Dissecting and understanding Bayern Munich's pressing vs Barcelona - a tactical analysis thread:

Bayern's pressing in their game vs Barcelona was a huge factor why they won so comprehensively

Particularly in the first 31 minutes where Bayern raced into a 4-1 lead

Bayern's starting front six made 19 ball recoveries in the middle & attacking thirds. Barca's front six made 6.

• The intensity of Bayern's pressing was borne out through the starting position of their players
- their defensive line was extremely high
- which then allowed their front line to push up high when Barca were building & still not surrender too much space in midfield

• This is illustrated by the starting position of Bayern's attackers even from Barcelona's goal kicks

• This intensity was also shown through the number fo times Bayern activated their high press in open play - almost every time Barca played a backwards pass into their own half, it acted as a trigger for Bayern's front six to re-initiate their press

•Often this synchronised pressing up the pitch from the whole Bayern front six, would leave Barcelona's centre-backs with very few passing options
-Therefore they would pass back to ter Stegen
-And again, the Bayern front six would push up the pitch in-sync,like an army squadron

•Just as an interesting comparison, take a look at the lack of response from Messi & Suarez when Davies plays a backwards pass to Alaba

•Few people have also flagged up on how deliberately constructed the structure of Bayern's high pressing is:

1. Whenever, Barca tried to build thru the middle, the responsibility was on Perišić to arch round & press the highest from the left side

2. Gnabry's role was to remain halfway between Lenglet & Alba - he would be close enough & quick enough to apply pressure to Lenglet but simultaneously stop the chipped ball into Alba

3.Lewandowski's pressing duties were very disciplined- his role was to drop deeper behind the Perisic & Gnabry duo to ensure Busquets (Barca's deepest midfielder) received as little time & space as possible

Earnt himself a big chance from nicking the ball of Busquets in this way

4.Müller was given the fewest pressing instructions perhaps due to his supreme in-game intelligence & interpretation of space
a) Often he would push up on the left side of the pitch behind the front three,to ensure Sergi Roberto could not receive a pass,creating a 4v3 in midfield

(as an aside, again even in this scenario, look at the common pattern that is developing with the roles of Gnabry & Perisic - this time they have swapped roles with Gnabry arching a high press from the left and Perisic covering halfway between Lenglet & Alba)

b) but on occasions where Bayern wanted to press even more aggressively with Lewandowski closing down ter Stegen or the Barca centre-backs, Müller could also fill in for the Lewandowski's role marking Busquets tightly

c) If Perišić was still downfield in a deeper position after tracking back, Müller also filled in for his role arching the press from the left

Müller's flexibility & ability to sense where he was needed most in Bayern's pressing structure, was key to maintaining the high press

5. In terms of the Goretzka-Thiago organisation in midfield - almost always one would push high against one of Barcelona's midfielders (mainly Frenkie) whilst the other would sweep behind to protect the space between Bayern's midfield & defensive lines

The duo can do both roles

• So why do Bayern initiate more high presses via their left side?
-smart way of maximising Davies' ridiculous athleticism
-when Perišić presses high,it leaves space for Semedo behind him, but Davies' aggressive starting positon & pace means he can eat up that ground very easily

- Davies also has the insurance of Alaba's speed if Barca did get beyond him

•The Kimmich (Pavard when fit)-Boateng axis isn't as rapid,hence why Kimmich stayed deeper to act as defensive cover, when Bayern pressed high, with Gnabry's 'halfway position' sufficient to track Alba

•Bayern also showed elements of Klopp's famous counter-pressing - this is the art of pressing the opposition immediately after you have lost the ball to the
- they did this particularly when they lost the ball in wide areas,where the opposition's passing options are more limited

•Bayern counter-pressing actually led to their 2nd goal
-Bayern lose possession after Boateng's long ball
-Roberto initially seems as if he's in a lot of space,but by the time he gets the ball, four Bayern players converge on him & he loses the ball to Gnabry who assists Perišić

•Bayern's committment to pressing was key- surmised nicely by the below incident
-Lewandowski competed in an aerial duel with Piqué, was clattered by him,stumbles,but his first thought is pressing Semedo into a corner
- he wins the ball,which sets up the 4th & killer Müller goal

•Also key is that Bayern press in bursts, to maximise it’s efficiency and the damage it causes to the opposition
- 34 minutes on the clock, 3 goals ahead & Bayern have now dropped off their high press.
- In this case, the damage had already been done

German efficiency

Decided to compose a different type of tactical analysis thread by focussing on one particular aspect of a team's play

Let us know your thoughts & retweets of the original tweet in the thread much appreciated as always