The Topspiel of Matchday 3 in Germany´s 1.Bundesliga was the duel between RB Leipzig and FC Schalke 04. On paper, it looked like one big German club against another one. However, the signs ahead of the match could hardly be more different. While RB Leipzig got into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals against PSG last season, Schalke were nearly relegated into the second division. Even in this season, Schalke has still not won a match, with two losses out of two matches, only 1 goal scored and 11 goals conceded. Their former head coach David Wagner left the club during last week as Manuel Baum stepped in to be their new coach. However, it remains to be seen whether he can turn things around in the club.
Meanwhile, RB Leipzig are more than satisfied with their head coach Julian Nagelsmann. With him, they won and draw one game and were eighth as they welcomed Schalke on Saturday evening.
This tactical analysis will examine how RB Leipzig were able to claim this victory through the smart tactical moves of Nagelsmann. This analysis will also show how Baum set up the tactics for his team in his first match as the new Schalke coach.
Line-ups
Nagelsmann lined up his team with Willi Orban, Marcel Halstenberg, and Christopher Nkunku to replace Lukas Klostermann, Tyler Adams, and Yussuf Poulsen. As a consequence, Leipzig played without a nominal striker.
Baum made four changes ahead of the match as Salif Sané, Matija Nastasić, Suat Serdar, and Alessandro Schöpf all came in for Sebastian Rudy, Ozan Kabak, Benito Raman, and Nassim Boujellab. While Wagner played with a 4-2-3-1 system, Baum started the match with a 5-3-2 (3-5-2) formation.
