Bundesliga 2020/21: Hoffenheim vs Bayern Munich

On Sunday, Hoffenheim shocked the world as they beat reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 4-1 at home. Even the most ardent of Hoffenheim fans wouldn’t have expected such a result, and Bayern Munich’s rivals across the globe will have watched this fixture with intrigue as Hoffenheim made the side that looked so dominant in the Champions League only one month ago, seem positively pedestrian.

Admittedly there was the absence of Robert Lewandowski from the starting line-up, and, of course, you could argue (although Bayern fans may well disagree), that with the departure of Thiago to Liverpool they are without their heartbeat from last season, and there may well be some growing pains.

A glance at the result and the xG from this game, which suggested Hoffenheim deserved their victory, and some Bayern fans could be forgiven for already reaching for the panic button. However, without trying to put you the reader off of reading this tactical analysis of the events of this game, it was a resolute Hoffenheim defence (not quite in the shape of a bus, but certainly in the form of the most cautious of low blocks), mixed with a cataclysm of individual mistakes and ghastly defending from the German champions that led to this result.

Hoffenheim scored twice early on, the first a well-worked corner pinning Bayern’s defence inside their own six-yard box, before being glanced home by Ermin Bičakčić. The second, however, came from a bizarre mistake from Benjamin Pavard who seemed to pull out of a challenge, only to toe a pass behind his own defence into the path of an offside Mu’nas Dabbur, who gratefully turned and drove forward before slotting the ball past Manuel Neuer. Bayern struck back with a terrific strike from outside the box from Joshua Kimmich, before an Andrej Kramarić brace sealed the points for the hosts.

This analysis will highlight the tactics used in this game, predominantly by Hoffenheim, to give the home side the unlikeliest of victories.

Line-ups

In what might have been a 3-5-2 in any other game was very much a 5-3-2 in this fixture, as Hoffenheim had less than 30% of possession and spent the majority of the game defending deep inside their own half. As such this pinned back Pavel Kadeřábek and Kevin Akpoguma in the wing-back roles, alongside their back three of Bičakčić, Kevin Vogt and Stefan Posch. Dennis Geiger, Diadie Samassekou and Christoph Baumgartner played as a midfield trio, whilst Kramarić and Dabbur were partners up front.

For Bayern, Pavard, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, and Alphonso Davies played in the back line, whilst Kimmich and Corentin Tolisso acted as a double pivot in midfield, behind Thomas Müller. Either side of Müller was Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry, whilst Joshua Zirkzee was given the start ahead of Lewandowski as a lone striker.

An appalling display of defending

It was a day to forget for Bayern’s defence, with Boateng and Pavard, in particular, looking lost at sea.

Hoffenheim had just 28% of possession over the course of the game, and incredibly 23.3% of their passes were long passes. Bayern pressed high, with a PPDA of 4.69 and the home team struggled to engage in long periods of possession.