Union Berlin welcomed Borussia Mönchengladbach on the 12th Bundesliga matchday. In a typical game between the top side and underdog, the underdog held the upper hand in the end thanks to their disciplined defending approach. Top team Gladbach, on the contrary, were incapable of creating more than a handful of opportunities which they could not convert.
The following tactical analysis explains Union Berlin’s tactics that stopped the high-flying side of Marco Rose. Moreover, our analysis deals with Gladbach’s build-up issues in their game against Union.
Lineups and Formations
Union Berlin started into the game with a 3-4-1-2 formation. Union coach Urs Fischer aimed at pressing Gladbach’s midfield man-to-man which was facilitated by their system with two attackers in Anthony Ujah and Sebastian Andersson to press the opposition centre-backs. Moreover, their midfield three simply adjusted their positioning when pressing depending on the opposition shape.
Gladbach, on the other hand, deployed a 4-2-3-1 system with a double pivot comprising of Denis Zakaria and Christoph Kramer. The latter one was supposed to support the central defenders when playing out by dropping between them in the opening stages of the game. As typical for Gladbach under Rose, the full-backs Oscar Wendt and Stefan Lainer were supposed to move up the line and provide the attacking department with crosses.
Gladbach’s build-up issues against Union’s man-orientations
Union Berlin decided to use a man-oriented pressing approach against Gladbach. They set up a high block within the opposition half. However, with a PPDA (“Opponent passes per defensive action in opponents final 60% of the pitch.” Wyscout) value of 14.1, they did not press actively but rather prevented the opposition midfielders from receiving the ball.
In the beginning stages of the game, Rose’s sides attempted to build-up with a back-three. Defensive midfielder Kramer therefore dropped between the centre-back pairing. As a consequence, Unions advanced midfielder Marcus Ingvartsen followed Kramer. That created a 3-4-3 similar to Gladbachs shape as displayed below.
