It can rarely get any bigger than Barcelona vs Bayern Munich in European Football. Two teams with a staggering ten Champions League triumphs between themselves. Two teams filled with superstars. It can turn out to be a cagy affair at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon. With Hansi Flick and Quique Setien facing each other, it would be a tactical delight for the football lovers. This is our Bayern vs Barcelona Tactical Preview, where we will be breaking the two teams down on paper, and how this clash in the last eight of the Champions League will spice up the biggest club tournament in world football.
Bayern vs Barcelona Tactical Preview: Tactical setup of Bayern Munich
Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich are coming into the Quarter Finals after securing a comfortable 7-1 aggregate victory against Chelsea over two legs. Now they will have to face an impressive but yet inconsistent Barcelona side. Bayern will organize themselves in their familiar 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation under Flick. Flick has been using these two formations quite a lot. The two fullbacks will play a big role in the match as they have to be active in both offense and defense. With Messi and Griezmann on two wings, Bayern will try to crowd out the flanks with the fullback and the holding midfielder or a central midfielder moving in the flank to provide support to the fullback and create a 2 vs. 1 situation. In the case of 4-3-3, there is a chance of Thiago playing as the deep-lying playmaker but in the case of 4-2-3-1, there will be Goretzka and Thiago pivot.
Alphonso Davies will move further up the pitch and will move in centrally from the flanks to the central half-space making it tough for Barca to apply a marker on him. The positional play of Bayern midfielders between the Barcelona midfield pivot and defence line will ensure a lot of through balls being played between the lines. The positional buildup play from the wings can also be a feature for Bayern. Bayern will try to get the control of midfield from the very beginning to dictate the terms of play. Now time will only tell if they will succeed in implementing their style of play at the pitch or not. Bayern will look forward to adding their sixth European Cup and their second treble with Lewandowski in red hot goalscoring form.
Bayern vs Barcelona Tactical Preview: Tactical setup of Barcelona
Barcelona, a team laden with a lot of success in the recent past, is coming into this match with the hope of doing the tough job of beating inform Bayern. After missing out the La Liga and with no trophy to show for this season so far, it will be a do or die affair for Barcelona. A European success will make them forget about this season’s inconsistent performances. But before that, they will play an in-form Bayern Munich side.
Barcelona will organize themselves in a 4-3-3 formation, quite similar to that of the Napoli match. The main approach will be to give no space to the opposition in the midfield by creating a mid-block. They will try to force Bayern to play through the flanks but again in the flanks, they will create numerical overload to squeeze out space for any cut in or crossing opportunity. Barca as soon as they get the hold of the ball will try to play their way out with one-touch passes and will try to play the ball out in the wings. Griezmann will try to move in centrally to provide wing space for Alba. In the right, Semedo will be a bit more defensive with Messi taking the onus. Messi can easily engage with the numerical overload in the flank and will try to cut in and take shots on the goal.
Frenkie De Jong will use his technical skills to drop down and act as the passing option for Barca defence, he along with Rakitic will be on the duty to carry the ball forward in attacking regions, in case of counter-attacks or heavy defensive overload of flanks by Bayern. The press resistant nature if De Jong will help in that process. Barca will move to try to play their way out of Bayern defence by creating passing triangles. This is the match that will define Barca’s season and whether Setien’s reign at Barca would come to a premature end or not.
Final Thoughts
This Bayern vs Barcelona Tactical Preview focuses on the tactical duels of the two managers as they would battle out in the way they set up their teams. Hansi Flick and Setien both will manage their team for the first time in a stage as big as UEFA Champions League the stakes will be high for both of them. As much as they want to win the tie, they will both try to tactically outmaneuver each other. We expect it to be a delight for the football fans to see this match unfold.
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