Marco Rose’s RB Leipzig Vs Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Wolfsburg In DFB-Pokal 2024/2025 – Tactical Analysis

RB Leipzig and VfL Wolfsburg met on Wednesday night at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.

Both sides went into the game motivated to reach a cup semifinal and needed a pick-me-up, as both were not in the best form in the Bundesliga.

Leipzig had won only two of their last nine league fixtures, while for Wolfsburg, it was just one win in seven going into this cup tie.

So the opportunity to put themselves on the cusp of a domestic cup final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin came as a welcome distraction for both outfits, particularly for the team led by Marco Rose who has been under pressure with Leipzig sitting outside the Champions League spots in the league in sixth, behind the likes of Freiburg and Mainz despite Leipzigs vastly superior resources.

For Wolfsburg, who are only five points off from a top-four berth themselves, it was a chance to inch themselves closer to a first cup final appearance since their one and only DFB-Pokal triumph in 2015, when their side, spearheaded by one Kevin de Bruyne, disposed of Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the final in what was Jürgen Klopps final game as the manager of the Schwarzgelben.

At the end of Wednesday nights match, Leipzig prevailed with the solitary goal coming from a Benjamin Šeško spot-kick, which was enough to send them into their fifth cup semi-final in seven Pokal editions.

In this tactical analysis, we will examine the mid-week battle between these sides and how Leipzig eventually managed to break down a resilient Wolfsburg defense to advance to the last four, albeit with the aid of a controversial call that went in their favor.

RB Leipzig Vs Wolfsburg Lineups & Formations

Marco Roses RB Leipzig lined up in a 3-1-4-2 formation, with four changes to the team that came from behind to draw Heidenheim at the weekend.

On his 23rd birthday, young Belgian goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt started in goal, while Lutsharel Geertruida, captain Willi Orbán, and El Chadaille Bitshiabu formed the central defensive trio in front of him.

Ridle Baku, who joined from Wolfsburg in January, and David Raum were the wing-backs.

Arthur Vermeeren and Kevin Kampl were in central midfield, while Xavi Simons sat behind their usual front pairing of Benjamin Šeško and Loïs Openda.

For Wolfsburg, Ralph Hasenhüttls men set up in a 4-1-2-3 system, with three players coming into the side that was disappointingly held at home by struggling Bochum last Saturday.

Marius Müller retained his place between the sticks, which hes been occupying since Kamil Grabara went down injured.

Kilian Fischer came in at right-back for Mads Roerslev as the only change at the back from the weekend, alongside Denis Vavro, Konstantinos Koulierakis, and Joakim Mæhle.

Swedish international Mattias Svanberg captained and anchored the side in front of the defense behind the adventurous midfield pairing of Bence Dárdai and Patrick Wimmer.

The front three consisted of Andreas Skov Olsen and Tiago Tomás, flanking their top scorer, Mohamed Amoura.

RB Leipzig Early Missed Chances

Wolfsburg had enjoyed a decent defensive spell since the Bundesliga restarted following the winter break, allowing more than one goal on just two occasions in eight games.

They also shut down their opponents in the three previous rounds of the Pokal, which helped them get this far.

On the other side, under Marco Roses tactics Red Bull Leipzig had only failed to score on three occasions at home this season, the last of which was in early November, so expectations were that theyd find a way to break down their visitors resistance at some point.

While they did by the end of the night, the game could have been much smoother had they converted the opportunities they had very early on.

First, Šeško managed to receive the ball towards the left channel, which put him in a position to go one-on-one with a defender.

His strike partner, Openda, was also an option in the penalty area.

He ended up taking that option by playing an early