With a few fixtures left to play in the Champions League Round of 16, the fight to reach the quarter-finals was still not over for some. Chelsea travelled to Bayern Munich, trailing 3-0 on aggregate but Chelsea would have hoped to get themselves back into the fixture. Hans-Dieter Flick’s Bayern Munich, however, already had a foot in the quarters and were looking to put the tie to bed. A possible quarter-final against either Barcelona or Napoli awaited the two teams and in this tactical analysis, we will look at the tactics of both sides in their fixture. We begin our analysis with the lineups.
Lineups
Flick made no changes to his lineup that started the friendly against Marseille and the defensive partnership between David Alaba and Jerome Boateng was looking good. Alaba’s transition to centre-back meant that the young Alphonso Davies could find a regular spot at left-back as well. Thiago Alcântara’s start meant that Joshua Kimmich moved back to his right-back role although he has played, and performed well in, in the centre of midfield as well. Leon Goretzka looked a different player after the lockdown and he retained his spot as well.
Frank Lampard made six changes to his squad from the FA Cup final against Arsenal as Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley, Emerson Palmieri, Tammy Abraham, and NGolo Kanté all started. Injuries to César Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic, and Willian meant that Chelsea were definitely on the back foot heading into this fixture.
