How Borussia Monchengladbach can spring an opening day surprise against Bayern – tactical analysis

On Friday evening, both Borussia Mönchengladbach and reigning Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, will kick off their domestic campaigns in their first game of the season  against one another. Interestingly, both sides will have new faces in the dugout, with Mönchengladbach replacing now Borussia Dortmund manager Marco Rose with Adi Hutter, fresh off of an excellent season with Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern Munich, of course, made the high-profile signing of Julian Nagelsmann, reportedly paying a fee that could rise to over £20 million in compensation to RB Leipzig in order to secure the 34-year-old’s signature. This tactical analysis will provide a preview of the fixture, giving an analysis of likely line-ups and formations, whilst also looking into the potential tactics either side will use.

Formations and line-ups

It’s always difficult to predict the starting line-ups on the first day of the season. Both sides have had players competing in Euro 2020 this summer, whilst there are injuries and potential upcoming departures to take into account.

Mönchengladbach have been hit the most by injuries, with first-team regulars Marcus Thuram, Ramy Besebaini and Breel Embolo all set to miss this fixture, whilst Denis Zakaria is expected to complete a move to the Premier League sooner rather than later and may not feature as a result. 

American defender Joe Scally has played well in pre-season and is likely to get the nod at left-back, but don’t be surprised to see the young German left-back Luca Netz play here either. Otherwise, there are unlikely to be any shocks with their line-up.

Bayern Munich have had a quiet summer with Dayot Upamecano probably the only new signing who will start, due to Bayern’s only other summer arrivals being Omar Richards on a free from Reading, and goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, also on a free from Hamburg. With Lucas Hernandez out and not expected back for a while, and Alphonso Davies potentially not at match fitness, Josip Stanisic is likely to get the nod over Omar Richards at left-back.

Bayern will look different this season. Jerome Boateng has left after his contract wasn’t renewed, whilst David Alaba and Javi Martinez also departed after their respective contracts ran out too. Joshua Zirkzee has also been loaned out to Anderlecht and there will be some pressure on the club to bring in players to strengthen the squad before the end of the transfer window  or their core of young talent coming through will be expected to step up.

Mönchengladbach’s defensive shape

A backline of Pavard, Nianzou, Upamecano and Stanisic is a decent enough unit, but it isn’t going to intimidate Mönchengladbach by any means. Whereas perhaps a side with Lucas Hernandez and Alphonso Davies alongside Upamecano and Pavard might make them at least second guess pressing intensely, there’s a good chance that Hutter’s side looks to put pressure on Bayern’s young back line, at least initially. 

Mönchengladbach will keep a horizontal compactness throughout their defensive shape and will press with a narrow front three. They will also keep a vertical compactness, structured with a staggered midfield three, who keep a close distance to one another whilst bridging the gap between the defence and the front three. The 10 will look to prevent Kimmich from getting on the ball, whilst the other two central-midfielders will man-mark. One thing worth noting is how the double-pivot are positioned in front of the players they’re marking. In the image below Kaiserslautern looked to have their midfielders operate between the lines, and Mönchengladbach were comfortable enough dealing with this, with their midfield duo keeping them in their cover shadow, and ensuring they stayed vertically compact with their number 10.