UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund - Tactical Preview

When Borrusia Dortmund take on Bayern Munich at the Wembley Stadium this weekend, the world of football will come to a halt to witness what probably is going to be the biggest game of the 2012-13 season. On one hand, Dortmund will look to end their campaign in the best possible way, having already lost out on the Bundesliga to none other than Bayern, whereas the Bundesliga champions will look to exorcise their demons which have seen them end as runners-up in two of the past three Champions League campaigns. Jupp Heynckes, who is set to leave the Bavarian giants come the end of this season, will be eager to write his name in the Bayern history books by delivering the club the elusive grail of club football.

Team News

Borrusia Dortmund - Mario Goetze has been officially ruled out of the final thanks to a ligament tear he suffered in the 2nd leg of the semi-finals against Real Madrid. Defender Mats Hummels, who was initially a major doubt for the tie, has reportedly made good progress and seems fit to start come Saturday.

Bayern Munich - Long term absentee Holger Badstuber continues to sit on the sidelines following another injury which will reportedly keep him out for another four to six months. Toni Kroos, another on the injury list, isn’t expected to return any time soon.

Team lineups and tactical brief :

With Mario Goetze ruled out with injury, there is little doubt that Marco Reus will be shifted to the center, with left sided Kevin Grosskruetz coming into the side. Kuba will look to continue his fine form down the right. In the past fixtures this season, Jurgen Klopp has twice played a 4-3-3 against Bayern, with one of either Grosskreutz or Kuba playing in midfield alongside Bender and Gundogan, in an attempt to neutralize Bayern’s superior wing play. Though one can imagine Klopp reacting in a similar way, the failure of the system in both attempts may play a part in the Dortmund coach going with his favoured 4-2-3-1. As said, there is no room for experimentation on occasions like these.

A slight change noticed in Dortmund’s game in Europe this season, as testified by Klopp himself, has been the style of pressing. He says -

“Teams that run too much lose, and teams that press reduce their chances of winning the game. Now I know why [last season's Champions League failure] happened. We ran more than our opponents and we pressed them all over, as high as possible. If I have a share in the success, I also have a great share in the failure at European level. But we have all learned.”

Another significant change this season, has been the way Borrusia Dortmund have seen the ball for fewer periods, but have been more effective in attack. Compared to last season, when Dortmund had an average possession of 54%, there has been a 10% dip, which sees Dortmund with a mere 44% average possession this season. The ease with which Dortmund have counter-attacked this season can be put down to a training ground drill by Klopp, in which he gives eight seconds to his players between winning the ball back and having a shot at goal. Out of the 5 goals Dortmund scored in last season’s group stages, 3 were from set-pieces. This season, out of the 10 scored, only 2 came from set-pieces. A major reason for this has been Ikay Gundogan. The Turkish born German midfielder has been a central figure to Borrusia’s European journey so far. If Bayern want to stamp their authority on the game, keeping Gundogan silent has to be one of the priorities for Jupp Heynckes.

Another player who has been at the top of his game for Dortmund this season is new recruit Marco Reus. The midfielder, who has started on the left for most of the campaign, has more than filled the void left by Shinji Kagawa. The directness of Reus, i.e., his willingness to run at defenders, has added a different dimension to Dortmund’s attack this season, something which was missing last season.

Newly crowned German Champions Bayern Munich have been steamrolling past teams this season. The 7-0 demolition of the Blaugrana just about confirmed that Bayern are currently head and shoulders above any other team in club football. The Bavarians would feel it’s about time the holy grail of club football makes its way back to the Allianz Arena, after finishing runners up twice in the last three seasons.

One of Bayern’s forte this season has been their pressing strategy. Against Barcelona, the Bavarians pressed the opposition goal-kicks to prevent the ball being played into midfield. Once the press passed, the players settled down on their defensive duties, Muller and Gomez took turns in dropping deep to occupy Sergio Busquets, Martinez took charge of Iniesta and Schwiensteiger pressed Xavi. As a result, the Blaugrana midfielders had to drop deeper and deeper to manufacture their own space which directly reduced their influence on the game.

The midfield battle :

Predicted line-ups.

Given the absence of Mario Goetze, Ikay Gundogan will now have a much bigger role to play in terms of a creative outlet from central midfield. Going by the man to man pressing that Bayern have adopted off late, Bastian Schwiensteiger, in all probability, will take charge of Gundogan. Javi Martinez will occupy Marco Reus, with either one of Mandzukic or Muller taking care of Sven Bender, who himself is a decent passer of the ball. A possible flip-side of man-marking Reus is his mobility. Given a free role in attack, the German could drag Martinez down either wing or test him centrally, which will tend to disturb the equilibrium in midfield.

I expect Bayern to form two banks of four when not in possession of the ball, with both Ribery and Robben tracking Piszceck and Schmelzer, respectively. Dortmund will allow Bayern to play the game in front of them, and will themselves form banks of four with the hard workers in Kuba and Grosskreutz dropping back to cover for the fullbacks, and will look to hurt the Bavarians at any sniff of a counter. Gundogan will have his work cut out against Schweinsteiger, and given the midfielder’s susceptibility to Dortmund midfield’s pressing down the years. Given the flexibility of either Kuba or Grosskreutz to play as a third central midfield, Klopp’s men could well switch to a 4-3-3 if deemed necessary.

Bayern’s average position when not in possession of the ball.

The role of Marco Reus :

Marco Reus will probably one of Jurgen Klopp’s turmpcards going into Saturday’s game. As mentioned earlier, the mobility of Reus will definitely be a handful for Javi Martinez. Dortmund, this season, have looked threatening down the wings, and one can totally expect them to create a 3v2 or a 3v1 situation down the flanks – with the full-back, the winger and Reus joining them for support. Dortmund will resort to attacking Bayern from the wings and will look to overload the wing, which does not have the cover of the fullback.

All in all, this weekend’s blockbuster not only promises to be one of the most entertaining games for the neutral, but it also sets the platform for two of the most tactically astute managers to display their tactical spectrum in what is billed to be one of the best finals of recent memory, one which this year’s competition deserved the most.