Bundesliga 2021/22: How Augsburg’s defence suppressed Bayern Munich in a surprising victory

On Friday evening, Augsburg produced what is one of the biggest shocks of the Bundesliga season so far, beating Bayern Munich 2-1. Such a loss for Bayern has opened up the title race once more, with rivals Borussia Dortmund now only one point behind the league leaders. The win lifted Augsburg from 16th place into 15th, giving them just their third league win of the season. This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of some of the key tactics seen in this Bundesliga game.

Line-ups and formations

Augsburg lined up in a 4-4-2, with Rafael Gikiewicz in goal. Iago and Robert Gumny played on either side as full-backs, with ex-West Ham centre-back Reece Oxford and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw partnering one another in central defence. Arne Maier and Niklas Dorsch worked together in central midfield with Daniel Caligiuri and the versatile Mads Pedersen playing on either wing. Altin Zeqiri led the line alongside Andre Hahn.

Bayern Munich brought Benjamin Pavard back into the side for Niklas Sule, with pavard operating at right-back in a back four, composed of Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernandez, and ex-Reading full-back Omar Richards. This was just Richards second start of the campaign  understandably so given that he is an understudy for Alphonso Davies. In midfield there was no Joshua Kimmich, so Marcel Sabitzer partnered Leon Goretzka in a double pivot with Thomas Muller sat in front of them. Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane played on either wing with Robert Lewandowski leading the line.

Augsburg’s defensive shape

Augsburg defended resolutely from the first minute, and set up to frustrate Bayern. They allowed the visitors to have the bulk of possession (75% of the ball on the day), and instead just focused on ensuring Bayern weren’t able to break them down.

Augsburg set-up in a compact 4-4-2 mid-block, and their midfield worked around the front two who remained centrally compact in the hopes of preventing Bayern from being able to play through the central channel of the pitch.