Bundesliga 2018/19: Fortuna Düsseldorf vs RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig faced Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga after their narrow, hotly-contested defeat to Borussia Dortmund last week. The East German club needed to bounce back and three points would put them firmly back on track to continue building on their strong start to the campaign.

At the time of writing, the Bundesliga table is starting to take shape with five points separating fourth and 11^th place. Borussia Mönchengladbach sit comfortably in third place with 39 points, eight ahead of fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt. Unless they go on a calamitous run they should secure third place making the fight for fourth place even more interesting.

However, the focus for RB Leipzig was Dusseldorf. The visitors looked in total control and dispatched their opponents in stunning fashion within the first 20 minutes. A brace from Yussuf Poulsen and one apiece for Konrad Laimer and Ibrahima Konaté ensured Leipzig kept pace in the race for fourth place. Leipzig’s victory looked effortless but they ultimately worked extremely hard for their victory. We’ll look at their play over the course of this tactical analysis but first, let’s see how both sides were set up.

Teams

Dusseldorf lined up in a 4-5-1 formation to try and counteract Leipzig’s strong midfield and stop the full-backs from flying forward. Sitting closer to the bottom of the table, a point would feel like a win for the home side. Their intent was to keep a clean sheet and try to frustrate Leipzig into making a mistake and sneaking in a goal.

RB Leipzig lined up in a familiar 4-3-3 hybrid formation that transforms into a 4-4-2 out of possession. The talismanic duo of Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner lead the line with Marcel Sabitzer, Diego Demme, Konrad Laimer and Tyler Adams making up the four across midfield. Emil Forsberg made his long awaited come back with a place on the bench.

Tyler had a fantastic game and in the first half he won pretty much every tackle he went into, he said. It was really good for such a young player in a new team and a new league. He was good in the duels, good in the pressing […] he played from deep and was a good addition to our team.  Yussuf Poulsen

Tyler Adams – a recent recruit from sister club New York Red Bulls – made his debut in central midfield with Ralf Rangnick looking to bed in the young American. Adams performed remarkably well and earned himself the man of the match award on debut, contributing to the side as a true deep-lying playmaker, being the catalyst for attacks from midfield and filling in the defensive gaps. Ralf Rangnick wanted his team to remain compact and narrow defensively whilst stretching play using Werner’s pace and the full-backs.