Germany – Italy: A High-Pressing Game Of Two Halves (3-3)

Germany dominated the first half of this game with their aggressive pressing and their ability to exploit the space between Italy’s defense and midfield, earning them a three-goal lead at half-time. A tighter Italian press in the second half saw them come back into the game, but the deficit was insurmountable in the end.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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The first leg of this tie saw Germany prevail against a slightly lacklustre Italian side after going behind early on. This gave Italy a big task in the second leg, needing to recover from a deficit away from home.

Julian Nagelsmann had deployed a nominal back four in the first leg, but opted for a true back three on this occasion. Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Tah, and Nico Schlotterbeck were the central defenders, with Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstädt as wing-backs. Angelo Stiller was given a start in midfield alongside Leon Goretzka, while Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala supported striker Tim Kleindienst.

Italy once again lined up in a 3-5-2 shape for this game, with a back three of Federico Gatti, Alessandro Buongiorno, and Alessandro Bastoni. Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Destiny Udogie were the wing-backs, while Samuele Ricci this time joined Nicolò Barella and Sandro Tonali in midfield. Daniel Maldini then partnered Moise Kean up front.

Germany’s high press

Despite coming into this game holding an aggregate lead, Germany had absolutely no intention of playing cautiously on home turf and allowing Italy to take the initiative. The first half was therefore defined by Germany’s aggressive playing style, and the domination they earned from this.

Italy tried to play short from the back in their 3-5-2 shape, with Buongiorno and Ricci on the edge of the box from goal kicks, the wide center-backs splitting, Barella and Tonali in the halfspaces and Maldini dropping into the number ten space.

Germany’s high pressing suffocated Italy in the first half.

Germany adopted a relentless high press against this approach. Sané and Musiala would pressure the wide center-backs, while Kleindienst would mark Buongiorno. Goretzka would push up onto Ricci, leaving Stiller as the sole number six.

This might have left Germany vulnerable given the amount of players they committed forward, but the key to their pressing was the aggression of their center-backs in pushing forward to restrict the space for the likes of Tonali and Barella, who may have otherwise been able to overload Stiller in the number six space.

This pressing approach overall gave Germany control of the game, and earned them plenty of turnovers. It meant that most of the first-half was played in Italy’s territory, and Germany were the ones creating chances.

Italian pressing issues

Italy knew that being forced into a completely passive position was not viable due to the scoreline coming into the game, and therefore did try to pressure the ball more aggressively than in the first leg, albeit not as high up the pitch as Germany.

They would try to establish pressure on the ball with the ball-near number eight, either Barella or Tonali, pressuring Germany’s wide center-back when they had the ball, while Kean and Maldini tried to restrict the passes across the backline. Ricci would also try to get tight to Stiller on some occasions in order to squeeze Germany even more.

However, this actually caused issues for Italy, as it opened space between the lines, and they were not able to utilize their center-backs in the manner that Germany had done in order to push up and restrict the space between the lines.

A pattern that occurred in the first half – Italy’s midfield overcommits to pressing, and Germany exploit the space between the lines.

Germany were using a 3-6-1 shape when they had the ball, with Goretzka pushing up into the number ten space to form an attacking midfield trio along with Sané and Musiala. Italy struggled to deal with these three players drifting between the lines and through the halfspaces, and it led to their midfield being bypassed on some occasions.

The dominance of Nagelsmann’s side eventually gave them a three-goal lead at half-time. The first a penalty from Kimmich, the second a strange goal caused by Italy completely switching off after the award of a corner, and the third another towering Kleindienst header.

Italy’s resurgence

Knowing action was needed to change Italy’s fortunes in the second half, Luciano Spalletti made substitutions at half-time, bringing Matteo Politano on for Gatti, meaning Di Lorenzo moved to right center-back, and introducing Davide Frattesi to the attack in place of Maldini.

The most important change Spalletti made was in tightening up Italy’s pressing though. In the second half, their vertical compactness was improved thanks to the defensive line pushing up higher once they established pressure on the ball. This meant that Germany were not able to find the space between the lines that they had in the first half, and Italy got more of a foothold in the game as a result.

Italy’s midfield could jump forward in pressing, knowing that the space behind them was more secure. So Barella would often jump up to pressure Schlotterbeck, while Tonali marked in Germany’s number six zone and Ricci was supported by the center-backs in securing the space left behind.

Italy’s increased pressure paid off very quickly, as Kean grabbed a goal just after half-time. The second half saw a game with a more equal possession share, and more of the game played in Germany’s half of the pitch compared to before.

When Germany had to defend deeper, Sané and Musiala would drop deeper, almost acting as conventional number eights, but still not quite as close to Stiller as they would be in a conventional midfield three. Goretzka also still did not play as a conventional midfield partner to Stiller, instead staying a bit higher to keep pressure on Ricci. This meant Germany essentially defended in a 5-1-3-1 shape when they were without the ball.

Nagelsmann made changes around the hour mark, with fresh legs being introduced to the aforementioned midfield roles. Nadiem Amiri, Karim Adeyemi, and Pascal Groß replaced Goretzka, Sané and Stiller respectively, with Musiala switching to the advanced central midfield role and Amiri playing off the left.

Italy find the spaces around Groß, leading to their second goal. 

The main risk of Germany’s system was the potential for the number six to be isolated given the wide-ranging roles of the other midfielders. This partly contributed to the second goal they conceded with just over twenty minutes remaining, as Giacomo Raspadori, who had just replaced Tonali, found a pocket of space next to Groß, and was able to assist Kean for his second goal.

Nagelsmann added some extra security to the midfield in the form of Robert Andrich shortly afterwards. Germany were able to successfully suppress any chance of Italian momentum building after the second goal, see the rest of the game out. By the time Italy equalized through a Raspadori penalty in added time, it was already clear that it would be too little, too late for the Italians thanks to the advantage Germany already held from the first leg.

Takeaways

Germany took an aggressive approach to defending their aggregate lead going into this game, and it paid off richly with a dominant first half performance and three goals to match it. The second half was less comfortable for them, and some cracks started to show, but overall they deserve their progression to the next round based on the performance over the two legs.

Italy were outplayed in the first half. They could not get out of the German press and their own defensive scheme was vulnerable between the lines. The second half adjustments gave them a more harmonious pressing scheme and this gave them the platform to get back into the game, although never matching Germany’s first half performance. Ultimately, the four goal aggregate deficit they carried into the second half was just too big to surmount.

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