UEFA Europa League 2019/20: LASK Linz vs Alkmaar – tactical analysis

When this matchup was drawn, everyone expected the two teams to be on the same level, especially since the first leg between them ended 1-1. So, it was clear that the second leg would be quite thrilling to watch, as most matches in the Europa League and the Champions League are.

One week ago, AZ Alkmaar were the home team and were slightly weaker than LASK Linz, but still, the team of Arne Slot managed to get the draw after the 90 minutes. Both coaches weren’t happy with the performance of their team after the first leg and hoped that their squad would play better in the second game.

In this tactical analysis, we will look at the tactics of both teams and explain how LASK were able to beat Alkmaar with 2-0 as the Austrians reached the round of the last 16 teams in the UEFA Europa League for the first time in the clubs history.

Line-ups

The home side changed nothing compared to the first leg as Alexander Schlager was in goal while the back three of the usual 3-4-3 consisted of Gernot Trauner, Philipp Wiesinger and Petar Filipović. Peter Michorl and James Holland played in central midfield while the full-backs were Reinhold Ranftl and René Renner. The three men upfront were Dominik Frieser, Thomas Goiginger and Marko Raguž.

On the other side, Arne Slot made one change compared to the first game between these two teams, but this one had a huge impact as we will discuss later in this tactical analysis. Fredrik Midtsjö was back after a suspension and replaced Hakon Evjen in central midfield next to Jordy Clasie. The goalkeeper was Marco Bizot. As already seen in the first leg, the three centre-backs Stijn Wuytens, Pantelis Chatzidiakos and Ron Vlaar were all out due to injuries and because of that, Ramon Leeuwin and Teun Koopmeiners (usually defensive midfielder) were in the central defence while the full-backs were the usual ones with Jonas Svensson and Owen Wijndal. In front of the double pivot, Calvin Stengs was the offensive midfielder while the wings were occupied by Dani de Wit and Oussama Idrissi. The single striker was Mayron Boadu.

LASK’s usual high press and Alkmaar’s solution

In the first leg, LASK Linz also used a high press and due to that, Alkmaar were almost never able to get out of their own half with the combination of short passes like they usually want to do it. The team of Arne Slot is always looking for a solution with short passes and don’t like to hit the balls long frequently.

In the first game between these two, this rarely worked as LASKs pressing worked off perfectly and they took Stengs, the most important player of Alkmaar, out of the game. This was possible since Stengs had to play deeper and more central than he usually does since Midtsjö was suspended. So, he had to support Clasie and the back four in several situations during the early stage of the build-up and you clearly saw that this isn’t where he feels comfortable.

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