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Bayern Munich traveled to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 11 April to face Manchester City in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League. This was expected to be a great match between two of the best sides in Europe. It was also a rematch between Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel after battling it out in the Bundesliga, Premier League, and Champions League multiple times.
Teams
Manchester City - Ederson, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland
Bayern Munich - Yann Sommer, Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt, Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry
Predictable Bayern build-up wears off
Thomas Tuchel set his Bayern side out in a 3-2-5 shape based on possession-styled play. Pavard, Upamecano, and De Ligt made the back three while Kimmich and Goretzka made up the pivot. Alphonso Davies was stationed forward to create a front five.
Bayern had a strong physical backline with a deep lying playmaker and a box-to-box midfielder in front of them. The front five offered pace, directness, and on-the-ball flair, which were hoping to trouble City in transitions.
City countered this with Grealish, Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne looking to press the Bayern back three but they struggled early on to close the passing lanes towards Bayern's pivot. Bayern were able to build up fairly comfortably early on with Kimmich and Goretzka being able to receive the ball while Davies also came back to offer himself.
However, over time, Bayern's build-up play became a bit predictable. Kimmich and Goretzka didn't create as many passing angles as the first half wore on. This wouldn't have happened as much if Tuchel had played an inverted full-back. Bayern possess arguably the best inverted full-back in the world on the bench in Joao Cancelo, which would have helped them play out. The inverted full-back role offers variations to the build-up that Bayern didn't have.
Bayern have only ever had two players in Kimmich and Goretzka in central areas in the build-up. This meant City could press with ease and win the ball back.
City showed Bayern how it's done
Manchester City built up in a 3-2-5 shape with Akanji, Dias and Ake playing in the back three. Stones would invert from right-back into central midfield and play alongside Rodri in the pivot. Silva, De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Gundogan and Grealish made it five up front.
This system looks a lot like Bayern's. However, the system City played was a lot more fluid and offered different options in building up play. Sometimes Stones would invert into midfield, sometimes Ake would push high and wide, with Gundogan coming back to make up the back three. De Bruyne and Gundogan would also come up short in the half spaces to receive the ball.
This meant Bayern had to be constantly aware of the different off-the-ball movements City made. This is incredibly difficult to do considering Tuchel hasn't been employed by Bayern for very long. Bayern began by man-marking De Bruyne, Gundogan, and Stones and Rodri with their three midfielders.
However, City always had one extra player in the build-up, so it was a lot easier for them to play out than it was for Bayern. The Bavarians looked to man mark City in the build-up, which worked occasionally. However, when players are constantly making off-the-ball movements and switching play, this makes it harder for defending teams to press.
Silva and Grealish impressing on the wings
Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish had exceptional performances last night. Silva was instructed to stay wide and offer width, which looked like a very tough task considering he was playing against Alphonso Davies. Grealish was looking to receive the ball in lane five (the wings) and use his ball-carrying qualities to progress the play centrally.
They offered security, directness, and high levels of quality to a very impressive City side. Bernardo Silva isn't the quickest player in the world, but the way he was able to carry the ball past a pacey-fullback in Davies was impressive.
Summary
Bayern lost the game 3-0 to a very impressive City side. It will be tough to make a comeback from this scoreline. Tuchel is expected to make changes in the second leg to try and win the next tactical battle against Pep Guardiola.
