Friday night sees a clash of two of Europes elite with Barcelona taking on Bayern Munich in a one-legged UEFA Champions League tie. The clubs appear to be in vastly different cycles at the moment, with Bayern Munich very much on the up since appointing Hansi Flick in November, with the Bavarians going on to win the domestic double convincingly. Barcelonas change in management this season hasnt yielded the same success, with the Champions League now their last chance at a trophy this season, with questions marks over Quique Setiéns future already appearing. The identity and style of play implemented by the two coaches make for an interesting tactical battle, with Barcelona likely to have to adapt their usual tactics if they want to challenge Bayern.
This tactical analysis will analyse how both systems of play are likely to interact with one another, with analysis of previous games throughout the season being used to assess how both teams will likely respond to the tactical problems that will be presented.
Bayerns build-up
The main tactical aspect that I believe dictates this game is Bayern Munichs build-up and their positional play, as this will dictate how Barcelona setup out of possession and also in possession.
We can see their most basic kind of structure below against Leverkusen in a 4-2-3-1/4-2-4. The two central midfielders will remain in central areas and occupy the opposition central midfielders, while the full-backs will push high and wide. The central positioning of the central midfielders, combined with the width from the full-backs, allows the wingers to occupy the half-space. In addition to this Thomas Müller acts a roaming number ten, and so he operates between the lines and will often move into the half-space also, allowing Bayern to create overloads. Bayern are lethal around the half-space, and their combination of spacing, timed movements, and technical ability allow them to progress the ball through this area often.
One of the advantages of playing this double pivot is the access it gives to the half-space and central areas, as with outside to in possessions, there is usually always one of the pivots available to receive the ball, which is not always the case with a single pivot. We can see in this theoretical situation, the ball is switched across to the left full-back.
Due to having two deeper midfiel
