With the season just ended and the leagues are yet to start football is currently at a halt for the clubs. But not for the fans. They get their fair share of the game as the Uefa Nations League had their second set of games today with two staunch rivals Germany and Spain facing each other. Both the teams have pretty new faces in the lineup, and it is hard to predict the game as always. This is our exclusive Germany vs Spain Tactical Review.
Germany vs Spain Tactical Review: Lineup
Germany:
Spain:
Germany vs Spain Tactical Review: Match Analysis
First half
In the first half, Spain started with a 4-3-3 system. As they have more possession we will discuss what they do with possession first. Luis Enrique started the game as usual. He opted for the idea of keeping possession and attack using short passing. But this gameplay hampered with the German press. Germany pressed high with two of their forwards pressing the center-backs. The defensive midfielder is marked by Julien Draxler. This hampers the buildup play in Spain. The only option was to go wide. As we can see below most of the Spain attacks came from the wings.
Both the fullbacks are overlapping one at a time helping the wingers to cut inside. These attacks though created some chances but were not as venomous as the buildup through the center. Two creative midfielders Thiago Alacantara and Fabian Ruiz also suffocated due to lack of balls. Draxler has done a great job here. He man-marked Busquets and forced buildup to go wide. Seeing that Enrique tweaked a little bit. He pushed Busquets up and Ruiz dropped to collect the ball. The main idea is to constrict Draxler in his own half.
But this boomeranged. Without Busquets, the mid-block was missing and Tony Kroos and İlkay Gündoğan got lots of space in mid to play through balls for Timo Werner and Leroy Sane. This opened up space in Spain’s defense. Draxler also got lots of space along with the left wingback who often pushed up and created trouble for Spain. His direct gameplay created so many chances but Werner couldn’t make his runs right. If he can the scoreline can came different.
Germany, on the other hand, used the 3-5-2 formation. Emre Can starts in the three-man backline. Germany mainly focused on capturing second balls from Spain attack and used them to counter. They used their left wingback to provide a width and balance Sane who started as a wide forward and often used the space of full-backs left to attack. Germany was very successful in its counter-attacking tactics.
Second Half
At the end of the first half and beginning of the second Spain started to push men forward. They pressed high and stopped the German direct balls through midfield.
During the start of the second half, young starlet Ansu Fati came in to play in place of Jesus Navas and after some time Mikel Moreno came in place of Busquets. This eased the build-up for Spain as Moreno is comfortable with pushing upfront. Again with Fati was placed they got a 3v3 against the Getman defenders which made it hard for them to press.
Fati started in the left-wing and Ferran Torres moved to the right. This also helped as the defenders were now under confusion whether they will cross or cut in. This eased the wing play and showed what Ferran was really capable of. And with the first goal, Germany also loosened the press. They put in Matthias Ginter in place of Leroy Sane making it 5-4-1 shape. This gave Spain midfielders and defenders time and space and they looked more dangerous.
Germany midfield was stretched out by Spain midfielder and they dominated the opposition area in the second half. Rodrigo was very wasteful so they took so long to equate. Both the team got their chances in either of the halves to seal the match but neither of them took the chance and the score of 1-1 seemed justified.
Final Thoughts
This match of Uefa Nations League was played between two seasons. Neither of the players was able to rest for more than 15 days. So it will be hard to expect top-notch performance from them. Still what they delivered, was commendable. Both the managers still have works to do regarding their side, but both of these sides have the potential to win this tournament.
What is your opinion about the Germany vs Spain Tactical Review? Please let us know in the comment section below.
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