Bundesliga 2019/20: Bayern Munich vs Mainz 05 – tactical analysis

Ahead of this game of the third matchday in the German Bundesliga, everyone expected Bayern Munich to dominate the game and easily secure a home victory against Mainz 05. The team of Sandro Schwarz lost their first two games and conceded a combined six goals and scoring just once.

On the other side, Bayern got four points after the first two matchdays and it was likely that it would be the first time that their new signing Philippe Coutinho would be in the starting eleven. Niko Kovač’s team was able to win 6:1 and an astonishing fact is that there were six different players of Bayern on the scoresheet. No player was able to score twice.

In this tactical analysis, we will look at both teams tactics and what impact Bayern’s new signings had on this game.

Lineups

The Croatian coach of Bayern lined his team in a 4-3-3 formation up which was very fluid and versatile as we will see in this analysis. Manuel Neuer was between the sticks and the back four in front of him was made of the two new French signings Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernández, as well as Niklas Süle and left-back David Alaba.

Joshua Kimmich played in the defensive midfield and Coutinho was in front of the German together with Thiago Alcântara. On the wing, Ivan Perišić played instead of the not-completely-fit Serge Gnabry. Usually, Kingsley Coman played in recent times on the left wing and Gnabry on the right wing, but since Perišić feels more comfortable on the left one, the Frenchman switched to the right. Lewandowski was as always, the lone striker upfront and was able to score a goal. In light of this, he now already scored six times in the first three games in the Bundesliga.

On