The return of Frauen-Bundesliga brought us a kickstart back to action, with a tense match between Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim. On a larger scale, this match represents a decisive battle for the second UEFA Champions League slot in the league with both teams seeking to enter the competition against European rivals such as Chelsea and Manchester City. Through analysis, we found that Hoffenheim brought interesting positional play tactics to the pitch. We also found that Bayern had a clear match-plan to attack a potential weak-link in the Hoffenheim structure. This tactical analysis will look at exactly how it happened.
Lineups
Bayern Munich (4-4-2): Benkarth, Hendrich, Wenninger, Demann, Schweers, Lohmann, Magull, Gwinn, Dallmann, Simon, Islacker.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (3-4-1-2): Leitzig, Specht, Wienroither, Naschenweng, Krumbiegel, Dongus, Lattwein, Pankratz, Waßmuth, Billa, Rall.
Hoffenheim: attacking structure
Although Hoffenheim lined up in a 3-4-1-2, the formation morphed dramatically when entering the attacking phase. When gaining possession, Hoffenheim liked to spread their centre-backs into the central channel and adjoining halfspaces. This, paired with a single midfielder dropping into the central channel, allowed the visitors to create a diamond shape in the centre of the pitch.
As this shape was created, the wingbacks pushed high up the pitch almost to the offside line. This allowed Hoffenheim to have six attackers in the attacking and midfield lines while retaining a diamond four at the back to resist potential counter-attacks.
Below we see a moment early in the match in which the Hoffenheim centrebacks have occupied the central channel and halfspaces. The central midfielder who dropped in to form the top of the diamond tended to change in each phase of possession. This rotation of midfield players helped to render any Bayern player to player marking schemes as useless.
As the base attacking diamond was set up, the six attacking players would alternately drop or advance into space with the aim of creating movement and disorganization in the Bayern defensive block. These movements were typically vertically based with a high player dropping and a low player pushing towards the offside line.
These movements were done often with the effect of pulling Bayern players out of their positions and creating space to exploit. While the Hoffenheim diamond base retained possession, they could be seen scanning up field searching for space to place the ball.
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