Thread | Bayern Munich Vs Barcelona – Tactical analysis

How can Jupp Heynckes Masterplan inspire Hansi Flick for the upcomping clash !

#UCL

First of all, let's take a deep look into Barcelona and Setien tactics.

The Spanish coach is expected to start with a 4-4-2, many wonders why a defensive approach when you have Messi ?

Setién before Barcelona was very known for his high pressing tactic, his players had to man-mark the opponents tightly but with Barcelona things changed, for two reasons : Not enough time to impliment his ideas and aging players like Suarez, Messi, Busquets that can't press 90min

Setién clearly understood that it was unwise to spend Messi’s energy in the high press, and should preserve his stamina in the offensive phases.

Which means he had to find new ways of pressing... And here comes the utility of the 4-4-2 AKA Plan Anti-Bayern.

This is a good example from the first tie against Napoli, In this scene, Barcelona tried to man-mark Napoli players to disrupt the build-up play.

Playing with 4 midfielders helps Barcelona press high and aggresively with Rakitic/Vidal to push the CB/GK into making a mistake.

Another good example against Real Madrid, you can clearly see that Setién clearly didn't give up his high Man-mark pressing.

What matters here is the timing of the marking. Setién wants his team to shut the opponent in the build-up phase as early as possible.

Forcing them to play long and with Busquets/Pique/Lenglet Barcelona are very strong in the air.

De Jong and Busquets are almost irreplaceable under Setién, they are the key to his 4-4-2.

So, how can Bayern outplay Barcelona 4-4-2 ? What would be our plan Anti-Barca ?

FLANKS : Asking the CB's to play thro the midfield when they are being pressed by 4 players at the same time, one of them is Messi ? Can sound suicidal, so the best way is to use the WINGS and who is better than Bayern to do that ?

The key will be the Black Beckenbauer !

Alaba's ability to build and dictate the play, plus his connection with Davies will be the key to reach the Canadian and Coman who will both have the role to carry the ball fast and high to counter the 4-2-4 pressing imposed by Setien

Davies/Coman will have to force Barcelona midfield out of position in order to cover the full back who will have to face two absolute beasts coming his way at full speed !

Similar to what Ribery/Alaba did to Barcelona in 2013 !

On the other side, who is better than Kimmich/Gnabry to replicate the Robben/Lahm connection !

Building up on the wings means less pressure on the CB's but also Thiago/Goreztka, especially the German who will instead have to focus more on his defensive duties

Going thro the flanks will lead to situation like this, with Lewandowski/Muller who will have a very pivotal role in searching for space and helping in the build up.

Why following the Heynckes Masterplan is a must ? Well simply because even tho lot of things has changed, Barcelona is still positioning large number of players at the centre to faciliate the build up and counterpress.

This means that our two midfielders must focus more on winning the ball and covering the FB's correctly and finally shielding our CB's...

We can and should build up thro Alaba/Neuer/Davies/Kimmich, with Lewandowski to recieve the ball and Muller to create space.

This is only in the build up of course, Thiago/Goretzka will be very involved once the ball is a bit high on the pitch.

Finally, one of the most important pieces : THOMAS MULLER !

The beating heart of our team and the "2013" side, Thomas Muller will have a very important role in pressing Busquets/De jong, as we said earlier they are the most important players in Setien's midfield and without them the team can't function correctly !

Bayern will have to disconnect the midfield duo from reaching Messi with Thiago marking him and Muller/Lewandowski pressing both.

We should stay careful and play fast and physical, these two players can still manage their way thro the midfield.

No plan is perfect, but Bayern have what it takes to beat this Barcelona side.

Setien can also be planning a wide counter attacking 4-4-2, in this case we could maybe swap Goretzka/Kimmich to have more control over the ball.

Let us know what you think ? And how do you think BAYERN should play if you disagree with our plan !