As football fans awaited news of suspended leagues and competitions, LASK Linz hosted Manchester United in the Europa League Round of 16. Linzer Stadion’s eerily empty stands and inclement weather served as hosts for one of the last football matches before the near-global suspension.
Sitting atop the Austrian Football Bundesliga’s Championship Group, LASK entered the match in fine form, winning seven while drawing and losing once in their past nine games. Few teams in the world can claim that kind of form, but Manchester United is one of them. In fact, since the club signed Bruno Fernandes on January 29th, United have won seven and drawn three. Despite LASK’s excellent form, The Red Devils jumped out to a two-goal lead before piling on in the final ten minutes of the match, claiming a resounding 5-0 victory.
In this tactical analysis, we’ll examine the tactical approaches of each team, looking especially at the similarities of their playing philosophies. Given the scoreline, one would assume defensive tactics were skipped in the pre-game meeting, but it really was the focal point for each team as they registered very high PPDA statistics. United’s ability to break the LASK press was the difference-maker in this match, a point we’ll break down in detail.
Lineups
Valérien Ismaël set out his side in their favoured 3-4-2-1. The focal points are domination of the central channel, numbers around the ball ready to counter-press and outlets to the wide players. Alexander Schlager started in goal with the backline of Reinhold Ranftl, Gernot Trauner and Christian Ramsebner at the back. René Renner was the left-midfielder, serving as the team’s primary outlet for progression into the final third. Accompanying him in the midfield were Peter Michorl, James Holland and Dominik Reiter. Klauss was the striker with Samuel Tetteh and Dominik Frieser playing just beneath him in defence and typically on either side of the centre-forward when LASK was in possession.
It was a 4-2-3-1 for United as Ole Gunnar Solskjær went with his Cup keeper, Sergio Romero in goal. Helping him earn the clean sheet was a back four consisting of Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams on the wings with Harry McGuire and Eric Bailey in the centre. Scott McTominay and Fred played the double pivot and played key roles helping the side play out of LASK’s aggressive high press. Fernandes played the #10 with Daniel James and Juan Mata to his left and right, respectively. James had a standard wing role while Mata started wide in the build-up before moving centrally as United entered the final third. Finally, Odion Ighalo made the start up top, repaying his manager’s faith with a fantastic goal.
