Match date: 7 December 2013
As Bayern Munchen seem to be running away with the Bundesliga title, this was a match between two sides doing their best to keep up with the Bavarians. Sami Hyypia’s Bayer Leverkusen have been in good form throughout the league campaign while Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund have had to deal with injuries to key players throughout the season, leaving them without a first choice defender in their starting lineup for recent matches.
Klopp set his side out in a 4-2-3-1, with Reus missing out because of a knock meaning Aubameyang started on the left side of Dortmund’s attacking three behind Lewandowski. Leverkusen set out in a 4-3-3 with Jens Hegeler coming into the side for the injured Sidney Sam.
Leverkusen Defend…
Much of Leverkusen’s good play throughout the season has come from counter attacking football (throughout the match, the commentator was saying that they were the best counter attacking team ‘in all the land,’ but that’s a debate). On this particular day, however, Hyypia certainly set up his side to absorb Dortmund’s possession and counter quickly.
Early in the match, Son, Hegeler, and Kiessling would stay a bit higher up the pitch when Dortmund’s centre backs had the ball, but usually Leverkusen’s triggers for pressing were either when the ball was played into Sahin and Bender or out to either of Dortmund’s full backs. Leverkusen’s goal came in the 18th minute as a result of their good pressing higher up the pitch, as you can see below, after which Hyypia changed his side’s pressing approach and had the side drop off a bit until the the ball was played into the triggers listed above.
With the goal advantage, Leverkusen dropped off and made it hard for Dortmund to play through the centre of midfield. In response, Dortmund looked to try to play down the right side of their attack through Grosskreutz and Blaszczykowski and with Son drifting inside from the left side of Leverkusen’s attack when they were both with and without possession of the ball, it left Can exposed to a 2v1 on numerous occasions. Grosskreutz, in particular, got a number of touches in good positions when overlapping Blaszczykowski because of Son and Hegeler’s lack of tracking.
Emre Can has played at left back a few times for Leverkusen so far this season, but is really a defensive centre midfielder, so it is easy to understand why Dortmund would look to attack the young German. It’s hard to say who did better when Dortmund were in possession of the ball, however, as Can won all his tackles in the match, yet Blaszczykowski was successful in 2 of this 3 take ons. As mentioned above, it was Grosskreutz who had the best opportunities when he made overlapping runs.
Throughout the match, Leverkusen kept their 4-3-3 shape well when defending in a middle block and were good at disrupting Dortmund’s play when they tried to play into midfield. Kiessling would drop on either Sahin, Bender, or, in the picture below, Mkhitaryan. The midfield three would stay relatively tight, allowing Dortmund’s full backs to get into the space between Leverkusen’s wingers and full backs.
Dortmund were able to work the ball into wide areas often and under Klopp, one of the key elements to their play is looking to overload the wide areas, something that Mario Götze was so good at during his time at BVB. Leverkusen responded well to the overloads in the wide areas by doing just that when defending in low block situations. As Mkhitaryan and one of the holding midfielders would drift to the wide area to support the full back and midfielder, Leverkusen would follow and overload the area as well.
Because of this, it is of no coincidence that most of the tackles that Leverkusen won were in the wide areas of the pitch.
The last 20 minutes or so saw Leverkusen having to defend very deep in their half, but they did so very well, remaining well organized and for 15 minutes, did so with 10 men after Spahic was sent off.
…Counter
Leverkusen defended well and countered very well, as evident in the game’s only goal. Emre Can was especially important in Leverkusen’s countering as his pace allowed him to be a constant outlet for Leverkusen’s quick breaks down the left side of their attack. Up against Blaszczykowski and Grosskreutz, he was successful in 7 of his 10 taken-ons, with most of them occurring in Dortmund’s defensive third.
Can wasn’t the only effective dribbler Son, Hegeler, and Rolfes were all able to get by Dortmund’s pressing easily enough. Son’s movement off the ball and vision on the ball allowed for a number of good breaks by Leverkusen.
Dortmund’s Faults
Aside from overloading in wide areas when in their attacking third, perhaps the most hailed part of Dortmund’s play is their intense pressing, ‘gegenpressing.’ When Dortmund are at their best, their pressing is incredibly effective with Klopp calling it the best playmaker as it allowed Dortmund to win the ball high up the pitch in numbers and quickly create chances on the opposition’s goal.
Any side that plays a high pressing game must also play with a high line in order to squeeze the midfield space and allow your midfielders to press as well. Without both Subotic and Hummels in Dortmund’s back line and with Friedrich in, it has caused Klopp to have to have his line play slightly deeper, making his midfield and forward lines less effective in their pressing.
When Dortmund’s pressing doesn’t work, as was the case against Leverkusen, they look exposed. As you can see above in the image of Leverkusen’s take-ons, you can see that they were able to dribble around Dortmund’s press in areas that Klopp wants his side to be winning the ball back. Instead, most of Dortmund’s tackles and interceptions were within their own half meaning they had to start attacks deeper, something they have struggled to do this season in the absence of İlkay Gündoğan.
Klopp’s Changes
Klopp’s first two changes were certainly positive ones. His first change was forced as Sven Bender had to go off with an injury. Klopp introduced Reus and soon after Hofmann which made Dortmund a 4-3-3, flipping the triangle in midfield from two holding midfielders in Sahin and Bender to two attacking midfielders in Mkhitaryan and Hofmann with Reus and Aubameyang on either side of Lewandowski in the front three.
This, as well as the red card to Spahic, pushed Leverkusen very deep which didn’t allow Dortmund much space to play in, whether in the wide areas or through the middle. As a result, Dortmund were only able to create two chances and two shots on target in the final half hour of the match.
Conclusion
With this defeat, Dortmund find themselves 10 points behind Bayern Munchen and 6 behind Leverkusen, who are 4 points off the top. The injuries that have hit Dortmund, which could now include Bender and Sahin, have certainly had an effect on the squad. That should take nothing away from Hyypia and Leverkusen who were willing to be adventurous in the opening 20 minutes of the match in their pressing, leading to their goal, after which they remained an organized unit.
Both sides have midweek Champions League matches and Jurgen Klopp will certainly be looking for his side to response against Marseille, while Hyypia will be hoping that his side can continue their good form against Real Sociedad.