Bayern Munich – RB Leipzig: Five-Star Bayern Performance (5-1)

Bayern Munich put on a five-star performance to end the year on an emphatic winning note. The German giants showcased their collective and individual qualities, across all phases of play, limiting RB Leipzig to one bright moment that came as early as the second minute.

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Smoothy.

The final set of fixtures ahead of the Bundesliga winter break served up a Friday night feast of Bayern Munich versus RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena. The game’s hosts currently lead Germany’s top division by four points, but last weekend the Bavarians suffered their first league defeat of the season. The visitors, on the other hand, sat fourth in the table but knew a victory would take them to within three points of top spot.

Vincent Kompany believed his side’s 2-1 defeat against Mainz last time out would “ignite a fire” in his team for the Leipzig game. And the Bayern Head Coach made four reinforcements to his previous starting eleven, with Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies coming into defense alongside Konrad Laimer and Kim Min-jae. This back four unit played in front of Daniel Peretz, making his four consecutive start. Leon Goretzka joined Joshua Kimmich in central midfield, with Michael Olise, Jamal Musial and Leroy Sané all supporting the returning Harry Kane in attack.

As for Leipzig, Marco Rose named two changes from last week’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Peter Gulacsi returned in goal and Arthur Vermeeren came into midfield beside Christoph Baumgartner and Xaver Schlager. Elsewhere, Nicolas Seiwald, Willi Orban and Lutsharel Geertruida made up the heart of the back five, with Benjamin Henrichs and Antonio Nusa operating as wing-backs. Upfront, Benjamin Šeško and Loïs Openda led the attack, having scored twenty-one goals between them in all competitions so far this campaign.

Historic fast start

Never before in Bundesliga history have two sides each scored within the opening two minutes of a match. That was until Bayern and Leipzig were 1-1 after just 102 seconds of play. It was the home team who took the lead, when their high pressure in the Leipzig defensive third forced a turnover. Following a Kane flick and a Olise cutback, Musiala bundled the ball in from six-yards.

However, the celebrations were immediately curbed from the resulting restart. The away team played the ball back towards Gulácsi who went over the baited Bayern high press. Leipzig lost the first contact but won the second and from there a ball was played towards Openda in the channel. The Belgium’s dummy and spin helped bypass Min-jae’s tight man-marking and Leipzig were behind Bayern’s backline. Openda fed-in a low cross towards the near post which perfectly synced with Šeško’s blindside run and the Slovenian expertly finished first-time.

With the scoreline back level and both teams looking clinical, it would have been fair to suspect that the remainder of the game would be more of a competitive affair. However, after the chaotic opening few minutes, the game soon settled and Bayern well and truly seized control. 

Bayern go outside to attack inside

In possession – which they had a lot of (74% in the first half) – Bayern executed a number of positional adjustments from their initial 4-2-3-1 shape to help retain, progress and create with the ball. Kimmich and Goretzka took turns dropping wider to form a situational back three with the two center-backs, whilst the other stayed central as a single-pivot. Laimer and Davies oriented themselves slightly higher towards the opposition midfield three, but primarily stayed on the outside of it.

Both of these factors helped create numerical and positional advantages for Bayern in their base and midfield which aided their dominant ball retention. Additionally, these adjustments helped take advantage of the narrowness of the first two defensive lines of Leipzig’s 5-3-2 medium block. With Bayern able to easily progress possession towards and into the final third via wide areas. 

9th minute: example of Bayern’s typical in possession shape versus Leipzig’s 5-3-2 medium block

The intentions behind the positioning of their fullbacks were varied and plentiful. Defensively, it meant the team was more compact and primed to counterpress ball loses. Offensively, it afforded opportunities to manipulate and then exploit manufactured weaknesses in Leipzig’s defensive organization.

One frequent example being Bayern constantly switching the point of their attack from one side of the pitch to the other, using their base of three, single-pivot and fullbacks in the halfspaces to facilitate. This tactic aimed to shift their opponents from side-to-side, specifically stretching the Leipzig midfield three in the process, creating gaps centrally or forcing one of the back five to jump out of the backline. These newly manufactured spaces would then be attacked with a dribble (think Davies, Sané, Musiala or Olise), forward run (underlaps from the tireless Laimer) and/or quick passing combination (typically linking with Kane).

Despite Bayern’s possession and territorial dominance, it took until the 25th minute before they got a second goal. Laimer received the ball in his deeper right halfspace position and carried unopposed towards the Leipzig backline. The Austrian played a ball in behind for Olise and then continued his forward momentum with (another) underlapping run. Inexcusably, no away team player tracked Laimer’s run, meaning he was free to receive Olise’s cutback inside the box and score against his former club.

Collective and individual quality

Leipzig may have only been a goal down but they were being bettered in every phase of play. Their solitary offensive tactic of triggering the Bayern high press with deep build-up before going direct, in an attempt to exploit the 1v1 matchups against their backline, only generated one further meaningful attack in the first half. This occurred in the 32nd minute, with Openda guilty of wasting the opportunity with a poor crossing decision. The rest of the visitors’ attempts were predominantly thwarted by Bayern’s individual duel success and second-ball wins.

Ten minutes before half-time, the home side compounded their dominance by making it 3-1. The lead up to this goal showcased aspects of all Bayern’s collective and individual qualities. The sequence started at 34:09 with a Leipzig direct ball forward from deep and Upamecano regaining possession. From here, the hosts patiently circulated and progressed possession, with spells on both flanks.

At 35:05, Sané’s left wing cross into the box was cleared but Goretzka immediately swarmed upon the loose ball to recycle the attack. Play was then gradually switched from the left to the right wing, where Musiala dropped to help overload an already disconnected Leipzig midfield (due to the constant switches of attack) to quickly combine with Laimer. Play then came back inside to a free Kimmich, who struck powerfully and accurately from range to score (35:32). A moment of individual stardust created by the collective’s execution of the game plan.

36th minute: passage of play which led to Bayern’s third goal. A combination of playing ‘outside to go inside’ and creating a 4v3 overload in central midfield created space for Kimmich to shoot and score from range.

In the second half, Marco Rose switched his side to 4-4-2 out of possession, with Henrichs moving to left-back and Seiwald right-back. However, the decision to engage higher without the ball and have one less defender at the back nearly proved costly, with Bayern spurning three early attacks in the opening ten minutes of the restart. The best falling to Sané in the 53rd.

Despite Leipzig’s increased energy and intensity levels, both with and without the ball, Bayern matched their opponents in every area. Plus, as a byproduct of Leipzig’s new approach, Bayern now also had the opportunity to showcase their threat in transition. Although the home side failed to capitalise upon any of their counterattack threat with Olise (58th), Upamecano (64th), Sané (66th), and Kane (67th) all missing the final shot or pass.

Bayern Munich – RB Leipzig xG Plot

Bayern’s biggest chance after the break came in the 72nd minute, when following a high turnover, Sané dribbled towards the byline before firing the ball across the face of Leipzig goal. Olise was a few yards out with an empty net ahead of him but he somehow failed to make a connection on the ball with it squirming underneath his foot.

In the 75th minute, Bayern did eventually extend their lead, with another example of their individual quality shining through. The passage of play started in the Bayern defensive third. Davies received the ball in his left-back slot and with his first touch, bypassed the oncoming opponent. The Canadian then carried the ball the length of the pitch before sliding a pass into the path Sané who this time slotted into the far corner.

A few minutes later, Bayern made it 5-1 with Davies heading in a Kimmich right halfspace cross at the far post from close range. The goal followed a prolonged possession spell in the final third against a now lifeless Leipzig. The home side comfortably saw out the remainder of the match, with one final major chance falling to Kimmich in the 86th, but his shot was blocked by a last ditch David Raum slide.

Takeaways

Following the frantic opening couple of minutes, Bayern dominated Leipzig across all phases of play. If the scoreline wasn’t demonstration enough of their superiority, the xG finished 4.54 – 0.42. The hosts generated 22 shots to 4 against and had 69% possession of the ball overall. Plus, a 91% Field Tilt. 

Vincent Kompany’s side unanimously showed the Bundesliga that the Mainz result was a momentary blip and as Joshua Kimmich surmised: “…we really wanted to win. And we did that in convincing fashion.” Bayern now head into the winter break four points clear at the top and the rest of the league surely fearful of the levels they can continue to reach.