UEFA Champions League 2019/20: Bayern Munich vs Olympiakos – tactical analysis

Fresh off the sacking of manager Niko Kovač, Bayern Munich sought to make it four wins from four in their UEFA Champions League group. Olympiakos meanwhile were merely hoping to restore some pride after languishing at the bottom of the group after earning a measly point from their first three games.

Hans Flick, now caretaker in charge of the German champions, found himself attempting to lead his team to be the first to qualify from the Champions League group stage this year. The 2-0 win on the night for the German team proved to be just the ticket yet there was still plenty of lingering effects from the hangover of Kovačs tenure and they were obvious in this game.

This tactical analysis will detail how Bayern were ultimately able to overcome their recent struggles and topple a competitive Olympiakos side. Our analysis will also illustrate the tactics used by Flick in his attempts to restore some of the goodwill that had been lost under the last few months of Kovacs reign.

Lineups

In response to Kovačs sacking after the disastrous 5-1 loss to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, the likes of Kingsley Coman, Leon Goretzka and Javi Martinez returned to the side in the places of Philipe Coutinho, Thiago, and Jerome Boateng. Alphonso Davies continued on at left-back and David Alaba at centre-back in light of Bayerns injury issues along the backline. On paper, not too much had changed, however, and the side lined up in a familiar 4-2-3-1 shape.

Olympiakos in return sported a 4-3-3 formation which had no place for former French international, Mathieu Valbuena in the starting eleven. Other notable changes for the Greek side saw Tunisian defender, Yassine Meriah displace the experienced Avraam Papadopoulos at centre-back and Youssef El-Arabi removed for Miguel Angel Guerrero upfront as Pedro Martins made a conscious effort to produce a younger lineup in this game.

Condensed Olympiakos

Olympiakos approached this game with an orthodox 4-3-3 formation that easily transitioned into a defensive 4-5-1 shape when out of possession. When Bayern had the ball, the wingers for Olympiakos would drop back to form a flat midfield five in order to protect the space in between their lines. This helped Olympiakos really condense the space available to Bayerns attackers in between the lines of their midfield and defence. Olympiakos did a great job of maintaining a horizontally and vertically compact shape that compelled Bayern into making non-threatening passes.

To keep their shape compact, Olympiakos rarely pressed from the front, preferring instead to retreat to the halfway line, minimising the distance between their front line and defence. This limited the space responsible for the midfield to marshal and also the space in which Bayerns attackers could receive and turn on the ball from within their defensive shape.

This forced Bayern to play most