Match date: 1 November 2014

In the last few years, Bayern Munich and Dortmund have found themselves in a very competitive rivalry, which has been further fueled by Bayern Munich’s signing of Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski in the last two summer transfer windows.

Coming into the match, however, Bayern Munich find themselves at the top of Bundesliga, while Dortmund are struggling right outside of the relegation zone with just seven points from nine matches.

As he’s done for much of the season, Guardiola set out Bayern in something of a 3-3-3-1 and picked the same starting XI that beat Roma 7-1 in the last match day of the Champions League.

Klopp set out Dortmund in a more recognisable 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 with a very fluid front four including Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, Reus, and Aubameyang in front of Kehl and Bender.

Dortmund Press, Contain Alonso

One of the best parts of Bayern’s play so far this year has been the elegant play of Xabi Alonso. Signed from Real Madrid in the summer, presumably because Real Madrid had signed a replacement player, a certain Toni Kroos, earlier in the summer, Alonso has gone on to thrive under Pep Guardiola thus far. He’s set records for the amount of touches on the ball in a Bundesliga match with 204 against Cologne earlier this year; that is about a touch every 45 seconds. With that said, if the opposition is trying to stop Bayern Munich from playing, they have to stop Alonso from playing well.

Dortmund tried to do just that. Known for their pressing under Klopp, Dortmund set out looking to press Bayern’s centre backs and Alonso. Out of possession, Dortmund looked more like a 4-3-3, with Kagawa in a centre forward position and pressing Boateng, while Reus would be on the right, pressing Benatia, and Aubameyang would mark Alaba on the left. Below, you’ll see a good example of this. You’ll also notice that Alonso is unmarked. Mkhitaryan would usually push to the Spaniard, but the pressing of the front three was effective enough to cut off the passing lanes to Alonso.

The front three essentially did two things: they looked to force Bayern into playing long balls, which the home side were forced to do at times and they looked to cut off the passing lanes to Alonso. By cutting off these passing lanes, it freed up Mkhitaryan, Kehl, and Bender and allowed them to look to win possession should Bayern be able to bypass the first line of pressing and look into the likes of Lahm, Gotze, and Muller in the middle of the pitch. Below, you can see an excellent example of Dortmund’s two pressing lines.

Notice that in the above screen capture, Dortmund are winning 1-0, but were still pressing Bayern up the pitch and it was very effective in doing what it intended. Bayern struggled to create many clear cut chances and Alonso was unable to dictate proceedings the way that he and Bayern have gotten used to during his time at the German club. Notice below that Alonso’s passing was not as expansive as it usually is and that Dortmund were able to win the ball back in that middle third of the pitch (as well as high up the pitch) where Mkhitaryan, Kehl, and Bender positioned themselves to do so.

Dortmund’s Attack

For all of their good defensive play, Dortmund were able to support it with decent play going forward. They had a very fluid front four of Reus, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, and Aubameyang when they were in possession of the ball. Their best opportunities came when they were able to catch Bayern Munich out of a good defensive shape. On their goal, that put them 1-0 up, Bayern were playing a very high line which allowed Aubameyang to get in behind very easily and allowed him to cross to the back post for Reus to head in.

Prior to that, however, they had another good chance through Aubameyang, which was saved by Neuer, and even earlier, had a chance through Mkhitaryan, which hit the post. Both chances came from Bender winning the ball back for Dortmund and then launching a counter attack.

Despite not being involved in Dortmund’s goal, Kagawa looked very lively and played some of his best football since leaving Dortmund for Manchester United almost two years ago.

Bayern Going Forward

The best way to bypass Dortmund’s pressing is to allow them to overload one side with defenders and then switch the play, which is certainly one of the reasons why Guardiola continued with his use of Robben in a wing back role. If they could switch the play quickly to him, he had a large amount of space to play into, something that the opposition doesn’t want one of the world’s best dribblers and finishers to have.

This is exactly what Bayern attempted throughout the game and it was largely successful as Robben found the space provided to him by Dortmund’s shift as well as Müller’s smart movement. The German international would consistently drift in Erik Durm’s zone, occupying the young left back and allowing more space to open up for Robben, allowing the Dutchman to come inside onto his left foot where he was able to test Weidenfeller with four shots on target from open play.

As the game wore on, Dortmund were unable to maintain their energy levels in the pressing efforts and were unable to contain the game in tight spaces, as Bayern, as mentioned above, were able to find too much space in the wide areas. The amount of space that Bayern were able to find grew as Dortmund’s energy levels dipped, thus allowing Bayern to play around Dortmund much easier…

Changes, Ribery

With that said, the introduction of Ribery into the match came at a perfect time as his pace and energy were able to exploit Dortmund’s tiredness. It was the Frenchman’s attempted pass to Robben that Subotic intercepted into the path of Lewandowski. However, it was the Ribery’s ability to find space in between the Dortmund’s midfield and back four in the build up to the goal that was a crucial part to the goal. Götze was able to get on the ball in these areas at times during his time on the pitch, but Dortmund were usually able to remain very compact.

It was Ribery’s pressing on Subotic, a half time substitute for Hummels, that allowed him to run into Dortmund’s penalty area and win a penalty that Robben converted.

Conclusion

A very good tactical battle between two of Germany’s best teams, even if Dortmund are currently struggling. The away side were able to contain Bayern for large parts of the game, pressing them well, only to later allow space for Bayern , and Ribery in particular, to exploit.

This loss leaves Dortmund in the relegation zone and with just seven points from ten matches, while Bayern maintain their position at the top of Bundesliga.