It has already been 6 years since Germany vs Brazil happened. I loved watching this game but i was still not capable to understand the tactical aspects of it. So I decided to watch it again, this time I was able to finally understand what went wrong. So here's an analysis

Both teams started with a 4-2-3-1 on paper. Brazil had Julio Caesar, the back 4 consisted of Maicon, David Luiz, Dante and Marcelo. There were 2 holding midfielders, Luis Gustavo and Fernandinho. The 3 behind the main striker Fred were fluid but started as Hulk, Oscar and Bernard

Germany had Neuer on the posts, a back 4 of Lahm, Boateng, Hummels and Howedes. The 2 holding midfielders were Khedira and Schweinstiger. The 3 behind Miroslav Klose were Muller, Kroos and Ozil. Take note of how Germany had essentially 5 players who liked to play centrally

Few changes in the team. First, Dani Alves was dropped for Maicon which was a major change from Scolari. Neymar's absence was another change however the significant one was Dante and Luiz because they were playing as CB pairings for the first time, since Thiago Silva didn't play

Brazil started the game very well, they put pressure on the German backline early on by going long and won a corner instantly. They had to show their supporters that they were there to attack. Marcelo and Maicon both pushed way up the field, another show of attacking intent.

Both the fullbacks pushing forward for Brazil was significant. That meant they had less players during buildup. Brazil played out from the back with David Luiz but only Luis Gustavo dropped deep during buildup while Fernandinho remained central. This was the 1st sign of downfall

Why this was significant is because of Germany's presence in the middle. They had Ozil at LW, Muller at RW and 3 pure midfielders (Khedira, Kroos, Bastian) who loved playing in the middle. They were easily able to exert pressure to Brazil during their buildup and win balls.

This happened a lot of times in the first 10 minutes, Brazil insisting on playing out from the back but Germany forming a great midblock, Khedira kept stepping forward to press Brazil in the middle, forcing them to lose the ball or go long. It led to a lot of ball recoveries

Germany then had ample space on the counter because as I mentioned Marcelo, Maicon were way up, Fernandinho was stuck in midfield and they had only the 2 CBs plus Gustavo behind when Germany won the wall in midfield. I lost count of just how many times this happened. Early signs

Key aspect for Germany's ability to press Brazil like this was that they were able to play a high line comfortably because they had Manuel Neuer in goal. This allowed them to squeeze the pitch further allowing Brazil absolutely no space in the middle to string a few passes

Germany themselves were very comfortable playing long balls because first they had 2 CBs (Boateng and Hummels) who were so great at playing them and second they had relatively tall attacking players who could easily win aerial duels in the middle. Comparing this to Brazil....

...whenever they were forced to go long, they had to rely on runs inbehind from Hulk and Oscar because Fred just couldn't win any duels against the towering German CBs. Howedes' tendency to defend also helped as Lahm could overlap freely knowing there were bodies behind to defend

Khedira was the most advanced of the German midfielders during a press, Kroos + Bastian sat deep meaning they had more bodies in the middle too. Brazil from the start were very poor in the final third even with both their fullbacks overlapping. It was a disaster waiting to happen

Germany from the start looked to counter from the flanks by 2 ways. They either won the ball out wide by pressing the Brazilian players in wider regions or they won the ball in the middle but immediately switched the play wide and constantly found German attackers present there

The first goal happened because of this. Marcelo was caught in possession very high up the field, Germany countered and that led to a corner which then allowed Muller to score. The second goal happened because of Fernandinho's poor positioning and this wasn't the first time...

Fernandinho would be caught in possession with literally no teammates around him. Another thing to note is because Brazil had a fluid 3, the track back responsibilities weren't clear which meant Hulk, Oscar and Bernard all tracked back very passively or didn't at all. The 3rd...

goal resulted because of this. Hulk simply didn't care enough to press Khedira allowing him to pass on the overlap to Lahm that lead to the goal. The 4th goal came from a problem I already highlighted, too little men in the middle but still insisting on playing out from the back

Fernandinho was caught in possession yet again. It was also surprising how Oscar or Bernard simply didn't care enough to drop deep. They could give Brazil the extra bodies needed during the buildup phase. The CBs were shouting for more passing options in middle but getting none.

Germany however even after scoring 4 goals insisted on pressing Brazil. They were forced to go long yet again, Hummels easily won the long ball and without almost any resistance in the Brazilian midfield, drove the ball forward and forced Luiz to step up. That left a huge...

..gap behind him and Germany score their 5th. One astonishing statistic is that during this phase, Brazil still maintained 55% of possession. The Brazilian wingers stopped tracking back but German attack continued their fluid shape leaving the Brazilian backline totally confused.

The German CBs also pushed forward attracting the Brazilian wingers to them but that opened up space for their FBs to overlap. This was constantly exploited as Boateng attracted Hulk, quickly passed it to Lahm who was now in acres of space as Marcelo was occupied by Muller.

Brazil also had massive horizontal gaps in the middle allowing the likes of Kroos and Schweinstiger to constantly break the likes to find the advancing Khedira, Ozil who has cut in from the left and Muller who has cut in from the right. There were just so many passing options

Kroos was Germany's midfield leader. He was constantly urging the players forward to score even more goals and urging them to press even if they were 5-0 up already. He dictated play from deep, allowing Khedira to push forward and join the attack. An underrated performance

Brazil had to make changes in the 2nd half and they did. They brought on Paulinho for Fernandinho and Ramires for Hulk. Germany also brought on Mertesacker for Hummels. Brazil finally seemed to realize their lack of numbers in the middle and addressed it with the Ramires addition

Paulinho also offered a lot more muscle allowing Brazil to match the German midfield. They immediately had more players during buildup playing in a 4-3-3 of sorts with Ramires as their most advanced midfielder. Brazil created 6 chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half

Neuer was crucial on maintaining the scoreline as he made 4 excellent saves to deny Brazil. They really could've scored 4 in the first 10 minutes had it not been for his heroics. Germans however tracked back really well and made sure there were enough bodies behind to defend.

Brazil did try to press in the second half but it was so disjointed that the Germans were able to play through it easily. Low brought Schurrle on for Klose, he went straight to RW meaning Muller was now CF but this obviously wasn't the case as Muller loved drifting. He also...

..led the German press now, adding more energy to it. Schurrle also added more width to Germany staying in the right flank meaning Lahm didn't have to overlap that much and could stay deep and defend. The fluidity of Muller and Schurrle led to him score 2 more goals to make it 7.

2 key performances here - Lahm showed why he is the most respected fullbacks of all time. A rock at defense and so productive going forward, one hell of a performance. Kroos - he pulled the strings from the middle, showed he had potential to the very best in Europe which he is rn

All in all, Germany exploited space and counterattacked ruthlessly making it the most embarrassing moment in Brazilian footballing history, even worst than the 1950 finals in Maracana. This game was historic and Germany I think totally deserved to go on and win the WC after this