Inter Milan Vs Bayern Munich [2-2] – Champions League Quarter-Final Second Leg 2024/2025 – Tactical Analysis

The stage was set at San Siro this Wednesday night for two of the biggest names in European football to compete for a spot in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

The home team, Inter Milan, was taking their 2-1 lead that they earned through a late goal at the Allianz Arena last week and now took on the role of favourite in this game.

Simone Inzaghi and his men are in good form, currently leading Serie A and looking to reach another Champions League final after their loss to Manchester City two years ago.

FC Bayern, on the other hand, were seeking revenge, trying to reach the final in their home stadium and therefore had to overcome the deficit they suffered at home last week.

In this situation, it was clear that Vincent Kompany and his team had to take control of the game and try to work their way back into the tie, which was never easy away from home.

In this tactical analysis and post-game analysis, we will examine the key tactics employed by the two managers in this game, as well as two pivotal moments that ultimately altered the games outcome.

Inter Milan Vs Bayern Munich Formations & Lineup

Simone Inzaghi is a massive fan of the 3-5-2 formation and had no reason to make significant changes compared to last week.

Yann Sommer started in goal against his former team with a back-three consisting of Benjamin Pavard on the right, Francesco Acerbi in the middle and Alessandro Bastoni on the left-hand side.

Federico Dimarco was the starting left wing-back, with Matteo Darmian being his counterpart on the right.

In midfield, Hakan Çalhanoğlu played as the holding midfielder, with Nicoló Barella at right central midfielder and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at left central midfielder.

Up front, Inzaghi trusted his usual striking partnership in Marcus Thuram and captain Lautaro Martínez.

Vincent Kompany, on the other hand, is a fan of a back-four.

With the injuries to his squad, the Belgian manager had to count on an unusual fullback duo with Josip Stanišić on the left and Konrad Laimer on the right.

Kim Min-Jae and Eric Dier formed the centre of the backline, with Jonas Urbig starting in goal for the injured Manuel Neuer again.

Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka formed the double-pivot in midfield, and club legend Thomas Müller captained this Bayern side today as the attacking midfielder after Jamal Musiala’s injury.

Kingsley Coman and Michael Olise played on the left and right wings, respectively, and English superstar striker Harry Kane played up front in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

FC Bayern Raging Attacks

The game started out exactly how everyone expected it to: Bayern was trying to put Inter under pressure immediately.

Kompany and his men were keen on scoring the needed goal within the first couple of minutes and were able to create a couple of chances, but for most of the first half, Inter was able to defend against their attacks.

Inter only had about 33% of possession during the course of the game, but managed to be very efficient with their time of possession and piched Bayern with their counterattacks multiple times in the first half, but also failed to create a really big opportunity and therefore the goalless draw was a fair result at the halftime whistle.

In the second half, Bayern emerged from the locker room even more aggressively.

In the first half, a significant problem for Bayern was that their crosses were defended relatively easily, and Inter was able to get to the second balls quicker than their own players.

In the second half, Bayern played differently.

They set up in a 3-3 shape around the box, with three players at the edge of the box at all times, trying to get control of the second balls.

In the picture above, this worked perfectly, with Kimmich being able to collect the clearance of the Inter defenders and having options in the box.

Wi