Match date: 23 April 2014

While the previous day’s match ended in a 0-0 draw between Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, there was hope that, based on the teams and managers, that the match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich would give neutrals the goals they wanted.

While there weren’t that many goals, the game was much more entertaining than the other semi-final match. Real Madrid were on the defensive for most of the match as Bayern Munich dominated the ball.

Carlo Ancelotti named arguably his strongest line-up for the match, which saw Isco, Alonso, Modric, and Di Maria all all start in midfield.

Guardiola had numerous options and, as he did with Barcelona in away matches in the Champions League, he named a side that was more defensive than other players could have made it.

Bayern Dominate, Lack Penetration

There is an idea that possession percentages are meaningless, but they certainly play a part in the story of a match. In this case, it tells of Real Madrid’s adaptation to Bayern Munich’s style of play, as well as Munich’s consistent pressure and numbers forward. Throughout the season, Real Madrid had averaged 59% possession in their matches, but in this match, there were points in the first half where they had just 18% and in the end, had 28%. Unlike their Spanish rivals, Atletico Madrid, who participated in the other semi-final tie, Real Madrid were able to adapt to playing in a different style than they have throughout the year.

For their 72% possession, Bayern were not as incisive as they were earlier in the year. Guardiola arguably selected a cautious side, lacking creativity from midfield as well as limited play from Mandzukic, who consistently drifted into wide areas, and Ribery, who was well contained by Carvajal. Much of Bayern’s play was in front of Real Madrid’s back line, which made it easy for the Spanish side to contain Bayern’s attacks. The German side looked relatively sluggish in their movement. Guardiola’s biggest critics this year have said that he’s turned Bayern into another version of Barcelona, but under Guardiola, Barcelona were incisive in the final third, combining quickly and effectively around their opposition’s penalty area, something that Bayern lacked against Real Madrid on the night. Much of their play was focused through Robben and Rafinha on the right side of their attack, with laborious recycling of the ball through Lahm, Kroos, and Schweinsteiger.

It was difficult to get in behind Real Madrid, especially after the Spanish side scored their goal in the 19th minute, which allowed them to sit in a low block. Prior to the goal, Real Madrid had two banks of four but were defending in a mid block, rather than defending deep near their area.

You can see in the above picture that Real Madrid set out in a 4-4-2, with Ronaldo partnering Benzema up front, with Isco and Di Maria on the outsides of Xabi Alonso and Modric. This allowed for a compact unit and also allowed Benzema and Ronaldo to press Dante and Boateng, which they did often in the first half. Isco and Di Maria were relatively ineffective when trying to make a tackle, completing just two out of eight attempts, but their work rate was needed to track the runs of Alaba and Rafinha and to help defend Robben and Ribery. This again, limited the impact that the Bayern wingers had, despite seeing large amounts of the ball through Bayern’s dominate play.

Lahm, Kroos, Schweinsteiger

The midfield trio was an odd one. Guardiola has used a 4-1-4-1 for much of the year with Lahm and sometimes Martinez or Schweinsteiger acting as the holding midfielder, but with an injury to Thiago, who had been a consistent selection in the starting XI once he was over his early season injury, Guardiola has been fielding a 4-2-3-1 more regularly. The combination of these Lahm, Kroos, and Schweinsteiger in the midfield three showed the caution that Guardiola put into the match. Earlier in the season, Lahm or Schweinsteiger would start in the deep, holding role, while two of Kroos, Thiago, and Götze would make up the players in front.

Lahm is the most defensive minded of the three, Kroos is the most creativity in his passing, while Schweinsteiger is close to a combination of the two former players; a decent tackler and a good distributer of the ball. What the three lack, however, is precision and creativity in the final third that Thiago and Götze. Kroos is perhaps the closest to those two, but he isn’t a dynamic attacker and can’t break the opposition’s lines with his dribbling abilities or draw defenders in to create space for his teammates. Combined, Lahm, Kroos, and Schweinsteiger created just six chances, with Lahm, the deepest player, creating three, all of which came after he moved to right back. So, with the three in midfield, they created just three chances.

Pressing

The pressing from both sides was good, in different ways. Bayern’s was intense and, at some stages of the match, ruthless. It certainly allowed them to continue to dominate proceedings early on. At one stage, Pepe won the ball back by stepping in front of Mandzukic, only to then have three Bayern Munich players surround him and win the ball back. Pepe then gestured to his teammates in a “What could I do?/Where are my options?” manner.

Ancelotti must have identified Dante and Boateng as triggers for Real’s pressing; as soon as one of the Bayern centre backs was looking to receive the ball, Real pressed.

Real Madrid Attack Down the Left

Ancelotti also identified Rafinha as the weakness in Bayern’s back line and the Brasilian’s high positioning, in an effort to support Robben in the attack, made the space he vacated an easy target for Ronaldo and Coentrao to exploit, which is just what they did for the goal. According to whoscored.com, Real Madrid use the flanks evenly in most of their matches (below on the right), while in this match, while playing a different style than most other matches, they attacked down the left 10% more than the right, as Rafinha was caught out.

Their best attacks came down the left, and while Ronaldo only received the ball 13 times throughout the match, Real’s attacks pulled Boateng into an uncomfortable area of the pitch out wide, which opened up the middle. Below, you can seeing Real’s passes in the final third. They were certainly able to get further up the pitch on the left, credit to Rafinha’s high positioning and Alaba’s recovery pace.

Changes

Guardiola made proactive changes to help Bayern Munich get back into the game. His first change was bringing off Rafinha for Javi Martinez, which moved Lahm to right back and pushed Kroos and Schweinsteiger further forward, making Bayern look a little more like a 4-1-4-1 than a 4-2-3-1. Lahm was effective on the right, creating three chances.

Guardiola then brought on Götze and Müller in quick succession for Ribery and Schweinsteiger, respectively. Götze played on the left, but played a bit more inside than Ribery and Robben had, with Alaba providing more width. The young German had Bayern’s best chance around the 82nd minute, when Müller picked him out, but he fired at Casillas. Müller’s introduction allowed Bayern greater presence inside Real’s penalty area, just as he did when he was introduced against Manchester United in the second leg of the last round.

Ancelotti had the ability to take off Ronaldo for Bale, which left the side looking very much the same. He was also forced to take off Pepe, but introduced Varane. His final change was Illarramendi for Isco, which simply added a more defensive player to the midfield.

Conclusion

While Bayern Munich aren’t in a terrible position, Guardiola must be thinking about his midfield three. There was little creativity and dynamic movement from the trio of Lahm, Kroos, and Schweinsteiger and it put a lot of pressure on Robben and Ribery to perform. Guardiola likes width, but he also likes to use it to spread the opposition’s defense so that the middle of the field can open up, rather than a true supply for goals. Ribery had a poor game and it will be interesting to see if the Frenchman retains a place in the second leg.

Real Madrid, for all their defensive play, were excellent on the counter attack. The idea was like Mourinho’s Chelsea against Atletico the day before, but the execution was much better and Real will be disappointed that they weren’t able to take one of their other chances, especially Ronaldo’s.