The round of sixteen in this years UEFA Champions League saw Tottenham drawn to play RB Leipzig, with both sides in contrasting states at the moment. RB Leipzig currently sit second in the Bundesliga just a point behind leaders Bayern, while Tottenham lie fifth in the Premier League. The tie set up not only this clash of clubs but a clash of two coaches, Julian Nagelsmann and José Mourinho, with this an excellent chance for Nagelsmann to showcase his tactics at a high level. As this analysis will show, Leipzig and Nagelsmann did just that, and dominated the game on the whole, and in this tactical analysis, we will look at Leipzigs offensive structure in detail, and highlight why they were able to dominate Tottenham.
Lineups
Tottenham lined up in a lineup that was probably expected due to injuries, with the side taking on a mostly defensive approach in the game. Leipzig stuck to the three at the back they have played in recent weeks, with the formation flickering between a 3-4-1-2 and a 3-4-2-1, with Werner having lots of freedom within his role to occupy certain spaces.
Tottenhams structure and their stretched first line
We can see Tottenhams fairly defensive structure below, with them playing a flat 4-4-2. The most interesting point of this 4-4-2 was how it pressed against Leipzigs back three. With a 3v2 along this first line, Tottenham would struggle to press, and so Tottenham sat deeper. However, you would usually still expect pressure on the central player and another centre back to prevent vertical passes down the middle being played, but this wasnt the case.
Instead Tottenham stuck to this structure seen below, the front two fairly wide and usually on the widest centre backs. This was presumably to look to prevent Leipzig building down the wider areas.
