By Michel Munger, Editor-in-chief at Bayern Central
FC Bayern München has changed much since the last meeting with Juventus in 2013. This guest post’s mission is to explain how.
Under Jupp Heynckes’ tutelage, the Reds beat Juve 4:0 on aggregate with a brand of football that could be labeled as direct and vertical.
Bayern then was comfortable with more or less 55% possession, attacking on the wings with magicians Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben. They would dribble against defenders and either shoot or look for passing targets in free-roaming Thomas Müller and striker Mario Mandukic. Full-backs Philipp Lahm and David Alaba, would send exquisite crosses to Mandžukić.
A robust midfield was anchored by Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was in charge of distribution and of supporting the attack by following ball carriers closely. His “double six” partner Javi Martínez was the destroyer who absorbed counterattacking pressure. He won the ball back and helped relaunch the attack.
With Philipp Lahm, Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba, the back four was the best in the world. The back line received the help of Ribéry and Robben who frequently tracked back to shut down attacks.
Although possession-based, Bayern’s playing style was direct. Execution in tight space was a trademark of the Bavarian powerhouse, leading it to destroy even FC Barcelona en route to a Champions League win.
Change of philosophy
Enter Pep Guardiola. His philosophy is more ideological than Heynckes’. He believes in total control of the action and positional play. His hunch is that FCB does not play well without the ball.
With this philosophy, possession skyrocketed to over 60% in most games. It sometimes reached a dizzying 80%!
This game plan however backfires against the big teams. To execute Guardiola’s tactics, Bayern has to send its defenders high on the pitch, collectively entering the final third. Teams put 10 or 11 men behind the ball and look for counterattacking opportunities.
When it happens, one defender has to take break up the play before ball carrier can pass to other rushing teammates. This is how Bayern has conceded costly goals in Champions League semis against Madrid and Barcelona in the last two years.
Guardiola’s ideology put an end to verticality and most teams took notice. They defend and defend to death, making many wins lacklustre.
Injuries galore
A weakness Juventus should look to exploit is Bayern’s bill of health, which is not clean. Key players such as Jérôme Boateng, Javí Martinez, Holger Badstuber are missing. The team only has one healthy centre-back and it is recently signed Serdar Tasci. He started his Bavarian career with a concussion suffered in training!
The current makeshift back line is untested against dangerous teams. Will it crack under pressure?
CoCo power
Injuries also affect the precious wings. Arjen Robben is picking up speed after numerous spells on the sidelines. Franck Ribéry has just returned to the squad and he is not 100% fit yet.
Beware, however, of a duo that we lovingly nickname CoCo.
Douglas Costa was signed last summer and he provides an impressive offensive spark. His superior speed and athleticism allow him to burn full-backs mainly on the left flank, finding space for a good cross to the penalty area. Anyone rushing towards goal will try to meet the ball and squeeze it past the keeper.
The other half of this duo is a familiar name: Kingsley Coman. The young Frenchman is a surprising revelation. He does not have Costa’s pure speed, but he is more intelligent on the ball. He takes on defenders and works around them, finding spaces to make great passes to his teammates. He usually patrols the right flank.
The two players can however swap positions and drift inside at will.
A year or two ago, Bayern’s attacking would come to a screeching halt with injuries to Ribéry and Robben. With CoCo in the lineup, this is not the case anymore. Although untested in the Champions League knockout stage, the pair has already demonstrated its ability to make up for the absence of stars on the wings.
If you wonder, we are not giving Coman back. Bayern will surely use the buying option in his loan contract.
Vidal not finding form
What about Arturo Vidal? You sold him last summer in a move that surprised many. Bayern fans saw him as the box-to-box midfielder who would make Bayern’s central midfield tougher.
It has not turned out that way. Vidal plays regularly but his efficiency is rather low. He does not cover the pitch as he used to.
Why is that so?
Box-to-box midfielders struggle to make their mark under Pep Guardiola. His favouritism of Xabi Alonso, whose play is incompatible with the role, and little use of the central midfield changes explain the problem.
Notice that Luiz Gustavo left quickly after Pep’s arrival. Bastian Schweinsteiger never found his legs and he left for Manchester United. Javí Martinez rarely plays in the position, held back in central defence. Even the professor’s pet, Thiago Alcântara, has had a difficult season so far.
If you want to read more about this question, try this piece we published in December.
How can Juve beat Bayern?
With all of the above in mind, you should know that directness and verticality have been erased from the playbook. There is little chance that Bayern will attack with the energy of old. It will most probably come up with the usual insanely complex passing game with a high line of defence.
Even lowly opposition such as Eintracht Frankfurt has managed to frustrate the Bavarian attack by parking the bus and defending energetically. With resolve, pressing and good positioning, opponents can look for the decisive counterattack that can break Bayern’s back.
If Juventus wants to go “back and forth” by taking the game to Bayern, though, it will pay a high price. Costa, Robben, Müller and Lewandowski are deadly on the rare counter opportunities they get. Check out this video of a counter against VfB Stuttgart earlier this season for a scary example.
You now have clear view of today’s FC Bayern. Enjoy the tie!
Great article on Bayern… can’t wait for the tie!
I have never liked Guardiola and this article makes me dislike him more. Bayern played great the last couple of seasons, he always forces his own ideas into a team even if it makes the team worse than they were before.
It’s gonna be tough for us, but it’s not impossible. I have hopes that we can make it through.
Also, i have trouble understanding why Coman is doing so well at Bayern. He could never step up playing for Juve, he didn’t play alot, but he kept showing he wasn’t up to it yet. He moves and suddenly he is. Does Bayern use him different?
This is why I’m still stupified Guardiola is rated this highly. Yes he is a good coach, but he is much like others: has one plan and will not be moved into making any changes to that idea.
With Barca it worked, because its the same philosophy. Bayern is not Barca.
As for Coman, yes, he was used as striker here, reading this article he is more of a winger now
Exactly. Bayern is not Barca, you can’t force your Barca ideas into this team. It’s quite sad to watch. He also keeps getting himself into success teams. I’d like to see how he’d do with City, a team that doesn’t dominate league and Europe.
Yeah Coman plays as a winger for Bayern. I think that’s his natural position.
Thanks for the preview. I totally agree that Bayern are not as vertical as they used to be. Most of their goals come from complex passing that eventually finds the likes of Deadly Lewandowski and Awkward Muller in scoring positions inside the penalty box. Even Robben seems to slow things down! In any case, they are a formidable opponents and Juve are going into this matchup as underdogs. They have to do a lot of things right to beat this Bayern team.
It will be very very tough to stop Lewa and Müller.
I hope that Mandzu will get his chances. The defense of bayern is very very weak. These days.
But if Barzagli or Chiellini cant stop Lewa or Müller then its the fine.
They are still very great next to Barca europes best. But we are an unit in blackandwhite. 2:1 on tuesday. Then 2: 2.
Are we through with these results ?
We’ll see, it’s a game of great attack vs great defense. One mistake could cost the game for either team. Our attack SHOULD be able to beat their makeshift defense. But will our own backline hold against their superior attack?
If we win one and draw one then yes, we are through.
I think we should focus hard on not conceding at home. I prefer 0-0 over 1-1 or anything along those lines. Why? With 0-0, the game is tied. With a 1-1, we will be forced to score in Munich.
We should go for the win, but not at the cost of away goals. It will put us on the wrong foot for the return
All i hope for is that Bayern doesn’t get so lucky like in the previous tie with Bayern. Muller’s shot that got deflected in the first couple of minutes of the first leg pretty much screwed up our entire tactic for both games. So no lucky Bayern is what i’m hoping for this time.
Or the Alaba goal in like 35seconds in Munich..
Oh my bad, i meant the Alaba goal. The one that got deflected.
I thought so too but wasnt sure. I think it was Alaba’s shot. 30 seconds, more or less, 1-0 for Bayern after a 0-2defeat.
Game over
I had to look it up on wiki to be sure, but the match in Munchen was the first leg. Alaba’s goal was the first goal of the tie and came in the first minute. That completely ruined everything we had planned for both matches and we never overcame it. We lost 2-0 and in the second leg we lost 0-2, goals from Mandzukic and Pizarro in Turin.
Oh right it was the other way around. In any case, that game was shit to watch because of that goal. Wasnt properly started yet and we were already beaten
Anyway like i said i think the first minutes are gonna be crucial. The players are nervous, an early goal would mess them up again. They need time coming into this match. I’m happy the first match is in our home.
Thats why we need the experienced leaders of the squad, Buffon, Evra, Marchisio and so on. They are not new to this and wont be as nervous as the youngsters.
Conceding an early goal would be detrimental, I agree. But I dont expect it to happen, its something rather unlikely in the first Place.
I think the first half will be a bit drab.. Both teams taking it easy, play it safe..
Second half might be better, since both teams will try more to get an advantage for the return leg
With the league title charge regained in results, position as well as swagger, we now turn our attentions to Europe. When the draw was made, many assumed were out.
I suspect many of those many now think differently.
Its a bother to be absent of Chiellini and it leads to Allegri force to play Lichsteiner and Cuadrado or Rugani and Lichsteiner. I’d rather we avoid the 4-3-1-2 as Pereyra is miles away from match sharpness. I hope Allegri opts for Rugani/Lichsteiner, as I fear that whoever is deployed at LW for Munchen will get far more time and space on the ball if the Colombian is present in the starting XI. Bring him on when his pace can do some damage. Which is not from the start.
Morata has done little to suggest he is worthy of a start in front of the recovered, yet likely lacking rhythm, Big Mario. Khedira comes back into the midfield. Sandro is a bigger miss than many seem to have ajudged for his attacking potency is blossoming and brilliant.
Pogba is due a great performance. Dybala will be fresh. And as long as we have Big Leo and Barzagli (for me, the finest CB in Europe these last few seasons) we have a great chance of shutting them out and nicking a goal, or three!
As others have shared…I am also rather critical of Guardiola. For his ego and connected arrogance is sickening.
Playing on the counter suits us, so I am far more nervous of the home leg of the tie. When we will be expected to take the game to the Germs. I worry that an away goal could prove our downfall, yet feel we are more than capable of scoring in the away tie, so 2-1 would be okay. 1-0 or better with a clean sheet would be superb and amazing.
Yet we must all bear in mind, and try make the heart listen, that we have suffered a season of horrendous injuries, whilst also trying to integrate many new players. If we bow out, as long as we do with pride I am happy. Regardless of the result, I am always excited for us to face the best teams in the world, and only Barca and Bayern I find clearly a cut above. Any player worth his salt wants to face the best…and the glory of winning against Bayern could well be the making of this work in progress Juve.
I still assume we’re out though. You can never know what happens, but I don’t expect to advance to the next round.
Besides that, agreed. Bayern isn’t in top shape and we can draw blood against them. Their makeshift defense is exploitable. We miss Chiellini and Sandro, which is also a big deal, but at least we still have Bonucci and Barzagli to start.
In terms of defense, we have the upper hand. Sadly, thats the only area where this is the case. Midfield is debatable, but the attack is clearly in favor of Bayern.
The only guaranteed starting striker for us is Dybala, who is yet untested against a team the calibre of Bayern. Mandzukic is hardly fit enough, Morata is still suffering from a bit of a slump and Zaza didn’t impress against Bologna.
I also don’t expect Rugani to play this. Maybe he shouldn’t play it anyway. This is a huge game and Rugani isn’t even trusted to face Bologna, so why would he get to play Bayern eh?
I would give up a body part for a 1-0 score. A clean sheet is very much necessary, in my opinion.
In any case.. FORZA JUVEEEEE
Comrade…I am drenched in russian firewater, partaking in home grown herbal remedies for Life, listening to Aesop Rock…and your words seem too spot on, to preclude my suggestion of us writing a piece together. Even an online affair, with you, me and the Chief, as those running the debate…
I’m keen to fly the flag of your chorus joining the juvefc writer stable…
That would be awesome mate 🙂 I’d love to do an article
After the draw i gave us a 40% chance to advance and i still stand by that. Bayern has the edge due to individual brilliance from Muller and Lewandowski most of all.
Anyway, before the match, we’ll either be too happy or too depressed afterwards, i wanted to say, idk if i said it before, you are a real addition to this site. Before you started posting the site was losing users and comments every day, i think it has taken a positive turn these last few weeks/months. Also due to Rav’s hard work.
Thank you very much indeed, Dutch! For the encouragement, virtual collusion and praise. I am fortunate to have found a new niche to not only share my eagerness to write and passion for Juve, but also to lock horns with my comrades feeling the same Cause coursing through their crimson rivers! And indeed, I very much enjoy working with Rav. Great Chief, great community…
This community has gotten me to stick around for 5 years now. Not many forums/boards can do that. I’m still hoping we can get back to the activity we had when i first joined.