Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid promises to be an epic encounter. While manager Diego Simeone’s Atletico team are riding high after beating Barcelona in the quarter-finals, Bayern are highly motivated to give outgoing coach Pep Guardiola a parting gift a la Jupp Heynckes.
The match is certain to be an intense tactical battle between two polar opposites. While Bayern are used to keeping possession and systematically breaking down defences, Atletico do what they do best: defend with courage and attack to win.
Here are five factors for the Reds of Munich that could decide one of the potential Champions League classics in their favour.
1) How Bayern beat Atletico’s high press
Having faced Barcelona (Guardiola’s former team) over the years, Simeone understands the importance of build-up plays for possession-based teams. Accordingly, he instructed his forwards to press high and cut out passing lanes against the Blaugrana: a tactic which ultimately paid off.
Guardiola will be aware of this and will look to make tactical adjustments at the back to beat Aleti pressure. David Alaba’s agility and passing in defence will be key to Bayern playing out from the back. Captain Philipp Lahm might play deeper than usual to assist centre-halves.
Meanwhile, youngster Joshua Kimmich is likely to be sacrificed for left-back Juan Bernat. The 21-year old has been nothing short of a revelation for Bayern this season but the pace of Bernat might be instrumental in overcoming Atletico, just as it was against a similar Juventus side in the round of 16.
Bayern against Atletico might be dubbed an ‘attack vs defence’ contest, but it will start with die Roten defenders passing and Rojiblancos attackers defending. How’s that for tactics?
2) Stretching the Atletico defence
Guardiola’s Bayern have made a habit out of stretching opposition backlines through frequent switching of flanks, so much so that Bundesliga teams have started adopting a five-man defence to stay compact.
Atletico typically field four at the back, led by the talismanic Diego Godin. The defender’s absence in the first leg gives Bayern a chance to create gaps for forwards Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski to exploit.
Simeone, though, will be aware of this and will arrange for Bayern’s formidable attacking duo to be heavily marked. Talented though they are, even ‘Mullendowski’ can do only so much against a Red-and-White army camped in the penalty box.
Needless to say, Guardiola has to look for alternative sources of goals in his team. The next slide shows where the answer might lie.
3) Relying on the midfield for goals
The midfield of Bayern has been a reliable source of goals of late. Arturo Vidal, in particular, has been prolific.
After a difficult start to life at the Allianz Arena, the Chilean midfielder is peaking at just the right time. Il Guerriero has scored 4 goals in his last 6 games, including one in each of Bayern’s two legs against Benfica in the quarter-final.
The ex-Juventus man’s late runs into the box, coupled with his tenacity and shooting range, make him arguably Bayern’s important player in a potentially physical contest against Gabi and co. He will need to be ably assisted by Thiago, who himself scored a crucial goal in Bayern’s 4-2 win over Juventus.
4) Playmaking from wide areas
Tactical analysis of the quarter-final win over Barcelona revealed Simeone’s team giving up space in wide areas. Playmakers in these areas will have ample time and space to look for forwards and thread passes or cross.
Guardiola has playmaking wingers such as Franck Ribery and new signings Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman to exploit this advantage. It will further enable Bayern to by-pass the rugged Atletico defending just outside the penalty box.
Incidentally, crossing from wide areas was what brought Bayern back into the game against Juventus in the 4-2 win. Vidal recently commented on how similar Atletico are to the Bianconeri, hence making wide playmakers a viable option.
Not to mention, playing wide will be better for the health of Thiago than, say, running into Jose Gimenez and Gabi!
5) Manuel Neuer’s sweeper-keeper skills
Atletico’s stubborn defence will occasionally force Bayern to commit extra players moving forward. Doing so will leave the Reds vulnerable to counter-attacks.
This is where goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be essential for Guardiola. The ball-playing skills of the German international enable Bayern to stay on the front foot, while his awareness for opposition attacks and ability to snuff them out, sometimes at the half-way line, are as much tactical as they are spectacular.
Bayern’s ‘flying goalie’ will need to be at his sweeping best, especially against the dangerous Antoine Griezmann. Come Wednesday, we might even see a repeat of his Algeria heroics in the 2014 FIFA World Cup!
