Match Number 1 - Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich 06/06/2020
- Jake P
- Jun 7, 2020
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 9, 2020
When I heard the Bundesliga would be the first of the big 4 European League's to restart (France having already declared their season) amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, I was happy, happy that I could finally watch football again.
I was genuinely excited to see how my experience of watching football with 0 fans in the stadium to create an atmosphere would turn out and turns out I quite enjoy it. I can't understand German, but I am able to hear the players communicate on the pitch, I can hear the coach giving instructions and I can hear tackles being made. From a personal point of view, I like hearing this when watching football.
What I didn't know, nor expect to happen, was that the Bundesliga restart would lead to me making notes on the matches I was watching and eventually creating posts on the internet about football matches in a league I had hardly ever watched before. I knew the big teams, the big players, the players for the future, but what I didn't know was how much I was going to enjoy German football.
Before the match started, as most people do, I looked at the line ups and formations of both teams, wanting to workout where each team on paper could gain an advantage. Bayer Leverkusen's big prospect for the future Kai Havertz wasn't on the team sheet for this game, due to a muscle injury he picked up against SC Freiburg, however, Moussa Diaby & Leon Bailey on Leverkusen's left hand side were not to be overlooked, with Bailey scoring 2 goals in the reverse fixture in November and possessing incredible speed and skill, but lacking consistency.
Bayer Leverkusen lined up in a 1-3-4-3 formation, which to me makes sense, as Bayern Munich opted for a 1-4-2-3-1, but Leverkusen need to be aware of the gaps that will show in wide positions, which Gnabry and Coman will not be shy to exploit. With Bayern Munich playing in a flat 4, Leverkusen's aim was to surely pin back and try to tame Bayern's full backs, who really dont need to much of an introduction, with their right back being Benjamin Pavard, a world cup winner with France in 2018 and their left back who is dubbed "the most exciting talent in the Bundesliga", Alphonso Davies, who will also join in attack and pick up advanced wide positions.
Joshua Kimmich is the cog that allows Bayern to play their fluid and quick moving football. Kimmich more often than not drops to pick up the ball from Bayern's centre backs and instantly looks for a forward pass, when Kimmich does this, it is almost like Davies cue to push high up the pitch, while Pavard tends to shuffle over into a more central position to form a back 3.
As the match starts to take shape, you can see Leverkusen's tactic, their front 3 are ruthless with their pressing, with the rest of the team responding to their triggers and moving further into Bayern's half, but when playing against a team that has pace all over the pitch, Leverkusen could be playing a dangerous game.
10 minutes into the game, Bayern are struggling to obtain possession for a sustained amount of time, but when they are in possession, Thomas Müller's movement is something to be admired, he is constantly interchanging and rotating with Coman, from a central position to a wide right position, it is going to be interesting to see how Müller's role will develop throughout the rest of the match.
Note, Coman and Gnabry swap wings very early into the game.
After just 10 minutes, Leverkusen's dominance pays dividends, as Lucas Alario finds the back of the net with the first real chance of the game. The goal is well worked on Leverkusen's part, with Alario holding off Jérôme Boateng who wins the ball but plays it straight to Baumgartlinger from a Bailey throw in, Alario then makes a clever run in behind Boateng who steps up to late, with Alario nicely slotting it past Manuel Neuer.
With their 1-0 advantage, Leverkusen have their tails up, they are playing with confidence and their ruthless pressing and raw speed at the top end of the pitch is putting Bayern under pressure, the wing backs are high and wide, while the 3 centre backs are well into the Bayern half, closing off the space in the midfield. With all this being said and the great work Leverkusen are doing in the oppositions half, Bayern's transitional play could really hurt Leverkusen. Thomas Müller is picking up those clever positions mentioned earlier, he seems to always find space in the central pockets and allows Bayern to be creative and with the Leverkusen back 3 so high up the pitch, the pace of Gnabry and Coman could be real cause for concern.
As we get over the half way mark of the 1st half, the middle of the pitch is becoming congested, with Goretzka starting to show his power and his understanding of the game as he picks up a slack pass in the centre circle from Tapsoba. Goretzka looks to play forward and spots Coman making a clever run down the lefthand inside channel and plays a great throw ball, taking out that high Leverkusen defensive line. Coman takes the pass in his stride as Hradecky comes rushing out, but Coman finishes the chance expertly into the bottom right corner.
As we head deeper into the 1st half, Bayern have found their stride and are starting to show just why they are the best team in the Bundesliga, their movement is fluid, they have an almost telepathic understanding between them. Leverkusen look lost, the pressing game that was working so well them at the start of the game, now looks non existent. Bayern are playing straight through the press and have even made the "route 1" long ball style look elegant and with the presence and talent of Robert Lewandoski, why not play direct?
With Bayern pushing to get the 2nd goal, their are some gaps for Leverkusen to exploit, this time mainly down Bayern's left hand side, with Alphonso Davies wanting to join the attack as much as possible, with the aim of overlapping Coman and getting to the byline to cross the ball or to simply take out a Leverkusen defender with his direct, pacey runs. The Leverkusen right hand side proves to be successful and they win a corner and flood the Bayern box and camp inside the opposition half - a dangerous game?
Yep, Bayern break out on the counter attack, Leverkusen scamper back, Coman picks up the ball and finds Müller, who manages to ride the challenge and play the ball infield for Goretzka, who move the ball onto his left foot and tidily finds the bottom right corner from outside the 18 yard box, making it 1-2.
Leverkusen need to be careful, in my opinion they should have abandoned the font 3 for the last 15 minutes of the half and dropped an extra player into midfield to track Müller, this may have allowed them to go into the break at 1-1 to regroup and figure out a plan for the 2nd half, but they were persistent, persevering with the style of football that has seen them pushing for a Champions League place this season, but they are caught again, with another straight ball over the top and Gnabry picking up the ball in a 1vs1 against Hradecky, but hits it straight at the goalkpeer. Will Leverkusen stubbornness be rewarded, can they go into the break level? No, they havent learnt, another straight ball over the top to Gnabry, who this time converts the long ball from Kimmich without breaking his stride.
Half time - Leverkusen started so well, they went after the opposition, which I think Munich were surprised about. It will be interesting to see how Peter Bosz responds in the second half, with his team being so dominant in the opening 25 mins. Like mentoned above, Leverkusen should come out the front 3 and have an extra player in the midfield, Bayern's movement is to good to leave any spaces for the likes of Gnabry, Coman and Davies to run into. Müller, Kimmich and Goretzka are easily able to pick up the ball in the more congested areas and move it forward, they also have the focus point of Lewandoski in the central striker position, keeping the Leverkusen back 3 alert and expecting a physical battle.
As the 2nd half starts, we have seen 3 changes from Peter Bosz and they look to be more relaxed, they aren't changing shadows and being played around and over like in the last 15 minutes of the 1st half, they are keeping possession of ball well and making Bayern work, being patient and waiting to see if they can find a penetrative pass to break down Bayern.
Leverkusen are seeing joy down their left hand side, exposing Bayern. I wonder if it ever crossed Hans Flicks mind to swap Pavard and Alaba, to try and stop their right hand side being exposed by the pace of Diaby? Pavard wants to play central and Alaba is accustomed to playing as a fullback, all be it on the lefthand side.
Diaby is causing real problems, he seems to be able to just drop a shoulder and move away from defenders, he makes the difficult things look easy and the easy things look hard, it is his decision making after he receives the ball and beats the defender that is the problem, he has had opportunities to cross the ball into the box, but instead opts to shoot.
Bayern are not finished and dont seem worried by the threat of Diaby, they want more goals, Lewandowski wants to beat that Gerd Müller goal scoring record season and with that, they hound and press Leverkusen who make a stray pass straight to Gnabry who instantly moves the ball onto Kimmich and advances into the space in behind Leverkusen, with Müller just hanging in the space behind him. Gnabry receives the ball back from Kimmich, but is unable to find a team mate with his cross. Who is on hand to pick up the pieces and put an expert half volley ball into the box, Thomas Müller, who finds Lewandowski and powers it home with his head, 1-4.
At 4-1 Hans Flick makes a change, bringing on Ivan Perišić for Coman and going into a
1-4-4-2 stymem. Instead of switching Pavard and Alaba, like what I thought could have been a good option, the Bayern change allows them to go into the above mentioned formation, sitting in, making 2 banks of 4 letting Leverkusen have the ball, keeping all the play in front of them, stopping any runs from Diaby down the channel and wanting to hit Leverkusen on the break as soon as there is a transition in possession.
With the change in formation and the game pretty much wrapped up, Flick decides to look to his bench again, making 2 changes. The now fit again, midfield maestro Thiago Alcântara replaces Serge Gnabry and Javi Martínez replaces Leon Goretzka. Peter Bosz also decides to make a change for the last 15 minutes, opting for fresh legs up front in the form of Kevin Volland who replace Leverkusens early goal scorer Lucas Alario. The change up top must be to try and pressure the likes of Kimmich, who is picking up the ball from his centre backs and playing forward way to easily.
The change from Peter Bosz works, Leverkusen move into a 1-3-5-2 formation and they are able to get in between the 2 banks of 4 that Bayern have created with their new 1-4-4-2 shape. A perfect example of this, is that Diaby is again in behind the Bayern defence with a great run, leaving Pavard on the floor in his wake and this time he does make a cross across the box, but unfortunately there were not enough Leverkusen bodies in the box to convert.
Now in the closing minutes of the match and Alphonso Davies having covered every blade of grass that is on his side of the pitch, he is withdrawn, replaced by Lucas Hernández. Davies was taken off in the 85th minute and had the Leverkusen youngster, Florian Wirtz, pretty much in pocket for the whole of the second half (Wirtz was a half time change), in the 89th minute Wirtz picks the ball up on the righthand side of the 18 yard box cuts inside to open his body, showing the newly introduced Hernández the wrong way with his sharp movement, who is now off balance and unable to recover, to bend the ball into the far corner past the Bayern Captain Manuel Neuer. Florian Wirtz has now made history, becomin g the youngest Bundesliga Goal Scorer ever, at 17 years old.
And with that the final whistle blows a few minutes later and Bayern Munich are deserving winners, for the last 75 minutes of the match any way. Could Bayer Leverkusen have used that left channel more and caused Pavard and Boateng more problems, yes they probably should have done, but it shows how Bayern Munich can adapt throughout different stages of a match and change formations, while have a completely telepathic understanding throughout the team. This starts from their captain, Manuel Neuer, who's starting position is always exceptional, he gives the team confidence from bottom of the pitch to the top, I can imagine he also commands and directs his defensive line.
If I was Peter Bosz, I would have become a lot more compact for the last 15 minutes of the first half and try to have gone in at half time level, but it is easier said than done, you dont want to send the team out with a message and an instruction of how to play, then 35 minutes into the game change it. You also have to take into consideration his philosophy which from what I can see is to play a high press, energetic style of football. You do also have to take into consideration that their false 9, Kai Havertz was missing, who would have certainly of added a different dimension in the final 1/3.
Man of the Match - Thomas Müller, I don't think I need to say anything else on his performance, its all mentioned above.
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