Bundesliga 2019/20: Borussia Monchengladbach vs Schalke- tactical analysis

The Bundesliga returned from its winter break on Friday night at Borussia Park with Borussia Monchengladbach taking on Schalke. The reverse fixture occurred back on the opening day of the season and ended in a 0-0 draw, with both sides having new coaches both looking to establish their tactics on their respective teams. This time around, it was an excellent Schalke side who took home all three points from a Gladbach side who again looked complacent after a lengthy break. In this tactical analysis, we will look at what went wrong for Gladbach tactically, and look at how Schalke took advantage to win the game.

Lineups

Schalke were without the outgoing Alexander Nübel in goal and employed their usual 4-3-1-2 formation, which during a high press turned into more of a 4-1-3-2, with Omar Mascarell a strict number six. Gladbach for the first half played a 4-2-3-1, but due to build-up issues and a lack of ball progression, changed to a 3-4-3 with Denis Zakaria dropping into the defence.

Schalkes press

The game was a particularly intense, scrappy affair full of second balls for most of the first half, and it was Schalkes press which made the initial difference. Both sides pressed aggressively with Gladbachs Passes Allowed Per Defensive Action (PPDA) at 6.66 compared to Schalkes 7.05 , but as pretty much always, it was Schalkes aggressive press which caused most of the problems.

As mentioned above Schalke pressed within their 4-1-3-2 diamond structure in a man orientated way, with each players role seen below. The two strikers would press the centre backs, the widest central midfielders would press the full-backs, and the central player in the diamond would press the ball near Gladbach central midfielder. This allowed Schalke to force Gladbach into wide areas through the full-backs, but the inside passing lane wasnt cut off.