aspect that stood out in the match was the positions taken by the Bayern Munich full-backs. Normally teams give their full-backs fixed roles, but not Nagelsmann. A. Davies and J. Stanisic positioned themselves in different positions depending on where the ball was. If the ball was on the right side of the pitch, Stanisic was the player who gave his team width on the right side, and in these moments A. Davies would come inside rather than standing on the left touchline. The purpose of this was to secure the rest-defense structure. Having an extra player in the middle of the pitch, meant that Bayern Munich was prepared for a possible turnover. When the ball was on the left side, this time A. Davies would go to the line and Stanisic would come inside. Another advantage of this was that it facilitated ball circulation. If Bayern wanted to continue their attack on the opposite flank, Bayern Munich could do so easily with the full-back in the middle and the attack could continue on the other side.
Upamecano has the ball on the right side of the pitch, which means that Sane can move inside and Stanisic can position himself wide. Meanwhile, on the opposite flank, A. Davies comes towards the middle. Coman provides width on the left
And this is a picture from the match. Stanisic is the player providing width on the right side. Meanwhile Davies comes towards the center and contributes to his team's defensive security
Oliver Glasner's 5-4-1 formation was a difficult one to break down, but it was not without its weaknesses. Bayern Munich centre-backs had too much time and space. De Ligt and Upamecano tried to take advantage of this with long balls behind the defence throughout the match. Bayern, already struggling to penetrate through the middle, instead looked to get athletic wingers like Sane and Coman on the ball behind the defence. These two situations we saw time and time again in the match, Bayern's centre-backs' long balls behind the defence and fullbacks inside, had a direct impact on the goal. Bayern Munich's goal in the 34th minute through Leroy Sane came after a long ball from De Ligt to Coman. Stanisic, positioned inside on the opposite flank, made sure Bayern kept possession and his pass lead to Thomas Müller's assist to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
M. de Ligt, a product of the Ajax's academy, has a high-level of passing ability for a centre-back. In this situation, he shows his high passing ability with a long ball behind the defence
After De Ligt's pass, Coman receives the ball behind the defence. The ball is then passed to Kimmich in the middle
Kimmich switches the direction of play and Stanisic, positioned inside on the opposite flank, receives the ball. Keeping possession, Stanisic passes the ball to Müller on the right flank
Müller's pass and Sane's strike give the Bavarian side a 1-0 lead
MUSIALA AND MÜLLER BETWEEN THE LINES
Bayern Munich lined up like in a 2-3-2-3 formation when moving the ball into the final third . While elite dribblers were paired with the opposition fullbacks in 1v1 match-ups, Musiala and Müller had a special role. Positioned between the opponent's five-man defence and the four-man midfield line, they would look for gaps between the lines, while at the same time causing indecision for the opposition players. When these two technical gifted players were positioned between the lines, the opposition players were unsure which of the players between them was going to cover them. This left gaps for other players of the home team to exploit.
The ball is still in the middle third. Sane and Coman stretch the opposing team horizontally, while Müller and Musiala are positioned between the lines
Musiala positions himself between the lines and Tuta follows him
Later on, Tuta stops applying pressure on the player and tells his teammates to cover Musiala. However, no one covers Musiala
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT IN POSSESSION
Eintracht Frankfurt tried to leave the ball to the opponent and use the balls they won in the first and second third to attack quickly, and that's how they scored their goal. After conceding the goal in the first half, they started to play with the ball up front a bit more, but overall they were not very effective in possession. Of course, Bayern Munich's pressure also played a role in this.
OVER-COMPACTNESS IN BAYERN MUNICH'S PRESS
Throughout the match, the hosts put their opponents under high pressure and prevented them from building-up. However, while doing so, they were incredibly narrow horizontally as a team. Choupo-Moting was the player who dictated the direction of the press, while at the same time cutting off the passing connection of the centre-back in possession with the other side of the pitch with his bended runs. When a pass was played to the side centre-backs of the 3-line defence, it triggered the winger and full-back on the ball near side, who would quickly press while the ball was still moving, minimizing the opponent's decision-making time. The winger on the opposite flank would leave the full-back and come towards the center, covering the No. 8, who was far away from the ball. Kimmich was therefore able to drop deep to close the gap in front of the defence. With Musiala dropping deep alongside Kimmich, Bayern pressed high in a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout the match.
Hasebe has the ball and Choupo-Moting cuts him off on the left flank. Müller covers the number 8 close to the ball, while Sane comes to the middle and covers the far number 8. Meanwhile Coman and Davies wait for the pass to be played to the right centre-back
After the pass is played, Coman put pressure on right centre-back and Davies on right wing-back, forcing the opponent to play long
Then Bayern wins the ball. As can be seen here, Sane leaves A. Knauff and covers the far number 8 D. Sow, so Kimmich can leave D. Sow and drop deep
In this situation left-back A. Davies and left-winger K. Coman come all the way to the right side of the pitch. Bayern look extremely compact as a team, but the important thing here is to press hard. If the Frankfurt players have too much time to make a decision, they can reach Buta, who is free on the opposite flank. It doesn't happen and the Bayern players get the ball with their immense pressure
The fact that Bayern Munich players were so close to each other during the pressing had another advantage. When they won the ball, the players were so close to each other that they could easily counter-attack. The player who won the ball was always surrounded by teammates, which meant that there were more passing options during the transition
So what happened when Eintracht Frankfurt broke Bayern Munich's pressure? The players of the home team would quickly drop deep and meet the opponent in a 4-2-3-1 formation, similar to the way they pressed on the front line. Many of the principles of the final third press also applied here. The Frankfurt number 8s (D. Sow, S. Rode and the late substitute D. Kamada), aware of the narrow nature of the opponent, occasionally positioned themselves on the line, allowing their team to get into the final third.
Bayern's defensive structure in the middle third. Just like in the pressing in the final third, here the players on the opposite flank go towards the inside
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT's GOAL
We've already mentioned that the away team left the ball to the opponent and tried to score on the counter-attack with the balls they won. In the 69th minute they scored the equalizer in this way. Kolo Muani, who scored the goal, also contributed a lot to the set-up of the goal.
After receiving the ball in the defensive third, the Frankfurt players quickly played forward and passed the ball to Kolo Muani, the furthest player
Kolo Muani, receiving the ball on the right flank, cleverly slowed the ball down and waited for Daichi Kamada to make a run forward
D. Kamada made a run and Kolo Muani passed the ball to him. (It is also possible to say that Kimmich made a mistake in this situation. He scans the pitch and sees Kamada's run, but instead of following him, he goes towards Kolo Muani, with Bayern already outnumbered. If he had followed Kamada, the ball probably wouldn't have reached Kamada)
Another good move from Kolo Muani after the ball reached Kamada, by making a blindside run
A great no-look pass from D. Kamada and Kolo Muani is one-on-one with Upamecano
Kolo Muani picked up the pace with the ball, outpaced his opponent 1v1 and puts the ball into the right corner of the net
Conclusıon
Bayern Munich's pressing in the final third was close to perfection. Players' timing and positioning during their press were great and therefore they prevented the opponent from taking advantage of Bayern's compactness. Even though the home team's high pressure was at a high level, they struggled when they were in possession. They had a hard time penetrating with short passes through the middle, especially when Frankfurt drop to the middle block. Instead, they were able to penetrate into the final third with the passing ability of the centre-backs and the athleticism of the wingers. Bayern, who dropped points for the third consecutive time in the league with this result, must also improve their on-ball play if they don't want to drop more points. Although they are still the favorites to win the league title, their rivals have gotten close to them after these point losses. Of course, it should also be taken into account that Bayern Munich is the club that has sent the most players to the World Cup with 17 players.
